Check-up MED

By Li Hui and Maxim Duncan QIANTUN, China (Reuters) - Two years short of 70, Zhang Guosheng spends his days caring for an 81-year-old fellow villager - washing his clothes, bringing meals to his bed, and keeping him company - a routine he'll keep up until he himself needs the type of care he is now giving. "Living here is better than staying at home alone. We help each other and have a common language," said the spritely Zhang, an enthusiastic dancer. "We are very happy here. ...

Dear American Consumers: Please don t start eating healthfully. Sincerely, the Food Industry

LONDON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has reported another case of infection in a concentrated outbreak of a new strain of a virus that emerged in the Middle East last year and spread into Europe, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday. In a disease outbreak update issued from its Geneva headquarters, the WHO said the latest patient is an 81-year-old woman with multiple medical conditions. She became ill on April 28 and is in a critical but stable condition. ...

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish pharmaceutical group Lundbeck and Japanese partner Takeda said on Saturday that data from clinical phase III studies with the antidepressant vortioxetine had shown significant improvement in patients' symptoms. Lundbeck said in a statement that the trial showed safety levels consistent with previously completed studies at lower doses. Lundbeck and Takeda submitted vortioxetine, also known as Brintellix, for regulatory approval in the United States and Europe at the end of last year. ...

Men struggle with their wives' breast cancer, but don't always speak up.        

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke painted an upbeat picture on Saturday for the potential of innovation to lift living standards, delivering a sweeping look at the last 100 years that included memories of his 1963 South Carolina home. Bernanke made no reference to monetary policy or the immediate outlook for the U.S. economy in prepared remarks to graduates of Bard College at Simon's Rock, Massachusetts. But the die-hard baseball fan did manage to work in a reference to one of the sport's greats. ...

By Miriam Arghandiwal and Ibrahimi Aziz KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's parliament failed to pass a law on Saturday banning violence against women, a severe blow to progress made in women's rights in the conservative Muslim country since the Islamist Taliban was toppled over a decade ago. President Hamid Karzai approved the law by decree in 2009 and parliament's endorsement was required. But a rift between conservative and more secular members of the assembly resulted in debate being deferred to a later date. ...

Two health care workers in Saudi Arabia were sickened while treating patients with a dangerous new virus, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

You probably feel pretty attached to your memories -- they're yours after all. But one conversation with Elizabeth Loftus may shake your confidence about everything you think you remember.

Earlier this week we saw a breakthrough in this field: A group of researchers published in the journal Cell proof that they had created embryonic stem cells through cloning.

ATLANTA (AP) — A metro Atlanta woman who lost both hands, her left leg and right foot after contracting a flesh-eating disease was on her way back from Ohio Friday after being fitted with prosthetic hands.

By Eduardo Garcia BOGOTA (Reuters) - The Organization of American States on Friday published a report calling for decriminalization of drug use and for greater coordination between nations in tackling the scourge. "The report presented by the OAS today is a vital piece in the construction of a common way to fight this problem," Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said during the presentation of the 200-page report in Bogota. ...

Mini-movies of growing embryos could help boost the success of in vitro fertilization, a new study found. But the number of women who could benefit from the time-lapse technology is unclear.        

By Trevor Stokes NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A review of past research finds that fever-reducing drugs have no effect on the speed of children's recovery from an infection, contrary to the fears of some doctors and parents. Researchers have debated for decades whether lowering a sick child's fever helps the recovery process or interferes with the body's ability to fight the infection. Some previous research has shown that giving children fever-reducing "antipyretic" medications, such as acetaminophen, after vaccinations interfered with their immune responses to the vaccines, for example. ...

In the years I’ve spent writing about infectious diseases I can only think of a handful that have made me squirm: Guinea worm disease, which involves painful extractions of long worms from the human body (blech); Naegleria fowleri, the brain-eating amoeba (pretty self-explanatory); Ebola (because, well, it’s Ebola); and Staph A (full name, Staphylococcus aureus).

By Soyoung Kim and Greg Roumeliotis NEW YORK (Reuters) - Onex Corp has called off its auction of medical imaging firm Carestream Health Inc after failing to find a buyer that was willing to meet its price expectation of as much as $3.5 billion, three people familiar with the matter said this week. Bain Capital LLC, the last remaining private equity firm that was talking to Onex about a possible deal, dropped out of the auction this week, the people said. Another interested party, Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, exited the process earlier, they added. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Four more people in China have died from a new strain of bird flu, bringing the death toll from the H7N9 virus to 36 from 131 confirmed cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. The United Nations health agency said the four deaths were from cases that had already been identified in laboratories. Since May 8, there have been no new cases of infection with H7N9, it added. ...

Touch Bionics donated prosthetics to Georgia woman, 25, who lost her hands to flesh-eating bacteria.        

By Joanne von Alroth SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - The Illinois Senate on Friday voted to approve the use of marijuana for medical purposes, which if signed into law would make it the second-most-populous state in the nation after California to allow the drug's use for medical purposes. The bill, approved by the Illinois House in April, now moves to Governor Pat Quinn's desk to await his signature. Quinn has indicated he is sympathetic to the bill, especially as it would benefit injured veterans. "We fully expect Gov. ...

By Sharon Begley and Caroline Humer (Reuters) - In a boost for President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, two states in the Northwest said on Friday that insurance companies submitted applications to sell policies on the states' health insurance exchanges at rates well below what some insurance executives had predicted. The insurance marketplaces are a key element of the reform law, which is due to take full effect in 2014. A core principle of these exchanges is that competition, along with government subsidies and other measures, will keep rates affordable. ...