MEDICINE

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd posted a quarterly loss and cut its 2009 forecast as fears about the flu and the weak economy dampen travel demand, sending the company's shares down 12 percent.

French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis raised its earnings growth goal for the year and outlined new cost savings to help it cope with the effect on profit of patent expiries on a number of its top drugs.

Pregnant women infected with the new H1N1 swine flu have a much higher risk of severe illness and death, U.S. government researchers said on Wednesday, confirming a trend that has worried global health experts.

Russia's consumer rights regulator said on Tuesday that the number of confirmed human swine flu cases has risen to 163,800 worldwide with 998 deaths, according to the RiaNovosti.

Tiny ovarian tumors lurk in the Fallopian tubes for an average of four years before they grow large enough to be detected, researchers reported on Monday in a study that explains why diagnosis usually comes too late to save a woman's life.

A large 15-year study of men who had surgery for prostate cancer found only a small percentage died from cancer, adding to evidence that some men might be able to skip radical surgery to treat the often slow-growing tumors, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

A common and safe blue food dye might provide the best treatment available so far for spinal cord injuries, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

Health officials trying to make best use of antiviral drugs to fight the new H1N1 flu need to do a better job of tracking and treating cases quickly, Italian researchers said on Monday.

Glaucoma patients are likely to lose more of their vision if they suffer minor strokes, a three-year study in Hong Kong has found.

Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr Conrad Murray, admitted to administering the powerful anesthetic propofol to the King of Pop just hours before he died and officials believe this injection is what may have ultimately caused Jackson's death.

Obesity-related diseases account for nearly 10 percent of all U.S. medical spending or an estimated $147 billion a year, researchers said on Monday.

Health care reform in U.S. is a hot topic discussed everywhere from President Obama to any adult who tried to access affordable healthcare in the past decade.

The incidence of one type of heart attack has steadily decreased in the US since 1996, regardless of gender or ethnicity, to the lowest rates in years, according to a new study.

Over-the-counter allergy and asthma drugs helped obese, diabetic mice lose weight and control their blood sugar, researchers reported on Monday.

Indonesia has confirmed its first death linked to the H1N1 flu virus after a 6-year-old girl suffering from severe pneumonia died in Jakarta, the health ministry said.

Saudi Arabia, which is gearing up to host hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims later this year, announced its first death from H1N1 flu Monday.

Enjoying an iced coffee? Better skip dinner or hit the gym afterwards, with a cancer charity warning that some iced coffees contain as many calories as a hot dinner.

Global health officials stepped up efforts to prepare for quick vaccination against the H1N1 pandemic virus, saying on Friday it appeared now to be affecting older age groups spared earlier in the pandemic.

Vaccines should be ready within months for H1N1 flu, which could mutate and become more severe in winter, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

Roche Holding AG's MabThera cancer drug has received backing from Europe to treat patients whose chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) returns, the Swiss drugmaker said on Friday.

The U.S. government has bought 195 million doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine for a possible autumn vaccination campaign, a U.S. federal official said Thursday.