Health News

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Research suggests there is a significant association, mediated through obesity, between symptoms of depression and high blood pressure.

CHICAGO - Fat people are not more jolly, according to a study that instead found obesity is strongly linked with depression and other mood disorders.

CHICAGO - Is it OK for doctors and parents to tell children and teens they're fat? That seems to be at the heart of a debate over whether to replace the fuzzy language favored by the U.S. government with the painful truth — telling kids if they're obese or overweight.

A committee convened by the American Medical Association, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and others is studying childhood obesity. Among the proposals is the use of clearer language to define the problem for doctors and the public.

IN THE KNOW: Nearly 80 percent of Americans insist they check labels on food at the grocery store, a new AP-Ipsos poll shows.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh has been cleared of wrongdoing following his detention at a Florida airport last month, when agents found a bottle of Viagra in his luggage that was not prescribed in his name, authorities said on Wednesday.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - People who spread HIV can be held legally responsible even if they didn't know they had the deadly sexually transmitted disease, California's top court said in an unprecedented ruling.

LONDON (Reuters) - The number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) diagnosed in the UK continued to rise in 2005, with syphilis showing a 23 percent increase, the Health Protection Agency said on Tuesday.

(HealthDay News) -- Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted disease. It can be transmitted between sexual partners, or from an infected mother to a baby during childbirth, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

ATLANTA - Taking up a sensitive issue among religious conservatives, an influential government advisory panel Thursday recommended that 11- and 12-year-old girls be routinely vaccinated against the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who have eating disorders often abuse amphetamines, cocaine and other illicit drugs, new research indicates.

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

BERLIN(AFP) - German drug manufacturer TeGenero said it had filed for bankruptcy, four months after patients developed severe adverse reactions to a drug it was testing in an English hospital.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children who were exposed to psychotropic medications in utero do not appear to be at increased risk for internalizing behaviors such as depression, anxiety, and withdrawal, Canadian researchers report. Impaired maternal mood, by contrast, did increase the risk of internalizing behaviors.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even men who take medication for high blood pressure or cholesterol can dramatically cut their risk of heart disease by adopting a healthy lifestyle, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children with a very high fever, defined as a rectal temperature of 106 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, have a heightened risk for serious bacterial infection and for viral illness, or both, report clinicians in the current issue of Pediatrics.

It's no surprise that parents need some help understanding what it means to eat healthy. From the Food Guide Pyramid to the latest food fad, it can be awfully confusing. The good news is that you don't need a degree in nutrition to raise a healthy child. By following some basic guidelines, you can create an environment that encourages your child to eat right and maintain a healthy weight.

WEDNESDAY, July 5 (HealthDay News) -- Female survivors of childhood cancer are more likely to experience early menopause than other women, a U.S. study finds.

Sleep helps kids grow strong and healthy. Preschoolers typically sleep about 10 to 12 hours during each 24-hour period, but there's no reason to be rigid about which 10 to 12 hours these are. At this stage, the important thing is to help your child develop good habits for getting to sleep.

WEDNESDAY, July 5 (HealthDay News) -- Air pollution, including tiny carbon particles from motor exhaust, works its way into children's airways and diminishes their lung function, British researchers say.

WEDNESDAY, July 5 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have found that genetic abnormalities in molecules that regulate neuron growth may be at the root of Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease.

WEDNESDAY, July 5 (HealthDay News) -- A new drug that's been shown to prevent a major form of blindness among the elderly has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

LONDON (Reuters) - The heatwave across much of southern Britain poses "significant health risks" for the elderly and very young, officials warned on Monday.

WASHINGTON - The first drug shown to significantly improve the vision of patients threatened by a major cause of blindness in the elderly won federal approval Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Genentech Inc. drug that reversed vision loss in some patients won U.S. approval on Friday for treating the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.

THURSDAY, July 6 (HealthDay News) -- Childhood exposure to radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster may raise risks for thyroid cancer, a new report finds.

LONDON (Reuters) - A booster dose of radiotherapy may help stop young women with very early breast cancer from progressing to a more serious form of the disease, researchers said on Thursday.

WEDNESDAY, July 5 (HealthDay News) -- The first generic versions of the popular antidepressant Zoloft (sertraline) have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Research suggests there is a significant association, mediated through obesity, between symptoms of depression and high blood pressure.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - People who spread HIV can be held legally responsible even if they didn't know they had the deadly sexually transmitted disease, California's top court said in an unprecedented ruling.

NEW YORK - Doctors fail to diagnose the flu in the vast majority of young children, depriving them of medicines that could shorten their illness and keep them from spreading it to others, a study suggests.

THURSDAY, July 6 (HealthDay News) -- When soccer fans gather Sunday to watch France and Italy do battle in Berlin during the World Cup finals, new research suggests the enraptured audience will be better able to follow every artful pass and blistering shot on goal because of the brilliant, crisp colors each team will wear.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A variation of a cancer-causing gene called SNP309 interacts with an anti-cancer gene, known as p53, to influence a woman's odds of surviving breast cancer, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

CHICAGO - The tiniest premature infants fed with breast milk in the hospital did better on tests of mental development later in life than did others fed only formula, a new study has found.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Mediterranean-style diets, rich in healthy fats from olive oil or nuts, may be better for the heart than low-fat regimens, a new study shows.