Reuters: Health News

Obama shift seeks to defuse birth-control fight

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:25:29 -0500

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama, in an abrupt policy shift aimed at quelling an election-year firestorm, announced on Friday that religious employers would not be required to offer free birth control to workers and the onus would instead be put on insurers.

Gauging hype during Heart Month: 5 tests you might not need

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:28:10 -0500

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - February is American Heart Month and consumers will be bombarded with advice to keep their ticker healthy -- whether it's from the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women or the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's The Heart Truth.

China probes "bouncing" boiled eggs

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:30:28 -0500

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities are investigating eggs which bounce after being boiled and may make men sterile, state media reported Friday, in the latest food safety scare to hit the country.

Woman: court ruling on pumping breast milk unfair

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:50:30 -0500

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A woman whose firing from her job over a request to pump breast milk was supported by a Texas judge said on Thursday the decision was unfair and discriminatory, and her lawyer said an appeal was under consideration.

'Hunger hormone' could help chemo patients: study

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:02:23 -0500

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A synthetic version of the "hunger hormone" ghrelin might help limit the loss of appetite that can come with cancer chemotherapy, a small study from Japan suggests.

Return to running possible after hip resurfacing

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:01:47 -0500

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Recreational runners who undergo hip resurfacing, an alternative to a total hip replacement, may be able to return to the sport after surgery, according to a recent study from France.

Holiday weight gain affects active people too

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:48:16 -0500

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Contrary to the belief that people who burn a lot of calories are less vulnerable to gaining weight, a new study finds they and slow burners alike tend to put on pounds during the sweets-filled holiday season.

FDA issues plan to avoid heparin contamination

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:35:28 -0500

(Reuters) - Health regulators issued recommendations to ensure the safe production of the blood-clot prevention drug heparin, four years after a contamination involving the widely used product set off concerns about the global pharmaceutical supply chain.

FDA sets draft rules for biotech drug copies

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:46:47 -0500

(Reuters) - The Food and Drug Administration's long-awaited guidelines for the sale of lower-cost versions of biotechnology drugs leave open the possibility that some products might not need to be tested in humans.

New mental health manual is "dangerous" say experts

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:24:02 -0500

LONDON (Reuters) - Millions of healthy people - including shy or defiant children, grieving relatives and people with fetishes - may be wrongly labeled mentally ill by a new international diagnostic manual, specialists said on Thursday.