Millions stretch and bend on International Day of Yoga in India

Zika infections in Puerto Rico increasing steadily: officials
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Zika infections in Puerto Rico appear to be increasing rapidly, top U.S. health officials said on Friday, raising concerns for dozens if not hundreds of cases of microcephaly.

Hospitalizations for heart failure spike after major holidays
(Reuters) – The number of people admitted to hospitals for heart failure drops on major holidays but then climbs in the days that follow, a new study suggests.

Doctors blame many factors for futile care, themselves included
(Reuters) – Doctors who were asked about causes of inappropriate care at the end of life didn’t have to look far to place blame. They blamed themselves.

WHO backs cut in yellow fever vaccine dose to eke out supplies
GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) – World Health Organization advisers have recommended using a fifth of the standard dose of yellow fever vaccine in the event of a global shortage to combat the worst outbreak of the deadly disease in decades.

WHO says 122 million dollars needed for global response to Zika virus
LONDON (Reuters) – Almost $122 million is needed to prevent and manage the medical complications of the Zika virus spreading throughout the Americas and causing birth defects in babies, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Lifting U.S. curbs on gay blood donors seen years away: experts
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. health regulators are under increasing pressure to remove restrictions keeping most gay and bisexual men from donating blood, but experts say any change would require years of research to guarantee the safety of the blood supply.

Transgender people face challenges for adequate health care: study
JAKARTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Millions of transgender people around the world face major challenges in getting adequate medical care despite multiple health issues, from depression to high rates of HIV, researchers say.

Scancell slumps as drug problem disrupts melanoma trial
LONDON (Reuters) – British drug developer Scancell has suspended dosing in a cancer clinical trial because of quality problems with an immunotherapy treatment, wiping more than a quarter off the value of its shares on Friday.

Patients greeted by robot at Belgian hospital
OSTEND, Belgium (Reuters) – A Belgian hospital has just welcomed its newest staff member: Pepper, a humanoid robot that speaks 19 languages.

Factory snag hits GSK supply, causing Danish anaesthetic shortage
LONDON (Reuters) – Manufacturing problems at a factory in Italy have disrupted production of some GlaxoSmithKline medicines, leading to shortages of a commonly used opioid anaesthetic in Denmark.

UK cost agency speeds approval of Bristol melanoma drug cocktail
LONDON (Reuters) – British melanoma patients will be the first in Europe to receive a new drug cocktail combining two immunotherapy treatments, following an unusually rapid approval by the country’s healthcare cost agency NICE on Friday.

Campaigners to fly drone with abortion pills across Irish border
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Pro-choice groups plan to fly a drone carrying abortion pills from Ireland to Northern Ireland in protest against restrictions on terminations on both sides of the border, activists said on Thursday.

Single motherhood tied to slightly raised heart disease risk
(Reuters Health) – Working single mothers may have a higher risk of heart disease and stroke than their married peers, a study suggests.

Apps perform poorly to find best time for baby-making
(Reuters Health) – Women who turn to the internet and mobile apps to sort out the best time of the month to try getting pregnant may receive bad advice, a study suggests.

Price, stigma may keep patients from using insurance for STDs
(Reuters Health) – Barriers to getting tested or treated for sexually transmitted disease (STD) need to be lowered, a U.S. study concludes.

With dementia, cognitive tests may not predict safe driving
(Reuters Health) – There is no test that can predict if a person with dementia is safe to drive, a new report suggests.

More than 1,000 suspect cases of yellow fever in DR Congo: WHO
GENEVA (Reuters) – The Democratic Republic of the Congo has reported 1,044 suspected cases of yellow fever since March, including 71 deaths, up from three probable cases and 57 laboratory-confirmed a week ago, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

Philadelphia city council passes soda tax after months-long battle
(Reuters) – Philadelphia’s city council passed a tax on soda on Thursday, dealing a blow to the powerful beverage industry and becoming the largest, and only the second, U.S. city with a levy on sweetened beverages.

Health agency reports U.S. babies with Zika-related birth defects
(Reuters) – Three babies have been born in the United States with birth defects linked to likely Zika virus infections in the mothers during pregnancy, along with three cases of lost pregnancies linked to Zika, federal health officials said on Thursday.

U.S. top court puts some limits on government fraud lawsuits
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday imposed some limits on the kind of fraud claims that can be brought against federal contractors in a case involving a suit against hospital operator Universal Health Services Inc over a woman’s death at one of its facilities.

