Diseases/Conditions News Headlines

By Kerry Grens NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Prostate removal or radiation therapy to treat cancer is tied to two- to four-fold higher than usual risk of later having a hernia repaired, according to a new study. It's not clear why hernia repairs are more common among these men. There might be tissue damage caused by the cancer …

The label is supposed to improve awareness and treatments for the condition, but similar proclamations about alcoholism and other addictions haven’t been so successful.

By Nick Carey CHICAGO (Reuters) - In order to fight what it described as an "obesity epidemic," the American Medical Association voted on Tuesday to recognize obesity as a disease and recommended a number of measures to fight it. The association voted on the measure at its annual meeting in Chicago. The AMA noted that obesity …

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. introduction of a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer in 2006 has reduced infections with the human papillomavirus or HPV - the sexually transmitted virus that causes the disease - by more than half among girls and young women, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday. The results were better …

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb's diabetes drug Onglyza failed to reduce heart risks in a large clinical study, disappointing investors who had thought it might demonstrate an edge over rivals. The companies, which jointly sell several diabetes drugs, said on Wednesday the so-called …

(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court found the patent on Novo Nordisk's Prandin diabetes drug in combination with metformin to be invalid, paving the way for introduction of a generic version of the medicine, the Danish drugmaker said on Tuesday. In a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court ruling handed …

Researchers have developed an easier method to insert viruses carrying special genes into the eye. Their eventual goal is restoring sight destroyed by blinding diseases.

Loading up on burgers and deli meats may be tempting, but too much red meat could trigger metabolic changes that upset the body’s glucose balance.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The California serial killer known as the "Night Stalker," who died this month at age 53 while on death row for a mid-1980s reign of terror in the Los Angeles area, succumbed to complications of cancer, authorities said. Richard Ramirez, who in 1989 was convicted of committing 13 murders in the Los …

DALLAS (AP) — Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced Monday that a physician with a long career in health policy and research will become the breast cancer charity's new president and CEO.

By Ransdell Pierson (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson said it would pay up to $1 billion for Aragon Pharmaceuticals and its experimental drugs for prostate cancer, to bolster J&J's role in the field after it acquired another experimental prostate-cancer treatment four years ago that has become a leading brand. J&J on Monday …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Watching and routinely examining men with early, slow-growing prostate cancer is more effective and cheaper than sending them to surgery or radiation right away, according to a new study. The findings are based on a model of 65- to 75-year-old men that takes into account costs …

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Increasing the number of hamburgers and other red meat people eat on a daily basis is linked to a higher risk of developing diabetes down the road, according to a new study. "I think the difference is enough to encourage people at least not to increase red meat consumption, …

ZURICH (Reuters) - Japan's health ministry has approved drug Avastin for the treatment of aggressive brain cancer in Japan, Swiss pharmaceuticals company Roche said on Monday. Avastin is the first new medicine approved worldwide for newly diagnosed glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of primary brain cancer, …

Researchers at Canada's McMaster University have taken an alternative path in trying to uncover more information about Crohn's disease. They have developed a new mouse model to study the digestive disorder.

A ruling by the Supreme Court that human genes can't be patented is expected to increase access and drop the cost for tests for gene mutations that greatly raise the risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer.

LONDON (Reuters) - British drugmaker AstraZeneca is deepening its collaboration with academia by roping in more outside researchers to help to find new cancer drugs. Scientists at the Cancer Research UK Paterson Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Manchester will use the company's compounds as a starting …

By Ransdell Pierson (Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co. said on Thursday it halted a mid-stage study of an experimental Alzheimer's disease treatment due to potential liver toxicity, the latest setback in the quest to find a treatment that can slow or cure the memory-robbing condition. Lilly said the Phase II study of the drug, …

NEW YORK (AP) — Eli Lilly and Co. said Thursday that it stopped a mid-stage clinical trial of an experimental Alzheimer's disease drug because of potential side effects on patients' livers.

A Persistent Case of Diabetes Mellitus in Guam

University of Pittsburgh chemists have come up with a breath sensor that's designed to detect and monitor diabetes. Although they have yet to test the prototype on humans, they see a major potential impact of their discovery on both undetected diabetics and those who dread the continual monitoring the condition require …

(Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co and Incyte Corp said their experimental drug was effective in reducing painful symptoms associated with rheumatoid arthritis after 52 weeks of treatment. The drug, baricitinib, is part of a new family of medicines called JAK inhibitors that block enzymes believed to be involved in the inflammatory …

By Bill Berkrot NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global drugmakers said on Wednesday they would cooperate with an independent review to address concerns of a potential link between widely used diabetes medicines and pancreatic cancer and other safety problems. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) this week called for a new evaluation …