Most Emailed Health News

WASHINGTON - French scientists mixed gene therapy and bone marrow transplants in two boys to seemingly halt a brain disease that can kill by adolescence. The surprise ingredient: They disabled the HIV virus so it couldn't cause AIDS, and then used it to carry in the healthy new gene.

Iowa public health officials reported on Wednesday the first confirmed case of H1N1 flu in a house pet: a cat

LONDON - Britain is using genetic tests on some African asylum seekers in an effort to catch those who are lying about their nationality, drawing criticism from scientists and provoking outrage from rights groups.

NEW YORK - Some of New York's biggest companies, including Wall Street giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, received doses of swine flu vaccine for at-risk employees, drawing criticism that the hard-to-find vaccine is going first to the privileged.

LONDON - In Britain, there are no long lines of people seeking swine flu vaccine. Doctor's offices aren't swamped with desperate calls. And there are no cries of injustice that the vaccine is going to wealthy corporations or healthy people who don't really need it.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men who eat a lot of red meat and processed meats may have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer than those who limit such foods, a large study of U.S. men suggests.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Obesity causes more than 100,000 cases of cancer in the United States each year -- and the number will likely rise as Americans get fatter, researchers said on Thursday.

ATLANTA - Only about a third of adults who have tried to get a swine flu vaccine have been able to get it, according to a new national poll released Friday.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Americans are more likely than people in 10 other countries to have trouble getting medical treatment because of insurance restrictions or cost, an international survey of primary care doctors released on Wednesday found.

LONDON - The World Health Organization's flu chief said the swine flu virus has now become the predominant flu strain worldwide.

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Want to be a happy married couple? Consider having kids.

CHICAGO - Advice about soft drinks and health from one of the nation's largest doctors groups will soon be brought to you by Coke.

TUESDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Reports about possible kidney problems, including renal failure, in people taking the diabetes drug exenatide (Byetta) have prompted changes to the drug's prescribing information, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Vets in the US state of Iowa said Wednesday that a household cat had tested positive for swine flu -- the first known case in the world of the new pandemic strain spreading to the feline population.

THURSDAY, Nov. 5 (HealthDay News) -- A new study appears to add to growing evidence that green tea might help protect against cancer.

Many consumers are feeling deceived now that SIGG has been outed for failing to tell the public that its bottles were not BPA-free, at least not the ones that were manufactured before August 2008

MELBOURNE (AFP) - A "miracle" Australian baby has become the first person cured of a rare and deadly brain-melting condition after doctors gambled on an experimental drug tested only on mice, they said on Thursday.

THURSDAY, Nov. 5 (HealthDay News) -- New research sheds light on the possible link between the genes you inherit and the size of your belly.

THURSDAY, Nov. 5 (HealthDay News) -- The reported success of gene therapy in treating two children with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) brings hope to patients with the potentially crippling and fatal brain disorder and their families, says a nonprofit group that supports ALD research.

BOSTON (Reuters) - An experimental vaccine cured nearly half of women with pre-cancerous growths on their genitals, producing major improvement in nearly four out of five, researchers in the Netherlands reported on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Exclusive breast feeding for up to 6 months, though beneficial for an infants' immunity and mothers' weight, may not alter children's health risks over the long term, study findings hint.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US food and drug safety watchdog warned Thursday that an over-the-counter men's sex aid, labeled as all-natural, contains a chemical similar to the active ingredient in Viagra and could be dangerous.

TUESDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) -- A potentially deadly intestinal infection is on the rise outside of hospital settings, especially among the elderly, researchers warn.

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have managed to halt a rare and fatal brain disease with an experimental gene therapy technique using a deactivated version of the AIDS virus, a study published on Thursday showed.

NEW YORK - It seemed like a great idea — doing bypass surgery while the heart is still beating, sparing patients the complications that can come from going on a heart-lung machine. Now the first big test of this method has produced a surprise: Bypass has fewer problems and is more successful done the old way.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives scrambled on Friday to allay lingering concerns about a broad healthcare overhaul and said a landmark vote planned for Saturday could slip a day or more.

TUESDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Low folate levels during pregnancy are associated with higher odds for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in offspring aged 7 to 9, new research has found.

TUESDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Depressed people tend to report more physical symptoms than they actually experience, a new study finds.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Do you have an unchallenging job with little control over what you do? You may be more likely to be a couch potato in your leisure time, a new study shows.

FRIDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Early morning colonoscopies detect more polyps than colon cancer screenings done later in the day, and the number of polyps found decreases by the hour as the day progresses, a new study has found.