Health News

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Obese people find it harder to fight infections, and a weakened immune response may be to blame, suggests a new study from Boston University researchers.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Obese children who watch a lot of television are more likely to have high blood pressure than heavy children who don't spend as much time in front of the tube, the results of a new study shows.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Obesity decreases the chances that a woman will get pregnant, and the more obese she is, the worse her prospects of conception, Dutch researchers said on Tuesday.

CHICAGO (AFP) - Obese mice are less able to fight off bacterial infection than lean mice, according to a study released Monday that supports emerging evidence of a link between obesity and a dysfunctional immune system.

FRIDAY, Dec. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Obesity and diabetes -- risk factors so often linked to heart disease -- can also affect the incidence and severity of cancer, a collection of four new studies suggests.

Latvians seeking free Christmas trees anger rangers

RIGA (Reuters) - Latvian authorities have given residents something to cheer about when they invited them to cut their own Christmas trees for free -- only to be chased away by forest rangers. A Riga forestry agency said on Wednesday a state body had invited residents to cut their trees from forests located 50 km (30 miles) or more outside the capital, but people had instead descended on protected areas around the city.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese company that raked in billions of yuan raising ants to make an aphrodisiac tonic has filed for bankruptcy, an official Web site said.

ATLANTA - In a troubling reversal, the nation's teen birth rate rose for the first time in 15 years, surprising government health officials and reviving the bitter debate about abstinence-only sex education.

BEIJING (AFP) - China's first televised AIDS campaign featuring condoms was launched on Thursday with top music and film stars championing the values of safe sex, organisers said.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China rolled out its first major television campaign on Thursday to promote condom use to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, now mostly being transmitted by sex in the world's most populous country.

(HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of Thomson CenterWatch:

WASHINGTON - Government advisers on Thursday rejected Merck & Co.'s bid for over-the-counter sales of Mevacor, the granddaddy of the famed cholesterol-lowering drugs.

(HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of Thomson CenterWatch:

(HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of Thomson CenterWatch:

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The findings of clinical trials have linked the use of thiazolidinediones, a class of diabetes drugs, with congestive heart failure and possibly heart attacks. Now, new research indicates that these associations, at least with Avandia, also apply to individuals in the community, and not just clinical trials.

(HealthDay News) - First-time parents may be overwhelmed with new responsibilities, and may forget to ask for help with simple tasks such as changing a diaper.

TRENTON, N.J. - The recall of a routine vaccine for babies due to contamination risks could trigger a shortage and likely will alarm parents, but officials said there is no known health threat.

(HealthDay News) - When your child has a fever, it means her body is fighting an infection. Nonetheless, there are things you can do to help her feel better.

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Given that a woman's abdominal mass increases by a third during pregnancy, it's a miracle that such a significant shift in gravity doesn't have her tipping over during her final trimester.

WASHINGTON - Scientists think they have figured out why pregnant women don't lose their balance and topple over despite ever-growing weight up front. Evolution provided them with slight differences from men in their lower backs and hip joints, allowing them to adjust their center of gravity, new research shows.

TUESDAY, Dec. 11 (HealthDay News) -- An intensive, home-based program to improve medical care for low-income seniors produced mixed results, a geriatrics team reports.

MONDAY, Dec. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Even when Alzheimer's disease robs them of the life they once knew, some people can still find love among the ruins.

MONDAY, Dec. 10 (HealthDay News) -- The majority of Americans in Medicare aren't getting screened for colorectal cancer, a major killer, even though the screening is free, a new study finds.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Elderly people with high blood pressure may be more likely to develop thinking and learning problems that can lead to dementia, researchers said on Monday.

THURSDAY, Dec. 6 (HealthDay News) -- The close relatives of people with Parkinson's disease are at increased risk for depression and anxiety disorders, new research suggests.

THURSDAY, Dec. 13 (HealthDay News) -- High-dose chemotherapy has only a minimal effect on survival in breast cancer patients with node-positive disease, new research shows.

THURSDAY, Dec. 13 (HealthDay News) -- "Addiction" to certain growth factors contributes to the development of cancers caused by epigenetic changes, such as the inappropriate activation of a normally silent gene, scientists say.

WASHINGTON - James Peake's nomination as the next Veterans Affairs secretary was sent to the full Senate on Thursday, with confirmation all but assured for the former Army surgeon general who is pledging renewed efforts to fight soldiers' resistance to getting treatment for depression.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court said Friday it will review whether a defendant who is judged competent to stand trial has the right to be his own lawyer, even if he has a history of serious mental illness.

THURSDAY, Dec. 13 (HealthDay News) -- In a discovery that perplexes HIV experts, an international team reports that tiny fibers commonly found in semen drastically enhance the ability of the virus to do its damage.

SAN ANTONIO - Thousands of breast cancer patients each year could be spared chemotherapy or get gentler versions of it without harming their odds of beating the disease, new research suggests.

ST. PAUL - The quest for thicker lashes and defined eyes should get safer on Jan. 1, when Minnesota bans mercury from mascara, eye liners and skin-lightening creams.

JAKARTA (AFP) - Doctors at an Indonesian hospital on Sumatra island Tuesday removed from a one-year-old girl her two deceased triplets, a hospital official said.

ATLANTA - Americans may be too fat, but at least their cholesterol is low. For the first time in nearly 50 years, the average cholesterol level for U.S. adults is in the ideal range, the government reported Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - An advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration recommended on Thursday the approval of a new method for sterilizing women that would give them another option to tubal ligation.