Merck’s Keytruda prolongs life in big lung-cancer study
(Reuters) – Advanced lung cancer patients who took Merck & Co’s Keytruda immuno-oncology medicine in a large trial and were previously untreated went longer without their disease worsening and showed a survival advantage over those given standard chemotherapy, the drugmaker said on Thursday.

Roche skin cancer drugs ‘too expensive’, says UK cost agency
LONDON (Reuters) – Roche’s two-drug combination of Cotellic and Zelboraf for melanoma was rejected by Britain’s healthcare cost agency NICE as “too expensive” on Thursday, in contrast to the green light given in April to a rival cocktail from Novartis.

Zimbabwe doctors say insurers owe 220 mln dollars, will now take cash only
HARARE (Reuters) – Doctors in Zimbabwe will no longer accept patients with medical insurance from July 1 due to insurers owing them $220 million, the main doctors’ association said on Thursday, leaving thousands to pay cash or rely on underfunded state hospitals.

Singapore team rubs shoulders discreetly with hi-tech massage jacket
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A Singapore design team claims to have come up with a solution to coping with aches and pain in the office – a jacket that massages your muscles and attempts to correct your posture.

Australian watchdog files suit against health insurer Medibank
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia’s consumer watchdog has filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court against the country’s largest private health insurer, Medibank Private Ltd, alleging it failed to notify customers in advance about a move to limit benefits for pathology and radiology services while in hospital.

No birth defects seen in babies exposed to Zika late in pregnancy: study
CHICAGO (Reuters) – A study of Zika infections in Colombia has found no obvious birth defects among women infected during the third trimester of pregnancy, raising hopes that Zika may not cause serious harm to the fetus when mothers are infected later in pregnancy.

Sleep apnea tied to heart risk even after arteries are cleared
(Reuters Health) – For people who have had a procedure to open blocked heart arteries, untreated sleep-breathing problems like snoring or apnea may raise the risk of a future heart attack or stroke, researchers say.

People can choose their colon cancer screening method: U.S. panel
(Reuters Health) – U.S. adults should choose the type of colon cancer screening they feel most comfortable with, the government-backed U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now advises.

With diabetes, losing weight lowers heart risks, even if you regain it
(Reuters Health) – A large weight loss, even if regained, may help overweight people with type 2 diabetes improve their blood sugar control and cholesterol and lower high blood pressure long-term, a new study suggests.

India to vaccinate 300,000 children after polio strain found in sewage
NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – India plans to urgently immunize around 300,000 children against the crippling polio virus after a strain of the highly contagious disease was detected in sewage in the southern city of Hyderabad, the ministry of health said on Wednesday.

For teen girls, risky dieting tied to family conflict, depression
Young teen girls are more likely to count calories, skip meals and engage in other risky dieting behaviors if they’re experiencing family conflict or have symptoms of depressed mood, according to a new study from Australia.

U.S. diabetes patients living longer, more active lives
Advances in healthcare and medicine are helping people with diabetes live longer, more active lives than in previous generations, according to a new study. It’s been known that life expectancy for diabetes patients has been increasing – but their quality of life hasn’t been well studied.

Fiber in fruits and breads tied to healthy aging
Eating lots of fiber-rich fruits and breads may be one way to live longer without developing chronic diseases, an Australian study suggests.

Can coffee cause cancer? Only if it’s very hot, say WHO scientists
LONDON, (Reuters) – There is no conclusive evidence that drinking coffee causes cancer, the World Health Organization’s cancer agency will say as it downgrades its warning, but it will also say all “very hot” drinks are probably carcinogenic.

Second study this week links whole grains with long life
(Reuters Health) – Bumping up whole grain intake even slightly may lower the risk of death from heart disease, cancer and other chronic diseases, according to review published Tuesday in The BMJ.

Senators introduce bill aimed at getting generic drugs to market
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Four U.S. senators – two Democrats and two Republicans – introduced a bill on Tuesday aimed at preventing big pharmaceutical companies from using safety rules to prevent generic drugs from coming to market.

Potentially abusive behavior may be common among family caregivers
(Reuters Health) – When elderly people are dependent on family caregivers, potentially abusive carer behaviors are common and need to be detected early, before the situation deteriorates into elder abuse, researchers warn.

