Diseases/Conditions News

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - High-doses of cholesterol-lowering statins that are "lipophilic" -- meaning they are soluble in fats -- may offer protection against cancer, according to a new study that found a significant reduction in the incidence of cancer in users of these statins.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Migraine is commonly associated with a variety of psychiatric disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, and social phobia, a new study shows.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sales of cancer drugs will grow at nearly double the rate of the global pharmaceutical market and could reach $80 billion by 2012, according to IMS Health, which tracks prescription drug sales.

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have unraveled how a horse tranquilizer and hallucinogenic night club drug known as "Special K" can ease depression, researchers said on Friday.

WEDNESDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- Tonsil and tongue cancers linked to human papillomavirus (HPV) are most responsive to current chemotherapy and radiation treatments, while those that express high levels of a growth factor called EGFR are the least responsive and most deadly, a new study concludes.

THURSDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Depression in women and stroke in men are critical factors in the development of Alzheimer's disease, French researchers report.

WASHINGTON - Get your daughters off the couch: New research shows exercise during the teen years — starting as young as age 12 — can help protect girls from breast cancer when they're grown. Middle-aged women have long been advised to get active to lower their risk of breast cancer after menopause.

THURSDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Exercise and counseling are the prescription for improving the quality of life of heart failure patients who suffer depression, a new report says.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The results of a literature review of published studies confirm that while all women are likely to reduce their risk of breast cancer with regular physical activity, certain subgroups benefit more than others.

FORT BLISS, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday said the military had made mistakes in treating returning combat troops including in their physical and mental health care and by providing some sub-standard housing.

LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline said on Wednesday new data showed its Cervarix vaccine generated sustained, high levels of neutralizing antibodies against the two most common cervical cancer-causing virus types for 6.4 years.

LONDON (Reuters) - The popular antidepressant Prozac may help slow multiple sclerosis, according to a Dutch study showing that people who took the drug had fewer of the brain lesions that are a hallmark of the incurable disease.

TUESDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- Even though black and white rectal cancer patients have similar referral rates to oncologists, blacks are less likely to receive chemotherapy or radiation therapy, new research shows.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Helping women who suffer from depression during pregnancy could reduce their risk of remaining depressed after giving birth and, in turn, reduce the level of stress they experience in early parenthood, Australian researchers report.

TUESDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- New research has found both bad news and good news on breast cancer risk.

MONDAY, April 28 (HealthDay News) -- For those with the most severe depression, a novel therapy may offer new hope.

TUESDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- While undoubtedly lifesaving for many women, mammography is far from perfect. But, undergoing breast ultrasound in addition to standard mammography can find more cancers in high-risk women, particularly those with dense breast tissue, a new study found.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Two of the largest and longest studies so far show a "brain pacemaker" can effectively treat depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), researchers said on Friday.

TUESDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- An advanced imaging technique to detect head and neck cancer may not boost a patient's odds of receiving an early or more accurate diagnosis of the disease, new findings suggest.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older patients given antipsychotic drugs are at increased risk of pneumonia, particularly during the first week after starting treatment, Dutch researchers report. Thirty days after treatment begins, however, the risk is no longer apparent.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A protein responsible for repairing damaged DNA may be a vital link to explaining how smoking causes lung cancer, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

THURSDAY, April 24 (HealthDay News) -- New information about how the brain processes social status is outlined in a study by researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Regular exercise in adolescence and young adulthood may help cut a woman's risk of developing breast cancer before menopause, according to a U.S. study published on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For people suffering from depression that doesn't respond to treatment with one type of antidepressant, switching to a different type may be the best treatment, according to a new report.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Blacks with rectal cancer are 23 percent less likely to get chemotherapy than whites, even when they see a cancer specialist, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

TUESDAY, April 22 (HealthDay News) -- Nursing home patients who take antipsychotic drugs are 60 percent more likely to develop pneumonia in the short term than those who don't take the drugs, a new study shows.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adult women who were breast-fed as infants may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer than those who were not breast-fed, unless they were first-born, study findings suggest.

FRIDAY, April 18 (HealthDay News) -- Talk therapy can help treat depression symptoms in patients with terminal cancer, according to Japanese researchers who reviewed the results of six studies that included a total of 517 patients with incurable cancer and depression.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Leading advocates in the fight against cancer Thursday urged lawmakers to overhaul the US health care system to put all Americans on an equal footing when it comes to the country's biggest killer disease.

THURSDAY, April 17 (HealthDay News) -- The antidepressant Prozac has been shown to restore old brain cells to their more plastic youthful condition in animal experiments, researchers report.