Health news

A brand new flu virus has been found in Peruvian bats, according to a new study from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus, called A/bat/Peru/10, belongs to a family of flu viruses known as influenza A, which mainly infect birds, but can also infect other animals, including people. Influenza A viruses are named for two ... Read More »

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is arguably the the UK’s biggest killer. CHD develops when the blood supply to the muscles and tissues of the heart becomes obstructed by the build-up of fatty materials inside the walls of the coronary arteries. What is coronary heart disease? Your heart is a pump the size of a fist that sends oxygen-rich blood around ... Read More »

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday recommended tighter controls on how doctors prescribe the most commonly used narcotic painkillers. The move, which represents a major policy shift, follows a decade-long debate over whether the widely abused drugs, which contain the narcotic hydrocodone, should be controlled as tightly as more powerful painkillers such as OxyContin. The drugs at issue contain ... Read More »

The Food and Drug Administration is warning patients with diabetes about a recall of up to 62 million glucose test strips used to measure blood sugar levels that can show incorrect, abnormally high blood sugar readings. Nova Diabetes Care announced the recall Friday. An incorrect reading could potentially lead to dangerous medication errors for patients. The strips covered by the ... Read More »

Scientists are starting to understand why one person’s face can look so different from another’s. Working on mice, researchers have identified thousands of small regions of DNA that influence the way facial features develop. The study also shows that tweaks to genetic material can subtly alter face shape. The findings, published in Science, could also help researchers to learn how ... Read More »

About three million people who developed tuberculosis in 2012 have been “missed” by health systems, the World Health Organization has said. Finding these missed cases is one of the biggest challenges in TB care and control, the WHO’s report says. Twelve countries including India, South Africa and Bangladesh account for the majority of undiagnosed individuals. But the WHO says the ... Read More »

GENEVA — The World Health Organization says millions fewer people are dying and falling ill from tuberculosis due to successful diagnostic and treatment programs. Published Wednesday, the U.N. group’s “Global Tuberculosis Report 2013″ warns that many of these gains risk being lost if multi-drug resistant TB is not brought under control. While 8.6 million people fell ill with tuberculosis in ... Read More »

  AIDS What is AIDS? AIDS is the advanced case results from infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). HIV primarily attacks the immune system cells that defend the body against any infections. AIDS is the late stage of infection, which is consistent with the evolution of the situation and the onset of symptoms. Being HIV-positive, or having HIV disease, is ... Read More »