MEDICINE

Diabetics who took the drug metformin, which makes the body process insulin better, had a 62 percent lower risk of pancreatic cancer compared to those who had never received it, U.S. researchers said on Saturday.

The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday it will increase testing parts of steaks and other meat cuts used to make ground beef as the government steps up efforts to reduce the spread of E. coli bacteria in food.

A woman from Cameroon has been found to be infected with an AIDS-like virus that came from gorillas, French researchers reported Sunday.

China has sealed off a remote far-western town of 10,000 people after two people died of pneumonic plague, state media said Monday, but the World Health Organization said such outbreaks were nothing new.

One of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer may originate in the cells lining the mammary ducts, which can be targeted in the fight against the disease, experts in Australia say.

China has sealed off a remote western town of 10,000 people after two people died of pneumonic plague.

Merck & Co's vaccines chief, Margie McGlynn, who oversaw the launch of its Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine among other products, will step down on November 1, a company spokeswoman said on Monday.

The colossal water cistern set in a clearing in a hilly, heavily forested area can hold 25,000 liters of water — enough to irrigate a major food farm.

Hong Kong's Hospital Authority reported on Friday the H1N1 outbreak in the city's hospital, with five patients in a ward infected H1N1 and totally 64 hospital staff confirmed with H1N1.

Eating omega-3-rich seafood may be a mood-lifter for women who are feeling depressed during pregnancy, suggests a study of British women.

Teaching new mothers how to breastfeed could save 1.3 million children's lives every year, but many women get no help and give up trying, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc is discussing with U.S. health officials the possibility of putting vaccination sites at some of its stores for an H1N1 swine flu inoculation campaign this fall, a company official said on Thursday.

Outbreaks of the H1N1 flu among children attending U.S. summer camps presage a surge in cases this fall as students return to school, an official at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Wednesday.

French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis expanded its animal health business by buying the other half of Merial from its U.S. partner Merck for $4 billion in cash while opening the door for a bigger deal.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel of medical experts from around the country that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended on Wednesday that five groups of people should be vaccinated first.

Hong Kong has found a new variant of the H3N2 seasonal influenza virus, the spokesman for the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said on Wednesday, urging high-risk groups to get influenza vaccinations.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd posted a quarterly loss and cut its 2009 forecast as fears about the flu and the weak economy dampen travel demand, sending the company's shares down 12 percent.

French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis raised its earnings growth goal for the year and outlined new cost savings to help it cope with the effect on profit of patent expiries on a number of its top drugs.

Pregnant women infected with the new H1N1 swine flu have a much higher risk of severe illness and death, U.S. government researchers said on Wednesday, confirming a trend that has worried global health experts.

Russia's consumer rights regulator said on Tuesday that the number of confirmed human swine flu cases has risen to 163,800 worldwide with 998 deaths, according to the RiaNovosti.

Tiny ovarian tumors lurk in the Fallopian tubes for an average of four years before they grow large enough to be detected, researchers reported on Monday in a study that explains why diagnosis usually comes too late to save a woman's life.