Health News Headlines - Yahoo! News

9/4/2012 8:44:19 AM

The deadly virus raising fears at California's Yosemite National Park does not spread easily, and, despite two recent deaths, does not warrant closing the park, a spokeswoman said Monday.

9/4/2012 8:54:49 AM

A smoking ban in all closed public spaces, including coffee shops, restaurants and bars, went into force in Lebanon on Monday under new legislation that promises hefty fines for lawbreakers.

9/4/2012 12:13:42 AM

Russia on Monday unveiled a series of graphic images, including of a gangrenous foot and a still-born baby, that will be printed on cigarette packs as the country tries to trim its sky-high rates of smoking.

9/14/2012 3:03:12 PM

One student complains because his cafeteria no longer serves chicken nuggets. Another gripes that her school lunch just isn't filling. A third student says he's happy to eat an extra apple with his lunch, even as he's noshing on his own sub.

9/14/2012 2:49:16 PM

Over a decade, New York City has outlawed smoking in bars and offices, banned trans fats, and forced fast-food restaurants to list calorie counts on their menus.

9/14/2012 5:04:31 AM

The New York City Board of Health passed a rule Thursday banning sales of large sodas and other sugary drinks in restaurants, delis and movie theaters in the hopes of combating obesity. Here are the rules and the exceptions. They take effect in March.

9/14/2012 6:40:26 PM

A deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus has killed 31 people in northeastern Congo, more than doubling the death toll from a week ago, the U.N. health agency said Friday.

9/14/2012 3:03:12 PM

9/14/2012 2:50:07 PM

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Bayer agreed to buy Teva Pharmaceutical's U.S. animal health operations for up to $145 million to bolster its own veterinary drugs business. The price includes an upfront payment of $60 million and $85 million in milestone payments linked to manufacturing and sales targets, the German drugmaker said on Friday. Bayer expects to close the deal 2013, once it gains antitrust and regulatory clearance. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger)

9/14/2012 2:49:16 PM

Over a decade, New York City has outlawed smoking in bars and offices, banned trans fats, and forced fast-food restaurants to list calorie counts on their menus.

9/14/2012 1:42:33 PM

JUBA (Reuters) - An outbreak of the Hepatitis E virus has killed 16 people in three South Sudanese refugee camps near the volatile border with Sudan, authorities and the United Nations said on Thursday. South Sudan's border region has been flooded with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing fighting in Sudan's South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. South Sudan's Ministry of Health has reported almost 400 cases of the virus since the outbreak was identified in July. "Cases are rising day by day, thus placing immense pressure on the available heath services and resources. ...

9/14/2012 9:28:21 AM

ABC News' Susan Kreimer reports: Some consumers have contracted serious skin burns after applying certain over-the-counter topical pain relievers to ease mild muscle and joint aches, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned today. While such injuries are rare, consumer complaints to the FDA have...

9/14/2012 8:01:41 AM

(Reuters) - Smokers may get fewer hours of sleep and have less restful slumber than non-smokers, according to a German study that looked at more than two thousand people. Researchers whose work appeared in the journal Addiction Biology found that of nearly 1,100 smokers surveyed, 17 percent got fewer than six hours of sleep each night and 28 percent reported "disturbed" sleep quality. That compared with rates of seven percent and 19 percent respectively among more than 1,200 non-smokers who were also surveyed, said lead researcher Stefan Cohrs, of Charite Berlin medical school in Germany. ...

9/14/2012 7:24:10 AM

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City's Jewish ritual circumcisers who use their mouths to draw away blood from the wound on a baby's penis must now get the parents to sign a consent form, health officials said on Thursday. The New York City Board of Health voted unanimously in favor the new regulation, citing the risk that infants could catch a potentially deadly herpes infection through the ancient ritual. The decision to amend the city's health code has angered some members of the city's Orthodox Jewish communities, who say it is an unwarranted intrusion by the government on religious freedom. ...

9/14/2012 7:04:03 AM

LONDON (Reuters) - Engineers in Britain have developed an ultrasound scanner that costs under 40 pounds to make and could improve prenatal care in parts of the developing world where this technology is out of reach. The device, if it gets commercial backing, would enter a market where hospital-based ultrasound scanners cost anything between 20,000 pounds and 100,000 pounds and low-cost, portable devices sell for around 4,500 pounds each. ...

9/14/2012 7:03:51 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a stopgap measure to fund the government for six months and eliminate any threat of a government shutdown fight that could damage lawmakers' re-election hopes. After spending much of the past two years fighting over cutting government spending, the Republican-controlled House voted 329-91 to slightly raise spending from current levels. Votes in favor were evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. ...

9/14/2012 7:02:32 AM

LONDON (Reuters) - People who have highly demanding jobs and little freedom to make decisions are 23 percent more likely to have a heart attack compared with their less stressed out colleagues, according to research published on Friday. But lighting up a cigarette or remaining chained to your desk rather than getting out to do some exercise is far more damaging for your heart health, researchers said. A study of nearly 200,000 people from seven European countries found around 3. ...

9/14/2012 6:54:39 AM

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp has agreed to settle U.S. Department of Justice civil accusations that it violated federal laws by discriminating against mortgage applicants on the basis of disability. The accord resolves allegations the second-largest U.S. bank, which made about $152 billion of first mortgages in 2011, imposed extra burdens on borrowers who relied on Social Security disability insurance income to qualify on home loans, including that they provide letters from doctors to document that income. ...

9/14/2012 6:48:56 AM

Social media and mobile device apps are just some of the new tools in the arsenal to prevent suicides, unveiled this week by U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin.

9/14/2012 6:45:41 AM

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yosemite National Park expanded a warning about the deadly hantavirus to 230,000 more recent visitors and confirmed on Thursday that a ninth person had contracted the virus, which has already killed three people. The Californian, the latest person confirmed to have been infected with hantavirus, had stayed in Yosemite in July and has already recovered, National Park Service spokesman John Quinley said. ...

9/14/2012 6:40:46 AM

Don Stranathan and Penny Blume Met on the Online Medical Site Inspire

9/14/2012 6:26:38 AM

Country Dwellers Are One-Fifth More Likely to Be Obese, New Study Says

9/14/2012 6:04:33 AM

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp has agreed to settle a U.S. Department of Justice civil probe accusing it of discriminating against borrowers on the basis of disability, violating the federal Fair Housing Act. The settlement resolves allegations that the second-largest U.S. bank required some mortgage applicants to provide letters from their doctors to document their social security disability insurance income. ...

9/14/2012 5:56:40 AM

Lauren Potter of 'Glee' Is the Latest TV Actor to Normalize the Condition