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December 14, 2011
Coal ash taints 20 U.S. sites - report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Toxic contamination from coal ash, a waste product of coal-fired power plants, has been detected in ground water and soil at 20 sites in 10 U.S. states, an environmental watchdog group reported on Tuesday.
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November 28, 2011
Fewer babies get chicken pox when kids are vaccinated
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Even though babies under one year old are too young to get the chicken pox vaccine, far fewer of them got the itchy rash after the U.S. started routinely vaccinating older children in 1995, according to a new study.
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September 8, 2011
Scientists find gene that controls chronic pain
LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists have identified a gene responsible for regulating chronic pain, called HCN2, and say their discovery should help drug researchers in their search for more effective, targeted pain-killing medicines.
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August 25, 2011
Vaccines largely safe, U.S. expert panel finds
CHICAGO (Reuters) - After a close review of more than 1,000 research studies, a federal panel of experts has concluded that vaccines cause very few side effects, and found no evidence that vaccines cause autism or type 1 diabetes.
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July 22, 2011
J&J warns doctors of Doxil cancer-drug shortage
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson has cautioned doctors not to begin treatment with its Doxil cancer drug because of shortages of the medicine made by an outside manufacturer.
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June 27, 2011
Neurontin study more marketing than science: report
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A study of the safety and effectiveness of an anti-epilepsy drug mislead doctors and patients about the point of the research, suggests a new report.
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June 16, 2011
Multiple sclerosis linked to shingles
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who get shingles are more likely to also develop multiple sclerosis, according to a study in Taiwan.
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February 22, 2011
People with emphysema at higher shingles risk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with emphysema or chronic bronchitis may be at higher than average risk for a painful rash known as shingles, a study published Tuesday suggests.
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January 12, 2011
Two doses of chickenpox vaccine beat one: study
"Despite the reasonably (high) effectiveness of one dose of the vaccine, there were still outbreaks in schools and daycare centers -- even though there was a pretty good rate of vaccination," Dr. Eugene Shapiro, the study's lead author from the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, told Reuters Health.
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January 11, 2011
Vaccine cuts risk of shingles: study
While the vaccine had been tested before, its effectiveness hadn't been measured under the real-world conditions in regular doctors' offices, where researchers couldn't control who got the vaccine and how carefully it was handled. "We didn't know how well the vaccine actually performed in the community setting," lead author Hung Fu Tseng, a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, told Reuters Health.
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October 21, 2010
Merck shingles vaccine effective in adults in 50s
NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a huge study aimed at broadening the use of Merck & Co's shingles vaccine, Zostavax reduced the incidence of the painful disease by 70 percent compared with a placebo in adults in their 50s, the company said.
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August 24, 2010
Herpes meds not linked to birth defects: study
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who took medication to treat herpes infections during pregnancy weren't more likely to have a baby with birth defects than women who didn't take these drugs in a study of over 800,000 babies born in Denmark.
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August 4, 2010
Does chickenpox protect against skin condition?
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Kids who get chickenpox may be less likely to develop atopic dermatitis and asthma when they're older than their peers who don't get chickenpox - including those that are vaccinated against it, suggests a new study.
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December 4, 2009
Chickenpox vaccine may protect kids from shingles
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Children who get vaccinated against chickenpox may have a lower risk of developing shingles, a painful rash caused by the chickenpox virus, U.S. researchers said on Friday.
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October 8, 2009
Shingles may boost the risk of stroke: study
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Shingles are more than just painful. A new study suggests that they may increase the risk of stroke.
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July 23, 2009
Vaccine struggle embodies U.S. health reform battle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The confusion surrounding adult vaccination help illustrates some of the big problems looming for Congress as it struggles with healthcare reform legislation, doctors and health officials said on Wednesday.
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April 3, 2009
Prescription painkiller relieves shingles pain
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A study shows that the powerful prescription painkiller oxycodone is an effective treatment for the sometimes excruciating pain of shingles.
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July 3, 2008
New approach offers chance to finally kill herpes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday they may have found a way to flush out herpes viruses from hiding -- offering a potential way to cure pesky and painful conditions from cold sores to shingles.
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July 2, 2008
Tai chi helps older adults get good night's sleep
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Regular practice of tai chi chih, a Westernized version of the ancient Chinese martial art of tai chi, can help older people rest easier at night, according to a study in the journal Sleep.
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May 19, 2008
Shingles seen to run in families
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Genes appear to play a role in susceptibility to shingles. People with a family history of shingles are more likely to develop the condition than those without a family history, according to a new study.
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May 15, 2008
U.S. recommends shingles vaccine for age 60 and up
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended that people aged 60 and older should get Merck & Co Inc's vaccine Zostavax to protect against shingles.
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March 28, 2008
Capsaicin patch reduces pain from HIV neuropathy
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Treatment with a high-concentration capsaicin skin patch is a safe and well-tolerated means of reducing the neurological pain in patients with HIV infection, the results of a pilot study suggest.
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January 23, 2008
Too few U.S. adults get their shots, survey shows
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Only 2 percent of U.S. adults last year got a shot that can protect them from painful bouts of shingles, health officials said on Wednesday in a study that shows what they call unacceptably low rates of adult vaccination against a range of diseases.
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January 21, 2008
Rheumatoid arthritis raises risk for shingles
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at increased risk of herpes zoster, or shingles, a painful skin condition caused by a reactivation of the chickenpox virus, according to research on more than 160,000 individuals with RA.
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January 9, 2008
Shingles sends 1 million to doctors each year
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Shingles sends nearly 1 million Americans to their doctors every year seeking relief from the painful symptoms the virus causes, according to U.S. government statistics released on Wednesday.
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August 31, 2007
Tai chi may boost immune response to flu shot
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The traditional Chinese arts of tai chi and qigong may help boost older adults' immune response to the flu vaccine, a preliminary study suggests.
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March 23, 2007
Tai chi boosts immune system against shingles
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - A slow-movement form of exercise known as tai chi can strengthen the immune system in the elderly and boost the potency of a vaccine against the virus that causes shingles, researchers said on Friday.
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March 15, 2007
Effects of chickenpox vaccine fade over time: study
BOSTON (Reuters) - Merck's chickenpox vaccine Varivax not only loses its effectiveness after a while, but it has also changed the profile of the disease in the population, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
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February 21, 2007
Merck ends lobbying for mandatory Gardasil vaccine
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Drugmaker Merck & Co. said on Tuesday it would stop lobbying state legislatures to make it mandatory for schoolgirls to be inoculated with its new cervical cancer vaccine.