Zimmer Biomet breached deferred prosecution deal, U.S. says
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Medical device maker Biomet Inc breached a deferred prosecution agreement it reached in 2012 to resolve a foreign corruption investigation, U.S. prosecutors said in a court filing.

Start school later to prevent sleep-deprived teens: U.S. doctors
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The American Medical Association on Tuesday urged starting school later in the morning for teenagers so they can get enough sleep.

U.S. food regulators warn Whole Foods on Massachusetts plant
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. food safety regulators have warned Whole Foods Market Inc that inspections at the grocer’s Everett, Massachusetts, plant turned up violations that could result in food being “contaminated with filth or rendered injurious to health.”

El Salvador says confirms first case of microcephaly linked to Zika
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – El Salvador confirmed on Tuesday its first case of microcephaly in a baby linked to the Zika virus, the health ministry said.

U.S. doctors call gun violence a ‘public health crisis’
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history has prompted the American Medical Association to call gun violence a “public health crisis” and urge that Congress fund research into the problem.

WHO sees ‘very low’ risk of further Zika spread due to Olympics
GENEVA (Reuters – There is a “very low risk” of further international spread of Zika virus as result of the Olympic Games to be held in Brazil, the heart of the current outbreak linked to birth defects, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said on Tuesday.

For some diabetics, obesity surgery may mean less eye and nerve damage
(Reuters Health) – Patients whose diabetes improves after weight-loss surgery may also be less likely to suffer complications like eye and nerve damage, a U.S. study suggests.

Family doctors don’t always screen smokers for lung cancer
(Reuters Health) – Many family physicians don’t believe lung cancer screening can reduce deaths from these tumors, and some don’t offer tests even to longtime smokers, a U.S. survey suggests.

Most women with pregnancy-related diabetes don’t get timely screening later
(Reuters Health) – Three-quarters of women who develop diabetes during pregnancy are not screened for diabetes again within one year after giving birth, according to a new study.

Lilly’s Jardiance slows kidney disease progression in diabetics
(Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co’s Jardiance diabetes drug slashed the risk of progressive kidney disease in adults with type 2 diabetes in a large trial that had already proved the medication’s ability to greatly reduce cardiovascular deaths and hospitalizations for heart failure.

GlaxoSmithKline says vaccines business head to retire
(Reuters) – Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc said Moncef Slaoui, chairman of its vaccines business, would retire next year.

Shire buys bowel drug rights from Pfizer
(Reuters) – Irish drugmaker Shire Plc said it would buy the rights to an experimental bowel drug from Pfizer Inc to bolster its pipeline of gastrointestinal treatments.

French prosecutors open probe into fatal drug trial
PARIS (Reuters) – Paris prosecutors said on Tuesday they have begun an involuntary manslaughter investigation into a failed drug trial that left one dead and five hospitalized in January.

Mesoblast regains full rights to stem cell heart failure treatment
(Reuters) – Mesoblast Ltd on Monday said it had regained full rights to its experimental stem cell therapy for advanced chronic heart failure, which is currently in late stage testing, from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries.

Democrats urge an end to curbs on blood donations from gay men
(Reuters) – Congressional Democrats on Monday urged the removal of U.S. restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, calling the policy unwarranted in the aftermath of Sunday’s shooting rampage at a gay nightclub in Florida.

Too fat, too thin: Report finds malnutrition fuels disease worldwide
LONDON (Reuters) – A third of people worldwide are either undernourished or overweight, driving increasing rates of disease and piling pressure on health services, a global report showed on Tuesday.

Revance to stop developing crow’s feet drug after trial failure
(Reuters) – Revance Therapeutics Inc said it would discontinue the development of its drug to treat crow’s feet after the topical gel failed a late-stage study.

One in five nursing home residents abused by other residents
(Reuters Health) – At least one in five nursing home residents may endure verbal or physical abuse from their roommates or other residents, a U.S. study suggests.

KemPharm says FDA does not approve its painkiller
(Reuters) – KemPharm Inc said the U.S. health regulator did not approve its abuse-deterrent version of a painkiller, sending the drug developer’s shares down more than 30 pct in extended trade.

Too little sleep linked to health problems in children, teens
(Reuters Health) – Updated sleep recommendations for children and teens point to the benefits of getting enough sleep and the dangers of getting too little.