LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Testing children with asthma for a
specific gene could help doctors avoid giving them common
inhaler medicines that are unlikely to help and may make their
condition worse, scientists said on Tuesday.

British researchers studying why certain asthma drugs taken
by millions of children don’t appear to benefit some patients
said a gene called arginine-16 (Arg16) is key to determining
which medicines work for some and not for others.

LONDON (Reuters) – A Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls’ education has been discharged from a British hospital after doctors said she was well enough to spend time recovering with her family.

Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by the Taliban in October and brought to Britain for treatment, was discharged on Thursday but is due to be re-admitted in late January or early February for reconstructive surgery to her skull, doctors said.

LONDON (Reuters) – Poor Larry isn’t looking too good. He’s pale and clammy and he’s been projectile vomiting over and over again while his carers just stand by and watch.

Yet their lack of concern for Larry is made up for by their intense interest in how far splashes of his vomit can fly, and how effectively they evade attempts to clean them up.

LONDON (Reuters) – Pop guru Simon Cowell carries pocket-sized inhalable oxygen shots, America’s “Mad Men” actress January Jones favors dried placenta pills, and British soap star Patsy Palmer rubs coffee granules into her skin.

Celebrities rarely shy away from public peddling of dubious ideas about health and science, and 2012 was no exception.

LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) – Global funding for the fight
against malaria has stalled in the past two years, threatening
to reverse what the World Health Organisation (WHO) says are
“remarkable recent gains” in the battle to control one of the
world’s leading infectious killers.

After rapid expansion between 2004 and 2009, funding for
malaria prevention and control levelled off between 2010 and
2012 – meaning there were fewer life-saving steps taken in hard-
hit malarial regions such as sub-Saharan Africa.

LONDON (Reuters) – The world has made huge progress fighting killer infectious diseases, but as a result we now lead longer and sicker lives, with health problems that cause us years of pain, disability and mental distress.

This “devastating irony”, as researchers describe it, is the main conclusion of a five-year study that forms the most comprehensive assessment of global health in the history of medicine, according to the journal publishing the research.

LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) – Up to 100,000 Britons suffering
from cancer and rare diseases are to have their genetic codes
fully sequenced and mapped as part of government efforts to
boost drug development and improve treatment.

Britain will be the first country to introduce a database of
genetic sequences into a mainstream health service, officials
say, giving doctors a more advanced understanding of a patient’s
illness and what drugs and other treatments they need.

LONDON (Reuters) – Up to 100,000 Britons suffering from cancer and rare diseases are to have their genetic codes fully sequenced and mapped as part of government plans to build a DNA database to boost drug discovery and development.

Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday he wanted Britain to “push the boundaries” of scientific research by being the first country to introduce genetic sequencing into a mainstream health service.

LONDON (Reuters) – Patients with depression who fail to benefit from antidepressant drugs may do better if they are also treated with a type of “talking” psychotherapy called CBT, according to new research published on Friday.

In the first large-scale trial to test the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, alongside medication for depression, scientists said they found that the combination works where drug treatment alone fails.

LONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Forget fad diets pushing cabbage
soup, weight-loss shakes or maple syrup. Swapping fatty foods
for low-fat alternatives will keep you slim – and now there’s
World Health Organisation-backed research to prove it.

A review of 33 trials involving 73,589 men, women and
children in America, Europe and New Zealand found that choosing
low fat foods helped people lose around 3.5 pounds, slim their
waist-lines and cut bad cholesterol – all without dieting.