Teenagers who smoke, or whose pregnant mother smoked, are at risk of hearing problems, a study claims.

A mysterious case of CJD raises the possibility of a new group of people falling prey to the illness.

Fire investigators comb through debris to determine the cause of the blaze which swept through London's Royal Marsden Hospital.

China is to expand the use of lethal injections to replace executions by shooting, a senior official says.

Almost 50,000 cases of head and neck cancer are diagnosed in the U.S. annually. Most are found when the disease has spread, and less than a year after diagnosis, many recur. Causes include heavy tobacco and alcohol use. Other head and neck cancers are caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus. Early detection is essential to both survival and quality of life. Now, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center say that someday a morning gargle could someday be used to test for head and neck cancer. Their new study of a mouth rinse that captures genetic signatures common to the disease holds promise for screening those at high risk, including heavy smokers and alcohol drinkers: [...] Lead investigator Joseph Califano, M.D., says his group at Johns Hopkins asked 211 head and neck cancer patients and 527 individuals without cancers of the mouth, larynx or pharynx to brush the inside of their mouths, then rinse and gargle with a salt solution. The researchers collected the rinsed saliva and filtered out cells thought to contain one or more of 21 bits of chemically altered genes common only to head and neck cancers. Tumor and blood samples also were collected.

When we think about the powers of testosterone, we usually do not consider mental processes. However, research suggests that testosterone levels may affect men's cognitive performance, reports the January 2008 issue of Harvard Men's Health Watch. All the body's attributes change with age, and mental functions are no exception. Memory is the most fragile mental function. [click link for full article]

Arthritis is exploding in an aging population of U.S. baby boomers and is projected to increase by 40% in the next two decades, according to a new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the National Arthritis Data Workgroup. The report reaffirms that nearly one in five U.S. adults (46 million people) have arthritis and an estimated 67 million people will be affected by 2030. [click link for full article]

Three-year data from the largest, multi-center, prospective voluntary registry on any procedure for benign uterine fibroids showed that 90 percent of the women participating avoided a hysterectomy and of these, 85 percent had a substantial improvement in symptoms and quality of life. [click link for full article]

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Utahns trail US in frequency of cancer screenings Salt Lake Tribune, United States - 6 hours ago

Patients over the age of 60 who have elective surgeries such as joint replacements, hysterectomies and other non-emergency, inpatient procedures, are at an increased risk for long-term cognitive problems, according to a new study led by Duke University Medical Center researchers.The study also found that elderly patients who developed these postoperative cognitive problems were more likely to die in the first year after surgery. [click link for full article]

Southern Africa could be facing a heightened risk of malaria this year, the World Health Organization warns.

The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University has been named a Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine and Training by the John A. Hartford Foundation, the nation's largest private foundation focused solely on aging and health.Alpert Medical School was one of three medical schools chosen from a pool of 27 applicants to earn the Hartford Foundation designation. Rhode Island Hospital received the three-year, $450,000 grant award that accompanies the designation. [click link for full article]

Index to ring finger length ratio (2D:4D) is a trait known for its sexual differences. Men typically have shorter second than fourth digits; in women, these fingers tend to be about equal in length. Smaller 2D:4D ratios have intriguing hormonal connections, including higher prenatal testosterone levels, lower estrogen concentrations, and higher sperm counts. Reduction in this ratio has also been linked to athletic and sexual prowess. [click link for full article]

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz has released new data from the 2007 New York City Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) showing that cigarette smoking among New York City teens declined by 20 percent between 2005 and 2007. The city's teen smoking rate has dropped by more than half over the past six years, from 17.6 percent in 2001 to 8.5 percent in 2007. [click link for full article]

Ordinary MiraclesS. David Nathanson, M.D.Praeger PressSit down with seventy-one early-stage breast cancer survivors, one of them a man, and hear their stories. They will tell you what they experienced, and...

A Consumer Interest Group Finds Cancer Causing Asbestos in Toys, Other Products (PRWeb Jan 3, 2008) Post Comment:Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/U3VtbS1Mb3ZlLUVtcHQtQ291cC1Mb3ZlLVplcm8=

Adverse drug events are more common in older adults because they are prescribed more drugs and are affected differently by these drugs than their younger counterparts. A review article written by Tufts University School of Medicine clinicians, published in American Family Physician, summarizes steps that physicians and other healthcare providers can take to avoid overuse, misuse, and underuse of medication in older adults. [click link for full article]

Hispanic women have a higher chance than other women of having the BRCA1 genetic mutation, which increases the likelihood of developing breast and ovarian cancers, according to a study published in the Dec. 26 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, HealthDay/Austin American-Statesman reports (Stern, [click link for full article]

GenVec to make TNFerade protocol change to Phase II/III pancreatic ... CNNMoney.com - 2 hours ago