New research suggests that individuals who carry a so-called “high-consumption” variation of either gene appear to drink more coffee, relative to those who carry a “low-consumption” variant.
“It’s really an astounding story,” said study co-author Dr. Neil Caporaso, branch chief of genetic epidemiology at the National Cancer Institute. “People do not really suspect it, but genetics […]

USDA Proposes New Meat Safety Rule
A proposal to require meat producers to delay shipments to grocery stores while federal inspectors complete tests was announced Tuesday by the Obama administration.
Periodic checks for hazardous bacteria are conducted by U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors at thousands of meat-packing and processing plants across the United Says each year, the […]

The survey found that 71 percent of participants stated they’d trouble gaining access to needed health care, including being unable to get timely doctors’ appointments or advice from their doctors on the phone, or receiving after-hours care without going to a hospital emergency department.
More than half (54 percent) said they had received wasteful care and […]

Aneurysms are most common in people aged 50 to 60, and are three times more common in women than men, the FDA stated.
The newly approved Pipeline Embolization Device is a metal mesh tube that’s implanted in the internal carotid artery, a primary supplier of blood to the brain. The device is meant to cut off […]

NDM-1 now appears to be widespread in the environment and that points to the critical need for action to limit the global spread of NDM-1-producing bacteria, stated Timothy Walsh, of Cardiff University in the United Kingdom, and colleagues.
The study authors tested the public water supply — which is used for drinking, washing and food preparation […]

The U.S. public is nearly equally divided on whether or not more nuclear power plants should be built on American soil, with 41 percent supporting the idea and 39 percent opposed. This represents only a slight change from three years ago, when 49 percent supported nuclear plants and 32 percent opposed them.
“The problems with Fukushima […]

Bioaccumulation occurs when fish or other organisms ingest certain chemicals and are unable to metabolize and excrete the chemical swiftly enough, allowing it to build up in their bodies.
There’s no evidence that TCC bioaccumulates in humans, the researchers pointed out. Instead, people are able to quickly break down TCC and excrete it in urine and […]

Postherpetic Neuralgia (PHN)/Pain After Shingles
This study is for people who have skin pain after shingles has healed. You must be aged 18 to 85 and have postherpetic neuralgia to qualify.
The research site is in Brighton, Mass.
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Alzheimer’s Associated Insomnia and Sleep Symptoms
This study of an investigational sleep aid is for people […]

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Pharmacies OK’d to Make Cheaper Version of Pre-Term Birth Drug: FDA
Special pharmacies won’t be forced to halt making a cheaper version of a new drug used to prevent preterm birth in high-risk women, states the U.S. Food and Drug […]

She and her colleagues looked at 45 infants and children, median age 17 months, who had severe bacterial pneumonia and required mechanical ventilation. Children with viral pneumonia or hospital-acquired pneumonia were not included in the study.
The study appears in the April issue of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
Doctors treating children with bacterial pneumonia have to […]