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Disease

Disease news, from thyroid problems to autism.

Disease

Real-time science needed to stop new flu virus

IOM president Harvey Fineberg writes in Science that the 1976 Fort Dix response, a mass vaccination followed by more than 500 Guillain-Barre cases and 30 deaths, shows decision makers must ask what added information would change their course, and ask it while an epidemic unfolds.

Disease

Swine flu: What you need to know

A question-and-answer primer on the 2009 H1N1 virus: where it was first detected, why it was called swine flu, how its quadruple reassortant genes differ from viruses circulating in North American pigs, and which symptoms it shares with seasonal flu.

May 30, 2009

Disease

Cancer cells need normalcy to survive chaos they create

Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's researchers Ji Luo and Stephen Elledge report that cancer cells depend on normal cell function to survive the stress their own abnormality creates, needing what the authors call equal parts vice and virtue to keep growing.

May 29, 2009

Disease

Childhood diabetes rates set to soar

A European study of 29,311 type 1 diabetes patients found cases in children under five rising 5.4 percent a year, with experts projecting the number will double between 2005 and 2020. Researchers suspect environmental triggers such as diet, viral infection or C-section delivery.

May 29, 2009

Disease

Type 1 diabetes -- living with the disease

Sonia Sotomayor has lived with type 1 diabetes since she was eight, and experts say the disease, well managed, should not affect her ability to serve. A French study of patients 50 years into the disease reports life expectancy continuing to improve as care gets better.

May 28, 2009

Disease

Gum disease linked to heart attacks

University of Kiel researchers found a gene on chromosome 9 in both 1,097 heart disease patients and 151 gum disease patients, which they say shows how the two conditions are linked. Study leader Arne Schaefer urges people with periodontitis to seek treatment early.

May 27, 2009

Disease

Rapid weight loss may be predictor of dementia

A Neurology study tracked 1,836 Japanese-Americans averaging 72 years old for eight years; 129 developed dementia, and those with lower BMI at the outset were 79% more likely to become ill. An earlier study had found the pre-dementia weight loss only in women.

May 21, 2009

Disease

Childhood obesity linked to stress

An Iowa State study of 1,011 low-income adolescents aged 10 to 15 in Boston, Chicago and San Antonio found 47 percent were overweight or obese, rising to 56.2 percent among those facing four or more stressors such as poor grades, aggression, or drug and alcohol use.

May 17, 2009

Disease

Swine flu continues to spread

The CDC counted 4,714 confirmed H1N1 cases and four deaths across 47 states, and three Queens schools closed. New York's health commissioner said the virus seems to spread faster than seasonal flu but does not appear more severe. WHO reported 7,520 cases in 34 countries.

May 17, 2009

Disease

Cytokine storms chief concern in current flu pandemic

With swine flu in 47 states, the piece explains why healthy young adults appear especially vulnerable: a cytokine storm, in which the immune system overreacts and roughly 150 inflammatory mediators release at once, as researchers believe happened in the 1918 Spanish flu.

May 17, 2009

Disease

One cough equals 20,000 viruses

Researchers at Singapore's National University Hospital estimate that a single cough produces about 3,000 airborne droplets carrying roughly 195 to 19,500 influenza viruses. The CDC advises covering coughs with a tissue, or the upper sleeve rather than the hands.

May 13, 2009

Disease

Kidney disease may raise cancer risk

Australian researchers tracked 3,049 people aged 49 to 97 for a decade and found 23 per 1,000 men with chronic kidney disease developed lung or urinary tract cancer, against 17 per 1,000 without it. The association did not appear in women.

May 10, 2009

Disease

Taiwan confirms 2 cases of swine flu

Taiwan's Disease Control and Prevention Administration reported two H1N1 cases on May 11: a 39-year-old woman and her 21-month-old daughter who arrived from the United States on May 5. Both were isolated in Taipei, and nine other people were under medical observation.

May 10, 2009

Disease

Swine Flu Updates

WHO counted 4,379 H1N1 cases in 29 countries and 45 related deaths as of May 10, with Mexico hardest hit at 1,626 confirmed cases and the United States reporting 2,254. The CDC's own tally of 2,532 cases from 44 states likely undercounts, Anne Schuchat said.

May 10, 2009

Disease

Update: Swine flu cases on the rise

WHO counted 3,440 confirmed H1N1 cases across 29 countries, with Mexico at 1,364 cases and 45 deaths and the United States at 1,639 cases and two deaths in Texas; CDC later cited 2,254 US cases. WHO urges no travel restrictions but says ill travelers should delay trips.

May 9, 2009

Disease

Swine flu targets the young

The CDC reported 896 confirmed H1N1 cases across 41 states and two US deaths, with 58 percent of confirmed cases in people under 18. Acting director Richard Besser said the infection is less severe than first feared and cut recommended school closures from 14 days to seven.

May 9, 2009

Disease

Heart attack or heartburn — symptoms Similar

Most heart attacks start slowly with mild chest discomfort that people mistake for heartburn, doctors say, and some heart patients get heartburn too. The American Heart Association lists arm, back, neck and jaw pain, cold sweat and nausea, and says not to wait more than five minutes to dial 911.

May 9, 2009

Disease

Job loss may lead to sickness

Kate Strully of Harvard analyzed more than 8,000 workers surveyed in 1999, 2001 and 2003 and found those who lost a job were 83 percent more likely to develop a new health condition, often arthritis, hypertension or cardiovascular problems, even while job-hunting.

May 9, 2009

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