Health Newstrack

E-cigarette – 10 new brands and 240 new flavors every month

Ten new e-cigarette brands and over 240 new flavors appear monthly on the web — Older brands more likely to push health and price; newer ones focus on consumer choice – 10 new brands and more than 240 new flavours of e-cigarette are coming to market every month, reveals a new study. The study is one of nine pieces of research on e-cigarettes to come out of the State and Community Tobacco Control Research (SCTC) Initiative, funded by the US National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

Preventing disparities in colon cancer screening

How to prevent disparities in colon cancer screening – People living in poverty are less likely to be screened regularly for colorectal cancer — and more likely to develop the disease and die from it. How to end these disparities — and raise screening rates, lower disease rates, and prevent deaths?

ADT with docetaxel extends survival in metastatic prostate cancer

Drug Combination Extends Survival by More Than a Year in Metastatic Prostate Cancer – Men with newly diagnosed metastatic, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer lived more than a year longer when they received a chemotherapy drug docetaxel as initial treatment instead of waiting to for the disease to become resistant to hormone-blockers.

Measles cases growing in US – 288 cases reported in 2014

288 cases of measles reported in 2014 in US and measles cases are growing – Measles is an acute, contagious viral disease, usually occurring in childhood and characterized by eruption of red spots on the skin, fever, and catarrhal symptoms. In US, since January, 288 cases of measles were reported and number is growing.

Sleep apnea common after acute respiratory failure

Sleep apnea is common after acute respiratory failure – Clinically important sleep apnea is common among survivors of acute respiratory failure. Insomnia is a frequent complaint among survivors of critical illness.

E-cigarettes may boost virulence of drug-resistant pathogens

E-cigarettes may boost resistance of drug-resistant pathogens – Despite being touted by their manufacturers as a healthy alternative to cigarettes, e-cigarettes appear in a laboratory study to increase the virulence of drug- resistant and potentially life-threatening bacteria, while decreasing the ability of human cells to kill these bacteria.

COPD patients at higher risk of heart failure

COPD patients at significantly higher risk of heart failure – Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have a complication to worry about is heart failure. A new study found the prevalence of heart failure is significantly higher in patients with COPD compared to the rest of the study population. They also found that the risk was especially high among African-American patients with COPD.

Zinc supplements boost immune system in children

Zinc supplementation boosts immune system in children, Cochrane Review finds – Zinc supplements reduce diarrhoea and other infections in malnourished children, and may prevent death. This study is the first Cochrane systematic review to focus on zinc as a means to prevent childhood death, including deaths caused by diarrhoea, one of the biggest killers of under-fives.

Low cholesterol slows HIV progression

Low cholesterol in immune cells slows HIV progression – Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have identified why some HIV-infected people experience much slower disease progression, even without medication, and it has to do with cholesterol levels in specific immune cells.

Being labeled as too fat may lead to become obese

Simply being called ‘fat’ makes young girls more likely to become obese — Trying to be thin is like trying to be tall, say UCLA psychologists – Girls who are told by a parent, sibling, friend, classmate or teacher that they are too fat at age 10 are more likely to be obese at age 19, revealed by UCLA psychologists.

MERS infection rising in Saudi Arabia

MERS cases spike to 339 in Saudi Arabia — 8 new MERS deaths take Saudi toll to 102 – The Saudi health ministry announced eight new deaths from the MERS virus on Sunday taking the kingdom’s death toll from the disease to 102. The number of recorded infections in the kingdom has risen to 339, it added.

Cyramza for stomach cancer approved in US

FDA approves Cyramza for stomach cancer – Cyramza (ramucirumab) is approved to treat patients with advanced stomach cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, a form of cancer located in the region where the esophagus joins the stomach.