Health

Drive to curb salt intake should focus on China: study

  PARIS, France (AFP) — Salt consumption exceeds national and World Health Organization guidelines in most countries, but only the highest-sodium diets, such as in China, are linked to clear health risks, researchers said Friday. Only individuals with a daily salt intake of at least 12.5 grams — about two-and-a-half teaspoons — were associated with increased blood pressure and a greater risk of stroke, they reported in The Lancet, a medical journal. WHO recommends capping […]

Skin bleaching in Africa: An ‘addiction’ with risks

  by Stephanie Findlay with AFP bureaus in Africa Agence France-Presse LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) — Dr. Isima Sobande was in medical school when she first heard of mothers who bleached the skin of their babies. She dismissed it as an urban myth. But it wasn’t long before she saw it with her own eyes. At a health center in Lagos, a mother brought in a two-month-old infant who was crying in pain. “He had very large […]

Cancer-causing impurity found in Chinese-made blood pressure medications

SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Two more Chinese drug makers have announced that a blood-pressure medication they exported to Taiwan contained a potentially cancer-causing impurity, a month after the same problem at another Chinese manufacturer prompted a global recall. Tianyu Pharm and Rundu Pharma said batches of valsartan, an active ingredient widely used in medications for high blood pressure and congestive heart failure, contained N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), which is believed to potentially cause cancer through long-term use. […]

‘Zika epidemic is not over,’ says Brazilian specialist

by Carola SOLÉ Agence France-Presse RIO DE JANIERO, Brazil (AFP) — Concern about the zika virus may have waned since the disease spiked in the months before the 2016 Rio Olympics, but the epidemic is not over, a Brazilian expert told AFP. Gustavo Correa Matta said government spending cuts in Brazil could hamper the ability to control the virus that caused panic, and a small number of deaths, after an outbreak starting in 2015. “Zika […]

Dangerous complacency’ looms over world AIDS meeting

  by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Thousands of experts and activists descend on Amsterdam Monday to bolster the battle against AIDS amid warnings that “dangerous complacency” may cause a resurgence of the epidemic that has already killed 35 million people. Rather than closing in on the goal of “ending” AIDS, new HIV infections have surged in parts of the world as global attention has dwindled and funding levelled off, […]

Teens glued to phones risk ‘modest’ rise in ADHD symptoms: study

TAMPA, United States (AFP) — Could teenagers suffer symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder after engaging in excessive smartphone use? A new study out Tuesday says digital overload could be linked to a “modest” but significant rise in new ADHD behaviors, offering a warning to parents about the potential dangers of too much screen time. The findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association were based on nearly 2,600 Los Angeles teens who answered […]

Health experts sa publiko: Mag-ingat sa leptospirosis

(Eagle News) — Nararanasan pa rin ang pagbaha sa maraming lansangan sa kasalukuyan kung kaya naman patuloy na nagbabala ang mga eksperto na lalong mag-ingat sa leptospirosis. Ayon kay Dr. Daisy Tagarda, isang fellow sa Philippine Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (PSMID), ang leptospirosis ay sakit na maaaring makuha sa paglusong sa baha na kontaminado ng leptospira bacteria na nagmumula sa ihi ng mga hayop tulad ng daga. Kabilang naman sa sintomas ng leptospirosis […]

Pfizer reverses some drug price hikes after Trump tweet

  NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Pfizer has reversed price increases on some drugs following White House pressure and the US drugmaker on Wednesday pledged to decide soon whether to sell its consumer drugs business. A day after President Donald Trump threatened action on drug prices, and said on Twitter drug companies should be “ashamed” for boosting costs, the pharmaceutical giant said it would reverse price increases that took effect July 1. In a […]

Sterilized mosquito trial slashes dengue-spreading population in an Australian town

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP)–More than 80 percent of a dengue fever-spreading mosquito has been wiped out in an Australian town during a landmark trial scientists said Tuesday offered hope for combating the dangerous pest globally. Researchers from Australia’s national science body CSIRO bred millions of non-biting male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in laboratory conditions at James Cook University (JCU) in a project funded by Google parent company Alphabet. The insects were infected with the Wolbachia bacteria, which […]

Candidate AIDS vaccine passes key early test

  by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The near 40-year quest for an AIDS vaccine received a hopeful boost Saturday when scientists announced that a trial drug triggered an immune response in humans and shielded monkeys from infection. Shown to be safe in humans, the candidate vaccine has now advanced to the next phase of the pre-approval trial process, and will be tested in 2,600 women in southern Africa to see […]

Air pollution plays significant role in diabetes: study

PARIS, France (AFP)–Air pollution caused one in seven new cases of diabetes in 2016, according to a US study, which found even low levels raised the chances of developing the chronic disease. Diabetes has primarily been associated with lifestyle factors like diet and a sedentary lifestyle, but research by the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis said pollution also plays a major role. The study estimated that pollution contributed to 3.2 million new […]

Human lifespan may not have peaked after all: study

by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France-Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) — Has the maximum lifespan for a human already been reached? Maybe not, said a study of Italian centenarians published Thursday that found that human longevity is slowly increasing. Scientists have long debated whether or not the ultimate lifespan in people has been attained. A 2016 study in the journal Nature argued that it has, in 1997, when Frenchwoman Jeanne Calmant died at the record-breaking age […]