HEALTH

President Barack Obama is discussing ways to help U.S. states cover costs that are destined to rise under pending healthcare reform legislation, his press secretary said on Monday.

British and U.S. researchers studied the effects of the chemical bisphenol A using data from a U.S. government national nutrition survey in 2006 and found that high levels of it in urine samples were associated with heart disease.

The U.N. agency unveiled its draft global strategy to curb risks linked to alcohol which it estimates causes 2.5 million deaths a year from heart and liver disease, road accidents, suicides and various cancers -- 3.8 percent of all mortality.

The city's Health Department announced on Monday that it is coordinating a nationwide effort to reduce salt in restaurant and packaged foods by 25 percent over five years.

The study, of more than 1,000 non-food retail stores across the U.S., found that 41 percent sold candy, soft drinks, chips and other sweet and salty snacks. The foods were most commonly placed at check-out counters, where they were within arm's reach of impulsive buyers, the researchers report in the American Journal of Public Health.

The federal government earned a grade of A for giving the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate tobacco, including how companies market, manufacture and sell tobacco products, the advocacy group said in its annual report card on tobacco control.

Most notably, such companies want to cut or delay massive taxes that would raise tens of billions of dollars over the next 10 years to fund the healthcare reforms.

As Obama's fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate struggle to merge their healthcare bills into one, the president used his weekly radio address to try to ease lingering public doubts over his top legislative priority.

Researchers have found four new genetic variants that increase the risk of contracting one of the major forms of leukemia, confirming that risk factors for the fatal blood cancer can be inherited.

Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives briefed party members on Thursday on healthcare talks with the Senate, with competing approaches on taxes and the shape of new insurance exchanges topping the list of priorities.

Pregnant women tempted to induce labor for convenience rather than medical necessity may want to wait for nature to take its course.

U.S. regulators plan to ask outside experts to re-evaluate the use of Amgen Inc and Johnson & Johnson anemia drugs when given to patients with chronic kidney disease.

While some studies have implicated gas appliances in children's risk of respiratory ills, a new report suggests that gas cooking stoves may have only a small effect on most children's lung function.

The United States has made no decision on whether to cancel or sell any of its orders for the H1N1 vaccine, unlike some European countries with a vast oversupply of shots, a federal health official said on Thursday.

Less than a quarter of Americans eats the five daily servings of fruits and vegetables that the National Cancer Institute recommends, but online programs may help boost those numbers, a new study hints.

A global scarcity of scientific research on using nanotechnology in foods means food safety authorities are unable to properly regulate products that may be beneficial or harmful, a British science panel said on Friday.

China, saddled with the world's second largest tuberculosis burden after India, is fighting an uphill battle against drug-resistant forms of the disease which will only drain the country's health budget.

Mild to severe depression might be better treated with alternatives to antidepressant drugs, which do not help patients much more than an inactive placebo, researchers said Tuesday.

U.S. researchers have identified 10 locations in California that have double the rates of autism found in surrounding areas, and these clusters were located in neighborhoods with high concentrations of white, highly educated parents.

It may still seem to be in the realm of science fiction, but nearly half of Americans believe cloning organs will be routine by 2020, according to a new poll.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday she was sure Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate would produce a final healthcare reform plan that would hold insurers accountable and make medical coverage affordable.

More US kids are fully immunized against common childhood illnesses, and disparities in vaccine coverage among socioeconomic groups are shrinking, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.

U.S. healthcare spending rose at the lowest rate on record in 2008 due to the recession, but still reached $2.3 trillion and devoured 16.2 percent of the U.S. economy, government analysts said in a report on Tuesday.

Overweight middle-aged men may have a higher risk of heart problems and strokes and die earlier than their thinner peers -- even in the absence of some traditional risk factors, a new study suggests.

One in 10 of the some 130 million births around the world each year is premature, the vast majority in poorer countries where chances of survival are low, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

Smoking is well known as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, but scientists said on Monday that quitting the habit can raise the risk even more in the short term.

Mammograms should begin at 40 for women with an average risk of breast cancer and by 30 for high-risk women, according to guidelines released on Monday by two groups that specialize in breast imaging, contradicting controversial guidelines from a U.S. advisory panel last year.

Perhaps it's not surprising, but for members of the U.S. armed forces, combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan increases the risk of depression, according to a new study.

A voluntary recall of Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplets is being expanded because of consumer reports of an unusual moldy odor with the 100-count bottles, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said late on Monday.