http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A panel of U.S. health experts ruled Thursday that an experimental diabetes drug from Johnson & Johnson is safe and effective, though lingering safety questions must be tracked over the long term. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-fda-panel-diabetes-pill-jj.html Medications Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:11:23 EST news277060272 Half of the benefit of taking sleeping pills comes from the placebo effect, according to a major new study published in the British Medical Journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-pills-benefits-placebo-effect.html Medications Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:01:03 EST news275068840 In Laura West's household, a 24-pack of Diet Coke lasts about a week. She drinks two or three a day, her 15-year-old-son Michael at least that many. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-no-calorie-no-worry-sodas-necessarily.html Health Thu, 13 Dec 2012 11:50:01 EST news274619117 HIV infection among crisis-hit Greece's drug users is reaching "epidemic" proportions with recorded cases marking a 35-fold increase from 2010, health experts warned Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-hiv-cases-epidemic-scale-greece.html HIV & AIDS Fri, 30 Nov 2012 12:55:52 EST news273502544 Doctors should give underage teenagers prescriptions for emergency contraceptives such as Plan B before they start having sex instead of waiting until a young patient's "plan A" goes awry, the American Academy of Pediatrics says in a new policy statement. It says doctors should also counsel teens on the options for emergency birth control as part of an overall strategy to reduce teen pregnancy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-policy-urged-teens.html Health Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:40:01 EST news273172664 New research into controversial pay-for-performance schemes has suggested they may help to save the lives of NHS patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-financial-incentives-hospital-mortality.html Health Wed, 07 Nov 2012 17:00:14 EST news271518169 Asia is hit with 30 million cases of malaria a year resulting in 42,000 deaths, a report said Friday as experts called for an urgent response to the disease which stalks billions in the region. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-killer-malaria-asia.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 02 Nov 2012 11:30:02 EST news271059970 Drug-resistant malaria is spreading in Asia, experts warned as a high-level conference opened Wednesday with the aim of hammering out an action plan to strengthen the region's response. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-asia-drug-resistant-malaria.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:10:02 EST news270920942 More than half of young Australians are consuming too much sugar, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Wollongong and University of Sydney. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-reveals-australian-children-overdosing-sugar.html Health Fri, 19 Oct 2012 07:49:07 EST news269851741 Cambodian villagers armed with a little medical know-how—and their mobile telephones—are the nation's new foot soldiers in the fight against drug-resistant malaria. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-cambodians-malaria-button.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 17 Sep 2012 05:00:02 EST news267075717 (AP)—New York City cracked down on the sale of supersized sodas and other sugary drinks Thursday in what was celebrated by some as a groundbreaking attempt to curb obesity but condemned by others as a blatant intrusion into people's lives by a busybody mayor. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-nyc-big-sugary-eateries-theaters.html Health Thu, 13 Sep 2012 12:22:20 EST news266757726 (AP)—The City Council has voted to add fluoride to Portland's water, meaning Oregon's largest city is no longer the biggest holdout in the U.S. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-portland-ore-adding-fluoride.html Health Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:36:49 EST news266679377 India is considering plain packaging of cigarettes in line with new Australian laws that ban all logos and brand descriptions, a top health official in New Delhi said on Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-india-mulls-plain-packaging-cigarettes.html Health Wed, 05 Sep 2012 07:00:10 EST news266047202 (HealthDay) -- Health experts are strongly refuting the assertion by a Republican Congressman that pregnancy is much more unlikely if a woman is raped. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-truth-akin-rape-hinders-pregnancy.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:30:01 EST news264774296 Gay sex in a conservative Catholic society where the influential church forbids the use of condoms is fuelling an alarming rise of HIV infections in the Philippines, experts warn. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-gay-sex-fuels-hiv-catholic.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 26 Jul 2012 10:26:22 EST news262517176 Could a low-cost screening device connected to a cell phone save thousands of women and children from anemia-related deaths and disabilities? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-undergrads-cell-screener-combat-anemia.html Medical research Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:52:04 EST news262363911 A new Cochrane systematic review of the effects of electric fans in heatwaves has found no high quality evidence to guide future national and international policies. The review outlines the type of study that would help resolve the uncertainty which is spelt out in a podcast and an editorial all published today in The Cochrane Library. