Diseases/Conditions News Headlines

FRIDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Women with advanced breast cancer who have higher levels of fitness during treatment tend to live longer than women with lower levels of fitness during treatment, new research finds.

FRIDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- People in lower Manhattan whose homes were damaged in the 9/11 terrorist attacks are more likely to have symptoms of respiratory diseases than those whose homes were not damaged, a new study indicates.

FRIDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors have long known that some kids suffering severe emotional turmoil find relief in physical pain -- cutting or burning or sticking themselves with pins to achieve a form of release.

FRIDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer patients' primary goal in talking with their doctors about information they've found on the Internet is to get more insight and advice on the online information, new research indicates.

FRIDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Only one in 14 Hispanic adults in the United States has ever been screened for skin cancer, far fewer than the one in four whites screened, a new study finds.

FRIDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Pregnant women who received a flu shot to protect them against the H1N1 swine flu virus had a significantly reduced risk of stillbirth, preterm birth and of having a baby small for gestational age, according to a new study.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cancer treatment can sometimes lead to infertility, but young women are less likely than young men to be informed of that risk, a new study suggests. Swedish researchers found that of nearly 500 cancer survivors ages 18 to 45, most men -- 80 percent -- said their doctor had told them their chemotherapy …

GENEVA (Reuters) - The world's health ministers have agreed to try to cut premature deaths from chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and cancer by 25 percent by 2025, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday. Heart disease, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory illnesses are the biggest killer …

FIRST PERSON | For many obese people, the risk of dying of heart disease might not be any higher than it is for their thinner friends, British researchers believe. This startling conclusion comes after years of warnings from the medical community of the link between obesity and cardiovascular disease and early death.

The data on PSA testing to detect prostate cancer has long been shaky -- so much so that the discoverer of PSA (or prostate-specific antigen, an enzyme made by the prostate) himself decried the test two years ago as "hardly more effective than a coin toss."

(Reuters) - A U.S. health advisory panel on Thursday issued a split vote on data for Pfizer Inc's drug to treat a rare neurodegenerative disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel voted 13 to 4 that the drug did not show that it met the main goal in a study in treating the fatal condition. However, the panel also …

THURSDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- While fewer people in the United States are dying from strokes, the number of strokes has remained about the same, health officials report. And their findings bear out the South's reputation as the nation's so-called "stroke belt."

THURSDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- Detailed information about a person's genetic makeup and their environmental risk factors does not significantly change their disease risk prediction, according to the results of a new simulation study.

THURSDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- About nine percent of all asthma cases in the United States are caused or made worse by work-related exposures, a new federal study says.

Georgia Woman Who Lost Limbs to Infection Can Now Breathe on Her Own

(Reuters) - The new mother of twins fighting a flesh-eating infection in South Carolina remained in critical condition on Thursday, but a hospital spokeswoman said she showed slight improvement. Lana Kuykendall, 36, has now undergone 11 surgeries to remove dead tissue since she was admitted to the hospital on May 11 with …

(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc said a U.S. health advisory panel voted against its drug to treat a rare neurodegenerative disease as the data did not show enough evidence of efficacy. The panel's recommendation will be considered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration when it takes a decision on tafamidis, a relatively minor …

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Doctors find a high number of malignant tumors when a state-wide skin cancer screening program is introduced, says a new study. Based on results from a program in Germany, researchers say 116 people need to be screened for skin cancer and five people need to have a biopsy to find one malignant …

(Reuters) - Biopharmaceutical company MediciNova Inc said its experimental asthma drug failed to meet the main goal of a second mid-stage trial, sending its shares down as much as 51 percent in extended trade. MediciNova, which is testing MN-221 as a treatment for acute asthma attacks not responsive to standard therapy, …

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Sanofi-Aventis plans to begin testing a novel compound that is designed to starve liver cancer to death in a phase one human clinical trial in China and possibly South Korea in 2013. The compound, called slit-trap, was developed by its Chinese collaborator, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, …

WEDNESDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- Some cancer doctors may build up emotional walls -- distancing themselves from the patients they can't save -- to avoid grief, sadness and even despair, new research shows.

(Reuters) - Interim results from a mid-stage trial of Celldex Therapeutics Inc's experimental drug showed trends toward reducing tumors in patients with advanced breast cancer, with rates improving for those patients with high levels of a key protein. Celldex shares dropped 8 percent in after-hours trading. The drug, CDX-011, …

(Reuters) - Biopharmaceutical company MediciNova Inc said its experimental asthma drug failed to meet the main goal of a second mid-stage trial, sending its shares down as much as 51 percent in extended trade. MediciNova, which is testing MN-221 as a treatment for acute asthma attacks not responsive to standard therapy, …