Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Aid groups say struggling to get to Libya's needy
LONDON (Reuters) - Wounded people in Libya cannot access vital medicines and care because armed men are blocking roads and civilians are too scared to seek help, international health aid groups said on Thursday. The charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, which has an eight-person team in Libya's second city of Benghazi, said it was desperate to answer a plea for help from a doctor in Misrata, around 200 kilometers (km) east of Tripoli, where it said clashes have reportedly left many people wounded.
Measles cases on rise in Boston
BOSTON (Reuters) - Health officials tracking a measles outbreak said on Wednesday there are now a total of five confirmed and suspected cases in Boston. The tally includes a second confirmed case of measles in a woman living in the same building as a woman diagnosed last month, city health officials said. Three more suspected cases are being monitored, with final lab results expected sometime next week.
Expanding Medicaid will cost states billions: study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The costs to U.S. states of the Medicaid insurance program for the poor will grow by hundreds of billions of dollars under the healthcare law passed last year, according to a report released by Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday. "This law, because of Medicaid expansions, has put a strain on state budgets," Senator Orrin Hatch, one of the report's sponsors, told a meeting of hospital administrators on Tuesday. "Medicaid expansions threaten to bankrupt the states."
Latest J&J recall involves sterility-risk sutures
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson, <JNJ.N> which has been plagued by repeated recalls of its consumer medicines and medical devices over the past year, on Wednesday said it recalled 107 batches of surgical sutures in December due to potential sterility problems. The recall came to light on Wednesday after the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) described the action on the agency's website.
Designer drug abuse out of control: U.N. drugs board
LONDON (Reuters) - The problem of so-called "designer drugs" is running out of control in many regions of the world, the U.N. global drugs watchdog said Wednesday. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said detailed instructions for how to make designer drugs, which are slightly altered to bypass existing control systems, are often shared via the Internet.
Rising status of women linked to more smoking
LONDON (Reuters) - Millions of women in developing countries risk disease and early death in the coming decades as their rising economic and political status leads them to smoke more, researchers said on Tuesday. An analysis in 74 countries found that men are five times more likely to smoke than women in countries with lower rates of female empowerment, such as China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Uganda.
EPA says big budget cut would hurt public health
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ability to protect citizens from premature death and other health problems would be gutted if Congress slashes funding as threatened by Republican lawmakers, its chief said on Wednesday. Republicans in the House of Representatives have been trying to cut the EPA's budget for this year, saying its regulations on clean air and water hurt businesses.
Diabetics have higher risk of death from cancer
LONDON (Reuters) - Doctors know that diabetics have a higher than normal risk of dying of heart attacks or strokes, but new research on Wednesday showed that having diabetes also ups the risk of dying from many cancers and other diseases. The findings shed light on the potential burden of disease that will build in the future as the number of cases of diabetes is predicted to rise dramatically in coming decades.
Report stresses options for colon cancer screening
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women should be aware that they have several options for colon cancer screening, and not only the often-dreaded colonoscopy, according to a new report from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). The statement does not veer from guidelines from major medical groups like the American Cancer Society and the American College of Gastroenterology -- which consider colonoscopy the "preferred" screening test.
Extreme flexibility comes with triple migraine risk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with severe forms of double jointedness have a greater risk of suffering from migraine headaches, a new study finds. They also tend to have more severe and more frequent migraines. Researchers say that the two conditions -- "joint hypermobility syndrome" and migraines -- may have causes rooted in the same problem.
Aid groups say struggling to get to Libya's needy
LONDON (Reuters) - Wounded people in Libya cannot access vital medicines and care because armed men are blocking roads and civilians are too scared to seek help, international health aid groups said on Thursday. The charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, which has an eight-person team in Libya's second city of Benghazi, said it was desperate to answer a plea for help from a doctor in Misrata, around 200 kilometers (km) east of Tripoli, where it said clashes have reportedly left many people wounded.
Measles cases on rise in Boston
BOSTON (Reuters) - Health officials tracking a measles outbreak said on Wednesday there are now a total of five confirmed and suspected cases in Boston. The tally includes a second confirmed case of measles in a woman living in the same building as a woman diagnosed last month, city health officials said. Three more suspected cases are being monitored, with final lab results expected sometime next week.
Expanding Medicaid will cost states billions: study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The costs to U.S. states of the Medicaid insurance program for the poor will grow by hundreds of billions of dollars under the healthcare law passed last year, according to a report released by Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday. "This law, because of Medicaid expansions, has put a strain on state budgets," Senator Orrin Hatch, one of the report's sponsors, told a meeting of hospital administrators on Tuesday. "Medicaid expansions threaten to bankrupt the states."
Latest J&J recall involves sterility-risk sutures
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson, <JNJ.N> which has been plagued by repeated recalls of its consumer medicines and medical devices over the past year, on Wednesday said it recalled 107 batches of surgical sutures in December due to potential sterility problems. The recall came to light on Wednesday after the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) described the action on the agency's website.
Designer drug abuse out of control: U.N. drugs board
LONDON (Reuters) - The problem of so-called "designer drugs" is running out of control in many regions of the world, the U.N. global drugs watchdog said Wednesday. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said detailed instructions for how to make designer drugs, which are slightly altered to bypass existing control systems, are often shared via the Internet.
Rising status of women linked to more smoking
LONDON (Reuters) - Millions of women in developing countries risk disease and early death in the coming decades as their rising economic and political status leads them to smoke more, researchers said on Tuesday. An analysis in 74 countries found that men are five times more likely to smoke than women in countries with lower rates of female empowerment, such as China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Uganda.
EPA says big budget cut would hurt public health
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ability to protect citizens from premature death and other health problems would be gutted if Congress slashes funding as threatened by Republican lawmakers, its chief said on Wednesday. Republicans in the House of Representatives have been trying to cut the EPA's budget for this year, saying its regulations on clean air and water hurt businesses.
Diabetics have higher risk of death from cancer
LONDON (Reuters) - Doctors know that diabetics have a higher than normal risk of dying of heart attacks or strokes, but new research on Wednesday showed that having diabetes also ups the risk of dying from many cancers and other diseases. The findings shed light on the potential burden of disease that will build in the future as the number of cases of diabetes is predicted to rise dramatically in coming decades.
Report stresses options for colon cancer screening
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women should be aware that they have several options for colon cancer screening, and not only the often-dreaded colonoscopy, according to a new report from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). The statement does not veer from guidelines from major medical groups like the American Cancer Society and the American College of Gastroenterology -- which consider colonoscopy the "preferred" screening test.
Extreme flexibility comes with triple migraine risk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with severe forms of double jointedness have a greater risk of suffering from migraine headaches, a new study finds. They also tend to have more severe and more frequent migraines. Researchers say that the two conditions -- "joint hypermobility syndrome" and migraines -- may have causes rooted in the same problem.
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