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-cochrane-reliable-evidence-effectiveness-electric.html Health Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:23:45 EST news261228193 "The South African government should develop a plan to make healthy foods such as fruit, vegetables, and whole grain cereals more available, affordable, and acceptable, and non-essential, high-calorie, nutrient-poor products, including soft drinks and some packaged foods and snacks, less available, more costly, and less appealing to the South African population," write international health experts in this week's PLoS Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-south-african-big-food-corporations.html Overweight and Obesity Tue, 03 Jul 2012 17:00:06 EST news260553049 (HealthDay) -- As the first major heat wave of the summer engulfs the continental United States, health experts are urging people to take special precautions when dealing with scorching temperatures and oppressive humidity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-as-heat-builds-take-steps.html Health Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:00:01 EST news259430185 A soda war fizzed in New York on Tuesday as the city health department began to consider a proposal by health-conscious Mayor Michael Bloomberg to ban super-sized soft drinks. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-soda-wars-fizz-york.html Health Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:37:50 EST news258741465 Health experts agree that reducing the stigma associated with adolescent mental illness is an essential step toward increasing the number of teenagers who seek the help they need. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-adolescents-root-stigma-mental-illness.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 07 Jun 2012 12:55:06 EST news258292498 Better care has cut the number of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth by nearly half in the past two decades, but there is still a death every two minutes, according to UN figures released Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-maternal-deaths.html Health Wed, 16 May 2012 05:30:01 EST news256364124 (AP) -- Vietnam has asked international health experts to help investigate a mystery illness that has killed 19 people and sickened 171 others in an impoverished district in central Vietnam, an official said Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-vietnam-killer-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 20 Apr 2012 05:30:02 EST news254117750 April Dunlap was 17 and weighed 165 pounds when she began a diet and exercise regimen. After three months, the 5-foot-5 teen had lost the 20 pounds she had hoped to shed. But she kept going. "It was like a drug," she said. "I always wanted to lose a little more." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-experts-disorders.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:50:01 EST news253882196 Early symptoms of major mental illness can be subtle personality changes. Therefore, initial warning signs can often be missed, or even ignored due to conventional wisdom that suggests it's better to wait for true behavioral deterioration and prolonged patterns of abnormality before diagnosing and treating a mental illness. But experts warn that waiting until someone is so ill that the psychological sickness is unmistakable can be detrimental and can lead to long-term health concerns. In an effort to end the waiting game, Northwestern Medicine behavioral health experts from the Stone Institute of Psychiatry at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have launched First Contact, a program aimed at preventing the onset of long-term disability due to severe mental illness by increasing awareness of signs and symptoms and encouraging people to seek help earlier. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-contact-early-intervention-key-diagnosis.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:53:10 EST news253803160 Health experts have warned parents of children with asthma to take the condition more seriously as new data reveals that in recent years asthma-related deaths among people under 15 have increased for the first time. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-death-children-asthma-isrising.html Inflammatory disorders Thu, 05 Apr 2012 08:43:13 EST news252834185 A global health alliance Monday unveiled plans for the first clinical tests of a new treatment regimen for tuberculosis, including for patients with resistance to existing multidrug programs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-trial-drug-resistant-tb-treatment.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:55:05 EST news251384097 The study of more than 11,000 pregnant women, in partnership with Mars Petcare, showed that those who owned dogs were approximately 50% more likely to achieve the recommended 30 minutes of exercise a day through high levels of brisk walking than those without dogs. Scientists suggest that as it is a low-risk exercise, walking a dog could form part of a broader strategy to improve the health of pregnant women. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-dog-pregnant-women.html Health Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:00:12 EST news248543788 Most parents report that they typically require their child to use a life-saving booster seat, but more than 30 percent said they do not enforce this rule when their child is riding with another driver. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-urges-parents-booster-seat-carpooling.html Health Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:53:06 EST news247117977 A group of international health experts has called for a special session of the United Nations (referred to as UNGASS - United Nations General Assembly Special Session) to focus global attention on mental, neurological, and substance use disorders as a core development issue requiring commitments to improve access to care, promote human rights, and strengthen the evidence on effective prevention and treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-international-health-experts-special-session.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:38:56 EST news246044332