HEALTH

Young men who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day or more had IQ scores 7.5 points lower than non-smokers, Dr. Mark Weiser of Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer and his colleagues found.

Diabetes is moving from being a disease of developed countries to a disease in developing countries like India and China, and this could put pressure on healthcare systems through rising healthcare costs, said Philip Clarke, associate professor at University of Sydney's School of Public Health.

While we continue to be interested in analyses of ways of reducing tobacco use, we will no longer be considering papers where support, in whole or in part, for the study or the researchers come from a tobacco company, the PLoS Medicine (Public Library of Science) said in an editorial.

Roche had indicated peak sales of the drug for the disease could have hit between 500 million and 1 billion Swiss francs ($466-$933 million), according to Deutsche Bank analysts.

The report by the Institute of Medicine, one of the National Academies of Sciences, urges the CDC to promote policies that make it easier for people to be more physically active, cut calories and reduce their salt intake.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has licensed the vaccine to help protect people aged between 11 and 55 years against potentially deadly meningitis.

Gearing up for a bipartisan meeting it hopes will help seize back control of the healthcare debate, the White House will unveil its own plan on Monday for how to overhaul the $2.5 trillion medical care system.

A report by the Department of Health and Human Services said: These massive increases are disturbing examples of the problems that make reforming our health insurance system more important than ever.

Pooling data from 14 previous studies of moderate drinkers, researchers found that those who drank heavily every so often were 45 percent more likely to develop coronary heart disease -- where plaque buildup in the heart arteries impedes the flow of blood and oxygen.

That may explain why results of the experimental vaccine have been so difficult to interpret, said Dr. Nelson Michael, a colonel at the Walter Reed Army Research Institute of Research in Maryland, who helped lead the trial,

The composition of the vaccine, announced at the end of a closed-door four-day meeting of influenza experts that is closely followed by the world's vaccine makers, means governments that have stockpiled doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine may now use them for part of the seasonal flu vaccine mix.

Flu vaccine makers anxiously await the decision, scheduled to be announced at 5 a.m. EST/1000 GMT, because they need this guidance to start formulating vaccines for the Northern Hemisphere's fall vaccine mix.

U.S. researchers said their observational study was the first to show an independent relationship between positive emotions and coronary heart disease, but stressed that more work was needed before any treatment recommendations could be made.

Researchers sequenced the complete genomes of five southern Africans over the age of 80 -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu from South Africa and four Bushmen from Namibia.

Researchers found that among more than 75,000 Massachusetts patients given drug prescriptions over one year, 22 percent of the prescriptions were never filled. The rate was even higher -- 28 percent -- when the researchers looked only at first-time prescriptions.

They said high cholesterol, high blood pressure and a family history of heart disease were the strongest predictors of a woman's heart disease risk.

In a review of 27 studies that involved nearly 3,000 women, researchers from the Oriental Hospital at Kyung Hee University Medical Center in South Korea found that acupuncture may be more effective than drugs or herbal medicines.

If you thought it was only cigarettes that were dangerous to smoke, think again: People who smoke cigars or pipes have a heightened risk of airway damage that could put them on a path toward emphysema and other diseases, a new study finds.

But 90 percent of the most vulnerable people remain unvaccinated, with only about 61 million Americans having received shots, the CDC said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A hormone thought to encourage bonding between mothers and their babies may foster social behavior in some adults with autism, French researchers said on Monday.

Denmark's Danisco (DCO.CO) launched on Monday a new enzyme for bioethanol production from plant waste material and rival Novozymes (NZYMb.CO) said it would unveil a competing product on Tuesday.

In fact, researchers found, women in their study who'd had the procedure showed lower risks of certain sexual problems and tended to be happier with their sex lives than other women.

In our country, we think the doctor should have all the medical records, said Dr. James McElligott, a pediatrician at the Medical University of South Carolina who worked on the study. I like the idea of putting the ownership back in Mom's hands and empowering her a little bit.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) President and CEO Billy Tauzin said late Thursday he was resigning effective June 30 after five years as head of one of the most powerful lobby groups in Washington.

In 2008, users of Total Body Formula and Total Body Mega Formula started losing their hair and began suffering from fatigue, diarrhea, nausea and other symptoms; some doubled their dose of the liquid supplement in response.

Surveys indicate that calls to abandon the bills, the product of six months of tough compromise among Obama's ruling Democrats, could boost support for Republicans as they look toward November's congressional elections.

Researchers found that of 219 children born before the 26th week of pregnancy, 8 percent met the criteria for an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at age 11. That compared with none of 153 classmates who were born full-term and included in a comparison group.

Doctors in osteopathic medicine (DOs) are medical doctors additionally trained in gentle manipulative techniques to help restore function, range of motion, and lessen pain in bones and adjoining muscles supporting the neck, back, chest, shoulders, and hips.

A UQ researcher has surveyed and interviewed students across three continents to understand the social representations, values, beliefs, attitudes and meanings associated with youth suicide.