Health Headlines - February 9

Dolly's Creator Granted Human Cloning License

The scientist who created Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal, was granted a license Tuesday to clone human embryos for medical research.

Awareness May Remain After Severe Brain Injury

Patients in a minimally conscious state (MCS) -- those with severe brain damage who demonstrate intermittent awareness of their environment -- may retain some degree of cognitive function, even though they can't follow simple instructions or communicate.

Study Backs Controversial Blood-Thinning Drug

A blood-thinning drug not approved for the U.S. market because of questions about liver damage appears to be as effective as other common therapies for preventing strokes and recurring blood clots, according to studies published on Tuesday.

Pfizer Stomach-Cancer Drug Passes Test

Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) said on Tuesday its experimental drug for a deadly form of stomach cancer proved safe and effective in a late-stage trial, prompting researchers to halt the study seven months ahead of schedule.

Sweet Drinks Help Some Preschoolers Pack on Pounds

Preschoolers who drink at least one serving of soda, fruit juice or other sweet beverage every day are likely to become overweight, new study findings show.

Cancer Raises Blood Clot Risk by Sevenfold

Cancer greatly increases the risk that the patients will develop a blood clot in a vein (venous thrombosis), especially in recently diagnosed patients and patients with cancer that has spread to distant sites (metastases).

Blood Infection More Likely in Diabetics

Patients with diabetes are at increased risk of blood infections caused by a microbe called enterobacteria, Danish researchers have found. Frequently, these infections start in the urinary tract before spreading to the blood.

Patient Risk Level Affects Heart Procedure Outcome

Patients undergoing treatment to clear blocked arteries in the heart who have a moderate-to-high risk of a recurrence of the blockage appear to have a better outcome if they undergo heart bypass surgery rather than a less invasive procedure.

Patient Factors Predict Asthma Therapy Response

Specific patient characteristics may help guide doctors in selecting the asthma medication most likely to lead to favorable responses in children with mild-to-moderate persistent asthma, a team of U.S. researchers reports.

UK Respiratory Patients Need Better Care: Study

Patients suffering from the serious respiratory disease COPD are not receiving optimum care and more than 1 in 10 who are admitted to hospital die within 90 days, health experts said on Wednesday.

Canadian Clinic to Try Prescribing Heroin

A clinic providing free heroin to Vancouver addicts is to open later this month to see if prescribing the drug can help addicts who have failed in other treatment programs.

Panel Suggests Blood Safeguard for Mad Cow

To help prevent spread of the human form of mad cow disease, individuals who received a blood transfusion in France since 1980 should be barred from donating blood in the United States, a federal advisory panel recommended Tuesday.

Smallest Baby Born Goes Home From Hospital

A baby born weighing less than a soda can and believed to be the smallest ever to survive went home Tuesday after nearly six months in the hospital.

Embryo Ruling Could Have Ripple Effect

All Alison Miller and Todd Parrish wanted was to become parents. But when a fertility clinic didn't preserve a healthy embryo they had hoped would one day become their child, they sued for wrongful death.

Bush Would Double Ex-Nuke Worker Screening

The Bush administration wants to expand a medical screening program to former nuclear weapons workers at 12 additional sites nationwide, nearly doubling the number of workers who would be screened.

Pfizer: Drug Promising, Trial Ends Early

Pfizer Inc. said Tuesday that a study of one of its cancer drugs was ended early and all patients in the trial are being offered the medication because it was found to be safe and effective.

Marketers of Splenda Sue Over Campaign

So much for being sweet — the Splenda war just turned a little more sour. The marketers of the popular sugar substitute filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Delaware on Tuesday.

Palatin Posts Good Female Sex Drug Data

Biopharmaceutical company Palatin Technologies Inc. and King Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported Tuesday that a mid-stage clinical study showed that their female sexual dysfunction treatment candidate PT-141 increased sexual desire and arousal in women.

Report: Mercury Levels in Vaccines Eyed

A memo from the drug maker Merck & Co. shows that its executives were concerned about high levels of mercury in children's vaccinations nearly eight years before health officials disclosed a similar finding, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Romanian Woman Has Twins, Two Mos. Apart

A 33-year-old Romanian woman who gave birth to a son in December on Monday gave birth to his twin brother almost two months later in what has been called a medical first in Romania.

Fibromylgia Doesn't Mean Inactivity, Study Finds

Many people with fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions can be active without experiencing increased pain, says a study by researchers at the University of Michigan (U-M) Health System.

Gene Variant Ups Osteoporosis Risk

About one in five people carry a variant of a gene that may increase their risk for osteoporosis, researchers report.

Eating Well Staves Off Disability

Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and dairy products appears to help maintain your ability to function normally as you age, a new study reports.

Nicotine Won't Slow Alzheimer's

Although earlier research has suggested nicotine decreases the brain plaque associated with Alzheimer's disease, results of a new mouse study point to the opposite conclusion.

Depressed Moms Raise Risk for Kids' Behavioral Woes

A mother's depression may raise the risk for antisocial behavior in her child, especially when depression occurs early in her child's development, British researchers say.

Researchers Fish for Clues to Cancerous Moles

Research in fish is shedding new light on how human skin moles develop into the deadly skin cancer melanoma.

States Urged to Ensure Health Insurance for All

States should adopt stricter regulations to ensure that individual health insurance is available and affordable for Americans everywhere, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health report.

Regular tooth-brushing benefits heart: study

Regular brushing isn't just good for your teeth, it may help your heart, too, according to a study.

Madrid wants to allow embryo selection to save sick sibling

Spain's Socialist government announced details of a bill that that would allow parents of a child with an incurable disease to conceive another baby to help save the sibling's life.

British goat may also have contracted BSE, scientists say

A goat which died in Britain 15 years ago may have been suffering from so-called "mad cow" disease, scientists said, in the second report of the condition being seen in another species.

Dolly creator wins licence to clone human embryos

Britain granted the scientist who created Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal, a licence to clone human embryos for medical research, triggering an outcry among opposition groups.

Japan moves closer to lifting ban on US beef

Japan moved a step closer to resuming imports of US beef, but only from young cows believed to be free of mad-cow disease, as it conditionally accepted a US method of verifying the age of the cattle.

Spanish prisoner addicts to receive heroin under medical control

Some prisoners in Spain's northern Basque region will be prescribed heroin under a new medically supervised programme for drug addicts.

Indonesia fears dengue epidemic in Jakarta, five other provinces

Indonesia's capital Jakarta and five provinces have been placed under alert for a possible dengue epidemic following a growing number of fatalities and infections, officials said.