Researchers say that they will soon be able to differentiate between “manflu” and the real thing through a simple blood test. They claim that looking at an individuals blood make-up can be used to quickly diagnose and treat ill patients. While the breakthrough could predict the onset of a pandemic, it could also spell the end of manflu – the phenomenon in which men exaggerate the effects of a cold in order to get more sympathy. Dr Aimee Zaas, at Duke University Medical Center, North Carolina, said the technique could help cut down on the overuse of antibiotics. “Current met ... Jump to full article >>

A growing body of evidence suggests that the widely used diabetes drug metformin can reduce the risk of cancer, researchers said Wednesday. A study in mice exposed to tobacco carcinogens shows that the drug can reduce the development of lung tumors by more than 70%, and results from a small clinical trial in Japan suggest it can reduce rates of colorectal tumors in humans. The National Cancer Institute is now organizing a clinical trial to test the drug in people who smoke, and other trials are testing it against breast and prostate cancer. There is not yet enough evidence to recommend using t ... Jump to full article >>

Shortly after taking over as CEO of British Petroleum (BP), Tony Haywood said, “We have too many people [at BP] who want to save the world…we need to concentrate on our primary goal: creating value for our shareholders.” Similarly, a well known anti-tobacco advert features an actor playing a tobacco company executive saying to its customers: “We’re not in business for your health.” Tobacco and oil companies are easy targets, the first causing completely preventable disease and death, the latter consistently befouling the environment and killing endangered species as an integral ... Jump to full article >>

Cancer is the world’s top “economic killer” as well as its likely leading cause of death, the American Cancer Society contends in a new report it will present at a global cancer conference in China this week. Cancer costs more in productivity and lost life than AIDS, malaria, the flu and other diseases that spread person-to-person, the report concludes. Chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease and diabetes account for more than 60 percent of deaths worldwide but less than 3 percent of public and private funding for global health, said Rachel Nugent of the Center for G ... Jump to full article >>

Statin drugs are a valuable treatment for people with heart disease, but three-quarters of the people taking them are healthy, and have been prescribed these medicines in the hope of preventing problems in the future. A new study suggests that statins may offer little benefit to healthy people. What do we know already? Millions of people in the UK take statins to lower their cholesterol levels and cut their risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke. There’s no doubt that statins save lives when taken by people who already have cardiovascular disease, but about three-quarters of people ... Jump to full article >>

Half of would-be mothers are damaging their chances of having a family by allowing themselves to get out of shape, doctors have warned. The scale of the problem was highlighted by a study which found that women having IVF are more than twice as likely to miscarry if they are overweight or obese. With women who conceive naturally facing a similar problem, the study clearly shows that overweight women cannot rely on fertility treatment to help them achieve their dream of motherhood. The finding is also sobering, because half of all British women of reproductive age are too heavy for their height ... Jump to full article >>

When the world’s first test-tube baby was born in 1978, a few lone voices warned that this far-reaching development would almost certainly lead us into uncharted but deep moral waters. Few at that time, however, could have foreseen quite how profoundly in vitro fertilisation would help undermine personal responsibility and our acceptance of the distinction between right and wrong. Quite apart from ethical concerns around the destruction of ’spare’ embryos or their use for experimentation, concerns have been growing about IVF being offered by private fertility clinics around t ... Jump to full article >>

State Sen. Leland Yee’s bill, SB 220, seeks to require insurers to cover anti-smoking programs. With amendments to rein in provisions on copayments and OTC medications, the measure should pass. California requires health insurance companies to cover in-vitro fertilization, bone-density screening for osteoporosis and chiropractic sessions. Curiously, it doesn’t do the same for treatments to help smokers quit. Kicking the habit is, of course, a tremendous boon to the health of individual smokers, but it’s also good public policy and potentially beneficial to insurance companies ... Jump to full article >>

Smokers with plenty of a B-vitamin in their blood have a lower risk of getting lung cancer, a European study suggests. High levels of Vitamin B6 and the amino acid methionine cut the risk by half, according to the study of 400,000 people. Scientists at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said that the results may be a clue to why some smokers never get lung cancer and some non-smokers or former smokers do. Lung cancer is the most common form of the disease in the world and 90 per cent of all cases are caused by cigarette smoking. It kills 1.2 million people a year. [caption ... Jump to full article >>

A healthy diet helps guard against cataracts, while certain medications raise the risks of this common cause of vision loss, two new studies suggest. And a third study finds that smoking increases the risk of age-related macular degeneration, another disease that robs people of their sight. The first study found that women who eat foods that contain high levels of a variety of vitamins and minerals may be less likely to develop nuclear cataract, which is the most common type of age-related cataract in the United States. The study is published in the June issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology ... Jump to full article >>

Menthol cigarettes now account for more than one-quarter of all cigarettes sold in the U.S. In fact, menthols — often described as “cooling,” “soothing,” and “smooth” — make up a growing share of the shrinking cigarette market. Between 2004 and 2008, the percentage of adult smokers who smoked them increased from 30 percent to 34 percent. Experts say that menthol cigarettes’ minty flavor makes them more appealing to young people, more addictive, and harder to quit than regular cigarettes. Menthol is the “ultimate candy flavoring,” ... Jump to full article >>