MEDICINE

Morticians who use formaldehyde to embalm bodies have a higher risk of leukemia, researchers reported on Friday.

Past the security man and his pit bull and through a haze of eye-watering smoke, two youths load up a pipe next to a row of shiny glass jars with two dozen varieties of marijuana bud displayed like candy.

The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the Northern Hemisphere, global health officials said on Friday, but they cautioned it was far from over.

Democrats in the U.S. Senate cleared the first procedural hurdle for sweeping healthcare reform on Saturday by voting to open debate on the historic legislation.

The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the United States, health experts said on Friday.

Keeping workers healthy, happy and at work through so-called wellness programs remains a priority for many companies despite financial pressures from the global economic downturn, a survey found on Monday.

New electronic record systems installed in thousands of U.S. hospitals have done little to rein in skyrocketing healthcare costs, Harvard University researchers said in a study released on Friday.

China has promised severe punishment for officials caught concealing deaths from H1N1 swine flu after a medical expert said suspect cases may have been held back by local governments.

Women in the United States should start cervical cancer screening at age 21 and most do not need an annual Pap smear, according to new guidelines issued on Friday that aim to reduce the risk of unnecessary treatment.

Vaccine makers praised the U.S. response to the swine flupandemic on Wednesday but said regulatory delays and public suspicion have held up innovative ways to speed and stretch the U.S. influenza vaccine supply.

The World Health Organization said on Thursday the H1N1vaccine had been cleared of blame for 41 deaths which health authorities worldwide had investigated after suspicions they might have been caused by the inoculation.

Vaccine makers praised the U.S. response to the swine flupandemic on Wednesday but said regulatory delays and public suspicion have held up innovative ways to speed and stretch the U.S. influenza vaccine supply.

Spanish research appearing to show that very heavy drinking can reduce men's risk of heart disease has come under fire from scientists who say the study is flawed and should not encourage anyone to drink more.

Actelion Ltd, Europe's largest biotech company, said on Thursday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would review use of its drug Zavesca to treat a rare neurodegenerative disease early next year.

A small number of people have died after being inoculated against H1N1 pandemic flu, but investigations have shown that the deaths are not due to the vaccines, a senior official at the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

U.S. health officials distanced themselves Wednesday from controversial new breast cancer screening guidelines that recommend against routine mammograms for healthy women in their 40s and said federal policy on screening mammograms had not changed.

Aetna Inc on Wednesday said it expects to eliminate roughly 1,250 jobs by the end of March 2010, reflecting weak economic conditions and the potential impact of health care reform.

Many people in the United States are still not being screened for high levels of so-called bad cholesterol, and when they are found to have it, are often never treated, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG said on Wednesday it would conduct a new late-stage trial to evaluate the effect of one of its drug candidates in combating a thickening of the arteries in patients.

Heart patients in Norway -- where unlike many countries foods are not enriched with folic acid -- were more likely to die from cancer if they took folic acid and vitamin B12 supplements compared with those who did not take them, Norwegian researchers said on Tuesday.

More than half of Britons being offered vaccination against pandemic H1N1 flu are turning it down because they fear side-effects or think the virus is too mild to bother, a survey of doctors showed on Wednesday.