Reuters Health News Summary
Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Many migraine sufferers skip effective behavioral treatment
Even when a headache specialist refers migraine patients for proven behavioral treatments like biofeedback, relaxation training or cognitive behavioral therapy, barely half of them go, suggests a small U.S. study. Of 69 migraine sufferers treated at a large academic headache practice and referred for behavioral therapy, just 57 percent got as far as making an appointment with the behavioral practitioner, researchers found.
U.S. expands China health alert amid illness reports
The U.S. State Department on Friday issued an expanded health alert for all of China amid reports some U.S. diplomats based in the country had experienced a mysterious malady that resembles a brain injury and has already affected U.S. personnel in Cuba. "The State Department received medical confirmation that a U.S. government employee in China suffered a medical incident consistent with what other U.S. government personnel experienced in Havana, Cuba," it said in an emailed statement.
Bees get death-by-pesticide funeral in Paris
Bee keepers and environmental activists staged a mock funeral in Paris on Thursday for bees, to protest against the pesticides they say are killing insects crucial for the eco-system. Some protesters, wearing beekepers masks and overalls, lay motionless in coffins while others stood, heads bowed in respect as a bugle played during the ceremony on a patch of garden near the Les Invalides museum.
Canada clears major hurdle in legalizing recreational marijuana
Canada's Senate on Thursday voted to legalize recreational marijuana, clearing a major hurdle that puts the country on track to become the first Group of Seven nation to permit national use of the drug. The upper chamber Senate voted 56-30 in favor of the legislation but included amendments that the House of Commons will need to decide on before the law can be passed.
Disrupted sleep cycles linked with mood disorders
People who have disrupted sleep cycles or less variation in their activity levels around the clock may be more likely to have depression, bipolar disorders and other mental health issues, a UK study suggests. Past research has found that people with a circadian rhythm, or biological clock, that's out of step with their daily routines - like split shift or night shift workers - can have an increased risk of emotional, behavioral and psychological problems.
Inducing labor after 41-week pregnancy can save babies' lives
Pregnant women who have not delivered by around 41 weeks are less likely to require cesarean section births or to have babies die if their labor is induced instead of letting nature take its course, a research review suggests. "The balance of harms and benefits changes around 41 weeks when the baby has all the advantages of being full term but now has an increased risk of dying," lead study author Philippa Middleton of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute and the University of Adelaide said by email.
Exclusive: Philip Morris plans to target Indian smokers with iQOS device - sources
Philip Morris International Inc is planning to launch its iQOS smoking device in India, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the tobacco giant seeks a foothold in a country with the world's second-biggest smoker population. Philip Morris says the sleek, penlike iQOS heats but does not burn tobacco, producing a nicotine-containing vapor rather than smoke and making it less harmful than conventional cigarettes. The company says it wants to one day stop selling cigarettes altogether.
U.S. Justice Department says Obamacare individual mandate unconstitutional
The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday that the part of Obamacare requiring individuals to have health insurance is unconstitutional, an unusual move that could lead to stripping away some of the most significant and popular parts of the law. In a brief filed in a federal court in Texas, the department said a tax law signed last year by President Donald Trump that eliminated penalties for not having health insurance rendered the so-called individual mandate under Obamacare unconstitutional.
U.S lawmakers seek answers from new head of WHO's cancer agency
A U.S. congressional committee called on Thursday for the newly-elected director of the World Health Organization's cancer research agency to testify at a July hearing on its operations in an ongoing dispute about the agency's scientific conclusions. In a letter to Elisabete Weiderpass, director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), released in a press statement, the U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology (SST) Committee, said the way the agency had operated under her predecessor "was an affront to scientific integrity".
Congo reports first confirmed Ebola case in over a week
Democratic Republic of Congo has recorded its first confirmed case of Ebola in over a week, the health ministry said on Thursday, although medics say they have made significant progress in their efforts to contain the disease. The patient, a known contact of someone who is believed to have died from Ebola on May 20, was confirmed positive on Wednesday for the hemmorhagic fever in the rural community of Iboko, the ministry said in a daily report.
