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| WHO issues its first guidelines for sodium intake for children Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 11:18 AM PST GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has for the first time recommended limits on children's daily consumption of sodium which it hoped would help in the global fight against diet-related diseases becoming chronic among all populations. In advice to its 194 member states on Thursday, the U.N. agency noted high sodium levels were a factor behind elevated blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, the number one cause of death and disability worldwide. ... Full Story | Top |
| Turkey readies incentives to halt falling birth rate Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 10:16 AM PST ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey plans to offer incentives including free fertility treatment to try to reverse a slowing birth rate after official figures showed the median age of its population has crept above 30 for the first time. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan wants Turkey, a nation of more than 75 million people, to be among the world's top 10 economies by 2023 when the Turkish Republic turns 100 years old. Per capita income has trebled during his decade in power. ... Full Story | Top |
| Users increasingly use Internet to buy drugs: EU report Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 09:23 AM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Virtually any kind of illegal drug can be bought on the Internet and delivered by post to users who no longer need to make direct contact with dealers, an EU study published on Thursday said. It gave no statistics on online drug sales, which are normally conducted on so-called "darknets", or anonymous computer networks. The report, compiled by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Europol, the pan-European police agency, said increased globalization and communication technology made it harder to track drug routes. ... Full Story | Top |
| Celsion plunges 80 percent as liver cancer therapy fails trial Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 08:36 AM PST (Reuters) - Celsion Corp shares plunged by more than 80 percent after a late-stage study of the company's experimental liver cancer treatment ThermoDox failed to meet the main goal of increasing patients' survival without worsening their cancer. The stock fell to a low of $1.41 before recovering slightly to trade at $1.46 on heavy volume on the Nasdaq on Thursday. "I don't believe the data will support (marketing) registration in any of the major markets," Celsion Chief Executive Michael Tardugno said on a conference call. ... Full Story | Top |
| Aetna profit falls on costs and legal settlement Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 08:31 AM PST (Reuters) - Aetna Inc fourth-quarter earnings fell sharply, the health insurer said on Thursday, as costs rose in parts of its employer-based insurance business and it took charges for settling litigation over out-of-network payments. The company said Chief Financial Officer Joseph Zubretsky will lead a new business internally. His CFO slot will be filled by Shawn Guertin, who has been with Aetna since 2011 and was previously CFO of Coventry Health Care Inc , which Aetna is buying. The Hartford, Connecticut company announced plans in August for the $5. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Medicare premium support idea rising from ashes? Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 08:16 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Just months after President Barack Obama's re-election ended Republican hopes of controlling U.S. healthcare policy, one of the most controversial Republican proposals for Medicare is showing signs of rising from the political ashes. Premium support, a policy idea that would greatly expand the role of private insurers in providing Medicare coverage for hospital and doctor services, was considered dead soon after Republican Mitt Romney's November loss to Obama, when polls showed registered voters rejecting it by 2-to-1 margins. ... Full Story | Top |
| Canada's Flaherty reveals skin disease, explains bloating Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 08:01 AM PST  OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty revealed on Thursday he is suffering from a serious skin disease and is taking steroids that make him appear bloated and red-faced, but that the problem is not preventing him from doing his job. Flaherty's health has been a source of speculation in Ottawa for months because of his changed appearance. The minister, 63, has had the rare condition, called bullous pemphigoid, for nearly a year, his office said in a statement. ... Full Story | Top |
| New AstraZeneca CEO plans to invest through tough year Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 06:21 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca's new boss said sales and profits would both fall sharply in 2013 as the drugmaker struggles to turn itself around by investing more in-house and on potential acquisitions. Chief Executive Pascal Soriot forecast a mid-to-high single digit percentage fall in revenue this year, as patent expiries continue to erode business, with earnings declining "significantly more" due to increased operating costs. The 2013 outlook was worse than the fall of around 3 percent in sales that analysts had been expecting, and shares in the group slumped 5.4 percent by 6:50 a.m. ... Full Story | Top |
| Vanda to stop developing anti-depressant, shares slip Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 06:13 AM PST (Reuters) - Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc said it would stop developing its experimental drug for major depressive disorder after it failed to meet the main goal of improving symptoms in patients in a clinical trial, sending its shares down about 8 percent. The company said patients treated with the drug tasimelteon and those on a placebo showed about a 40 percent reduction in symptoms, based on a standard scale that measures severity of depression. The trial, named Magellan, enrolled 507 patients in 43 sites in the United States, and was comparing a 20mg dose of the drug with a placebo. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Little to fear for Fresenius in U.S. health spending cuts Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 05:44 AM PST  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Fresenius Medical Care's focus on a life-threatening illness and its buying power with suppliers mean the world's biggest kidney dialysis provider may cope better with cuts in U.S. healthcare spending than many investors think. FMC's shares have slumped about 10 percent over the past three months on expectation the United States, battling to rein in its budget deficit, will reduce funds for state-run health schemes like Medicare that account for about 30 percent of the German company's revenues. ... Full Story | Top |
| Long-delayed school snack rules to come soon: Vilsack Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 05:16 AM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After more than a year's delay, American schools will soon see new U.S. government rules targeting the kinds of snacks sold to students, a move nutritionists say could play an important role in fighting childhood obesity. Anxious schools have waited more than a year to find out how sales of potato chips, candy bars, sodas and similar treats to students will be restricted. These rules on food sold outside traditional cafeteria meals are a key part of the first major overhaul on school food in more than three decades. ... Full Story | Top |
| UK study strengthens link between GSK flu shot and narcolepsy Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 03:46 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Children in Britain who were vaccinated with a GlaxoSmithKline shot against H1N1 swine flu had a significantly increased risk of developing the rare sleep disorder narcolepsy, according to results of a scientific study. The findings, which have not yet been published in full, are the first firm evidence in Britain that the flu vaccine, called Pandemrix, is linked to narcolepsy cases in children. Research in Finland, Sweden and Ireland has already found clear associations and Reuters reported last week that similar links were expected to be found in Britain. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. porn star Ron Jeremy resting after aneurysm surgery Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 06:07 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Veteran pornography actor Ron Jeremy, one of the industry's biggest stars, was resting after undergoing surgery in Los Angeles on Wednesday for an aneurysm near his heart, his manager said. Jeremy, 59, who appeared in more than 2,000 adult films, drove himself to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles early on Wednesday after suffering from chest pains. "He just felt chest pains, like a very heavy weight," Jeremy's manager Mike Esterman said. "He is being worked on for an aneurysm near his heart. ... Full Story | Top |
| Obesity in girls tied to higher MS risk: study Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 05:53 PM PST (Reuters) - Obese children, adolescent girls in particular, are more likely to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) than normal-weight youth - with extreme obesity tied to a three- to four-fold higher risk of MS. The study didn't prove that carrying around some extra eight in childhood causes MS, a neurological disease in which the protective coating around nerve fibers breaks down, slowing signals traveling between the brain and the body, said researchers whose work appeared in the journal Neurology. ... Full Story | Top |
| Pig proteins may help dementia patients: study Wednesday, Jan 30, 2013 05:37 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A drug containing purified brain proteins derived from pigs may yield modest improvements in patients whose dementia is caused by a lack of blood flow to parts of the brain, according to a new analysis. Researchers in China pulled together results from six randomized controlled trials of Cerebrolysin and found that the drug slightly improved vascular dementia patients' scores on two tests that measure mental impairment. ... Full Story | Top |
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