Health News

SYDNEY (AFP) - Thousands of children across Australia are to be weighed, measured and interviewed about their diet under a national plan to tackle obesity, the government said.

TUESDAY, July 18 (HealthDay News) -- Obesity surgery has become increasingly popular, but deciding on the right procedure can be a tough choice.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although technically more challenging, laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, a common type of stomach bypass operation, provides greater weight loss in severely obese patients than does placing a plastic band around the stomach to make it smaller, new research shows.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The weight-loss drug Meridia may be a safe, effective treatment for severely overweight children as young as 12, researchers reported Monday.

MONDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- Teenage girls who are obese run a three-fold greater risk of premature death in middle age, according to a new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

HANOI (AFP) - Vietnam may soon get its first sex education website for people too scared to talk openly about reproductive health, a topic widely considered taboo in the communist country.

WEDNESDAY, July 19 (HealthDay News) -- Impotence is more prevalent among men who have more severe coronary artery disease than among men with low levels of the disease.

LONDON (Reuters) - Men suffering from impotence should be screened for cardiovascular disease because it could be an early sign of the illness, Italian researchers said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some sexual enhancement products sold on the Internet contain the same ingredients as prescription drugs such as Viagra and are not only illegal but dangerous, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cautioned on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - Some products touted on the Internet as natural alternatives to impotence drugs like Viagra illegally contain the same active ingredients as the prescription medicines, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Medication errors hurt 1.5 million people every year in the United States and cost at least $3.5 billion, according to a report issued on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress should act to protect generic drugmakers from brand-name company tactics that thwart competition and keep cheaper medicines from U.S. consumers, a generic manufacturer said on Thursday.

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

THURSDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- Medication errors injure at least 1.5 million Americans annually, costing the nation more than $3.5 billion a year, according to a new government report released Thursday.

WASHINGTON - Medication mistakes injure well over 1.5 million Americans every year, a toll too often unrecognized and unfought, says a sobering call to action.

LONDON (Reuters) - Children need to do more exercise than recommended in international guidelines to reduce their risk of developing cardiovascular disease, a team of researchers said on Friday.

Signs and Symptoms: Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a serious infection of the female reproductive organs that may cause severe symptoms, minor symptoms, or no symptoms at all. The most frequent signs of PID include: vaginal discharge with an odor pain during urination aching pain in the lower abdomen fever and chills nausea and vomiting irregular menstrual bleeding pain during sex fatigue diarrhea

THURSDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- Tests suggest that the children of immigrant farm workers in North Carolina have high levels of potentially harmful pesticides.

Walking is the major achievement of this age and over the course of the year your child will likely get much better at it. As your child's mobility improves, so will his or her ability to investigate places he or she couldn't go before. Once again, take a look around your home from your child's vantage point. It's a good idea to childproof your home to keep up with your child's advancing skills.

THURSDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- New research provides more evidence that certain chemotherapy drugs can harm the hearts of young people with cancer and cause worsening cardiac problems decades later.

THURSDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- Flu shots provide only modest protection for people over age 65, and there's little evidence that giving flu shots to health workers protects their elderly patients from the flu, two new studies find.

WASHINGTON - Medication mistakes injure well over 1.5 million Americans every year, a toll too often unrecognized and unfought, says a sobering call to action.

WEDNESDAY, July 19 (HealthDay News) -- The first patch designed to deliver a widely used Alzheimer's medication via the skin appears to minimize side effects while being easy to use, Swedish researchers say.

WASHINGTON - Alzheimer's patients may soon get the first skin patch to treat the creeping brain degeneration, a novel way to deliver an older drug so that it's easier to take and might even work a little better.

ZURICH (Reuters) - Alzheimer's patients wearing a once-daily skin patch experience fewer side effects than those who take the drugs in an oral pill, according to the results of a six-month drug trial released on Wednesday.

THURSDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- Simply asking patients to map their moles on a drawing of their back after a monthly skin self-exam is an easy, low-cost way of reducing melanoma deaths, researchers report.

THURSDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- A new study pinpoints the key role of a specific growth factor in keeping eyes healthy. The finding might even aid cancer research, researchers say.

WASHINGTON - The manufacturers of Prozac and other antidepressants should include prescribing information about an uncommon but life-threatening lung problem that affects babies born to mothers who take the drugs during pregnancy, health officials said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - People taking migraine drugs together with some antidepressants are at risk of a life-threatening condition, health officials warned Wednesday.

NEW DELHI (AFP) - The Indian government's AIDS prevention body has asked a court to scrap a law banning homosexuality, saying the move would help check the spread of HIV/AIDS.

LONDON (Reuters) - Children suffering from a common cold and persistent runny noise should not be treated initially with antibiotics, researchers said on Friday.

WASHINGTON - Medication mistakes injure well over 1.5 million Americans every year, a toll too often unrecognized and unfought, says a sobering call to action.

NEW DELHI (AFP) - India's economy, which is growing at more than eight percent, could suffer a setback if the country does not check the spread of HIV/AIDS, the United Nations Development Programme has warned.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Medication errors hurt 1.5 million people every year in the United States and cost at least $3.5 billion, according to a report issued on Thursday.

BUFFALO, N.Y. - An electronic capsule that becomes a sort of mini-laboratory when swallowed won federal approval, giving doctors another way to diagnose an uncomfortable stomach condition, its inventors said Thursday.