Health Report Now

TUESDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to take a second look at the weight loss pill Qnexa on Wednesday, after initially rejecting it because of concerns about heart problems and possible birth defects. While effective at reducing weight, the drug, manufactured by Vivus Inc., was denied approval in [...]

Everything you know about dieting is wrong, say US scientists who have devised a new formula for calculating calories and weight loss that they hope will revolutionize the way people tackle obesity. Obesity rates have doubled worldwide in the past 30 years, coinciding with a growing food surplus, and the ensuing epidemic has sparked a [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Diet soda may benefit the waistline, but a new study suggests that people who drink it every day have a heightened risk of heart attack and stroke. The study, which followed almost 2,600 older adults for a decade, found that those who drank diet soda every day were 44 percent [...]

(Reuters) – Hopes were raised slightly on Friday that U.S. health regulators could approve a weight-loss pill for the first time in 13 years, after government reviewers did not flag fresh safety risks for an experimental obesity drug from Vivus Inc. Food and Drug Administration staff said in documents posted online that the drug Qnexa [...]

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) — Good dietary advice and supplements can boost nutrition while improving quality of life in malnourished cancer patients, a new study finds. However, the interventions do not appear to affect survival for these patients, according to the findings published in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of the National [...]

TUESDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) — People who drank water or diet beverages instead of calorie-laden drinks lost 4 to 5 pounds over half a year, according to new research. The study included 318 overweight or obese people divided into three groups: those who switched to water from high-calorie beverages; those who switched to diet [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Contrary to the belief that people who burn a lot of calories are less vulnerable to gaining weight, a new study finds they and slow burners alike tend to put on pounds during the sweets-filled holiday season. “This idea of regulating body weight by being a very active individual that [...]

FRIDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) — There’s a clear link between obesity and pain, suggests a new study that finds the heaviest people suffer the greatest discomfort. Researchers examined data from more than 1 million people who were asked about their health, pain and well-being in telephone surveys conducted between 2008 and 2010. Thirty-eight percent [...]

FRIDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) — Breast-feeding reduces the risk of obesity in children born to mothers with diabetes during their pregnancy, a new study indicates. Researchers followed 94 children of diabetic mothers and 399 children of non-diabetic mothers from birth until age 13. It’s known that children of diabetic pregnancies are at increased risk [...]

Mediator, a drug licensed for use by diabetics that became widely prescribed in France as a slimming aid, “probably” caused at least 1,300 deaths before it was withdrawn, a study published on Thursday said. Mahmoud Zureik of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), who co-led the probe, told AFP that around 3,100 [...]

ATLANTA (AP) — Bread and rolls are the No. 1 source of salt in the American diet, accounting for more than twice as much sodium as snacks like potato chips and pretzels. That surprising finding comes in a government report released Tuesday that includes a list of the top 10 sources of sodium. Salty snacks [...]