Portugal Socialists seek 2005 abortion referendum
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Portugal’s ruling Socialists introduced legislation on Tuesday to allow a referendum to ease strict abortion laws to be held this year, a party spokesman said on Wednesday.
The Socialists had promised a referendum during their campaign ahead of February elections. A spokesman for the Socialist parliamentary bloc said the legislation was filed on Tuesday and a vote is set for July 8.
S. Africa acts on illegal circumcision after deaths
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South African authorities are taking action against illegal circumcision rituals but were too late to save six youths who died after botched operations, a regional health official said on Tuesday.
At least 10 traditional surgeons and nurses had been arrested for unlicensed circumcisions involving young men and teenage boys in the Eastern Cape this month, provincial health department spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said.
EU sets 2011 deadline to ban mercury exports
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Environment ministers from the European Union, the world’s largest producer of mercury, called on Friday for exports of the toxic substance to be banned by 2011.
Europe also wants to phase out the use of the metal in thermometers and improve global efforts to stop the dumping of the dangerous liquid metal.
Mercury poisoning can harm the nervous system, brain and kidneys and even cause death. Pregnant women are advised to limit intake of some fish due to mercury pollution in the sea.
Guidant tells doctors not to implant some devices
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Guidant Corp. on Friday said it advised doctors to stop implanting some of its defibrillators, which U.S. regulators may recall, sending the medical device maker’s shares down nearly 11 percent.
Continuing reports of problems with the company’s key cardiac devices have pressured the stock and raised concerns that Guidant’s deal to be acquired by Johnson & Johnson may be in jeopardy.
Guidant shares fell to $61.20 on the Inet electronic brokerage before the market opened, down 10.8 percent from Thursday’s close of $68.60 on the New York Stock Exchange.
ABCD predicts stroke risk after ‘mini-stroke’
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A scoring system based on a patient’s age, blood pressure, clinical features and duration of symptoms - the ABCD score - can be used to estimate the risk of a full-blown stroke in the 7 days after a TIA or ‘mini-stroke’, British investigators report.
Apart from identifying patients who should get emergency care, the risk score will also be useful for raising people’s awareness of the symptoms of stroke, Dr. Peter M. Rothwell, from the University of Oxford, and his colleagues note in their report in The Lancet medical journal.
Flu pandemic could kill half million in US
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Half a million Americans could die and more than 2 million could end up in the hospital with serious complications if an even moderately severe strain of a pandemic flu hits, a report predicted on Friday.
But the United States only has 965,256 staffed hospital beds, according to the report from the Trust for America’s Health.
During a chemical fire, evacuation may not be best
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Evacuation of local residents during a chemical air pollution incident is not necessarily the best way to prevent exposure to toxic fumes, according to UK investigators.
“Unplanned evacuations where a lot of folks are moved around have the potential for both psychological and physical problems,” Dr. Sanjay Kinra, from the University of Bristol, told Reuters Health.
Cheese from Mexico linked to TB-like infections
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Several New York City cases of a type of tuberculosis that normally affects cattle appear to be due to fresh cheese made from unpasteurized cow’s milk in Mexico, investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.
Infection by Mycobacterium bovis, the culprit in these cases, used to be common before milk pasteurization but is a rarity these days.
Medicare to test paying for elderly home day care
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Medicare will test the possibility of paying for day-care services for disabled elderly people, the agency said on Thursday.
“This demonstration will permit Medicare to assess whether providing medical adult day-care services through the home health benefit will improve patient outcomes and provide the opportunity for some respite for beneficiaries’ caregivers,” Dr. Mark McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said in a statement.
Millions in US suffer migraines needlessly
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The results of a new survey suggest that more than 11 million Americans could benefit from treatment to prevent migraines, yet only 1.4 million actually take these medications.
Based on findings from the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention study, which involved a survey of 162,576 US residents, researchers estimate that about 28 million Americans experience migraine headaches. Of these individuals, 11.5 million are considered candidates for preventative medications, because they experience at least one migraine per week.
High-tech fertility treatment growing
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A high tech treatment for infertility has become the most common therapy in Europe to help couples have children, according to figures released on Wednesday.
Scientists are not sure why ever more fertility clinics are carrying out ICSI, or intracytoplasmic sperm injection, but it could be due to rising infertility in men.
The technique involves injecting a single sperm - selected for its quality - directly into an egg. In regular IVF treatment, thousands of sperm are mixed with the egg in the laboratory but still have to get through the egg wall.
South Asia heat wave kills at least 375
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At least 375 people have died from sunstroke and dehydration in a month-long heat wave sweeping India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as South Asia endures one of its hottest summers on record, authorities said.
Temperatures hit 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in some parts of South Asia this week, parching fields, emptying dams and drying riverbeds ahead of the annual monsoon.
Freak weather extended as far as northern China, where the heat set off explosives at a chemical plant in Shanxi province that injured hundreds. In central Chongqing city, authorities opened old bomb shelters so people can cool off.
US docs’ group wants package fixes for herbal meds
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The American Medical Association says packaging of some herbal remedies is confusing and gives the impression that the supplements are pharmaceutical products. The group wants it stopped.
On Tuesday the AMA approved a resolution urging that supplement manufacturers be required to clearly name and label products in a way that would clearly differentiate the products from pharmaceuticals. For example, the AMA is suggesting that the word “herbal” be included in product names.
Cardiac arrest response slow for hospital visitors
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You might think that, if it’s going to happen, the best time for your heart to stop might be while you’re in a hospital, visiting. That isn’t necessarily so, according to a new study.
“As a public citizen, you’re better off suffering a cardiac arrest in a casino or airport terminal than in a hospital lobby,” Dr. Bruce D. Adams, from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, told Reuters Health. “The time to defibrillation in hospital lobbies appears to be much worse than what has been reported for casinos and airports.”
Cellphones take up driver attention
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Using a cellphone - even with a hands-free device - may distract drivers because the brain cannot handle both tasks, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
Imaging tests show the brain directs its resources to either visual input or auditory input, but cannot fully activate both at the same time, the team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found.
“Our research helps explain why talking on a cell phone can impair driving performance, even when the driver is using a hands-free device,” said Steven Yantis, a professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences who led the study.
