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Sometimes new health advice conflicts with old advice. Yet new guidelines for breast cancer testing in the United States created a storm of debate in November. The advice came from experts who are appointed by the government to develop guidelines for preventive services, like mammograms. The experts advised most women to get fewer mammograms. They said the risk of needless treatment outweighs the good from more tests. The new advice is to get tested every two years, instead of yearly, and to start at age fifty instead of forty. The task force must not consider medical costs. But critics accused... 

December first was World AIDS Day. The latest report on the epidemic provided some reason to celebrate. Experts say new H.I.V. infections have fallen by seventeen percent since two thousand one. Estimates for sub-Saharan Africa are down by about fifteen percent. In East Asia new infections with the virus that causes AIDS have decreased almost twenty-five percent. In Eastern Europe, the epidemic has leveled off. But new infections appear to be rising again in some countries. The report came at the end of November from the UNAIDS program and the World Health Organization. It says H.I.V. -related... 

Shy people often avoid situations that force close contact with other people. They worry that something they say or do will make others laugh at them. But some people worry much more than others about being the target of laughter. These people are frightened. They suffer from an emotional disorder called gelotophobia. That long name comes from the Greek language. The word Gelos means laugh, while phobos means fear. Victor Rubio is an expert on human behavior at the Autonomous University of Madrid. He says people laugh at others for many different reasons. He says being laughed at causes a fear... 

In December, researchers in the United States reported curing nine adults with sickle cell disease. Ten patients in all were treated in a study with donated bone marrow. The healthy marrow causes new blood cells to form. Sickle cell disease, also called sickle cell anemia, is a genetic condition that deforms red blood cells. They become sticky and harden into the shape of the letter C, like a sickle, a hand tool with a curved blade. The deformed cells block blood vessels and cut off the flow of oxygen to tissue in the body. People with sickle cell disease can suffer severe pain, bacterial infections... 

Freezing weather can mean frostbite and hypothermia unless a person is prepared. Today we talk about how to stay warm, dry and safe. Frostbite is damage that happens when skin is exposed to extreme cold for too long. It mainly happens on the hands, feet, nose and ears. People with minor cases of frostbite that affect only the skin may not suffer any permanent damage. But if deeper tissue is affected, a person is likely to feel pain every time the area gets cold. If blood vessels are damaged, people can suffer an infection of gangrene. Sometimes, doctors have to remove frostbitten areas like... 

We talked last week about ways to avoid cold-weather injuries. Today we are going to talk about emergency treatment of hypothermia. Hypothermia can be mild, moderate or severe. Mild hypothermia is something that most people have experienced if they live in cold climates. You feel so cold that your body starts to shake — not very much, but uncontrollably. The treatment for mild hypothermia starts with getting out of the cold and, if necessary, changing into dry clothes. Drinking warm, non-alcoholic liquids and eating something sugary can stop the shivering. Taking a warm bath or sitting... 

Loneliness has been linked to depression and other health problems. Now, a study says it can also spread. A friend of a lonely person was fifty-two percent more likely to develop feelings of loneliness. And a friend of that friend was twenty-five percent more likely to do the same. Earlier findings showed that happiness, obesity and the ability to stop smoking can also spread like infections within social groups. The findings all come from a major health study in the American town of Framingham, Massachusetts. The study began in nineteen forty-eight to investigate the causes of heart disease.... 

People who stop smoking often replace cigarettes with food. A new study says the weight they gain may increase their diabetes risk in the short term. Type two diabetes is common in people who eat too much and exercise too little and those with a family history of it. Smoking is another risk factor. But quitting smoking may carry a temporary risk. The study found that smokers who quit had a seventy percent increased risk of developing diabetes in the first six years. That was compared to those who had never smoked. The risks were highest in the first three years. And the risk returned to normal... 

A new study of the brain is helping scientists better understand how humans process language. The study is being done in the American cities of San Diego, California; Boston, Massachusetts and New York. One of the patients is a woman with epilepsy. Doctors are monitoring Denise Harris to see if she is a good candidate for an operation that could stop her seizures. They are monitoring her through wire electrodes implanted in her brain. But while she is in the hospital, she is also helping scientists understand how the brain works with language. The study centers on a part of the frontal lobe... 

Even a small reduction in salt in the diet can be a big help to the heart. A new study used a computer model to predict how just three grams less a day would affect heart disease in the United States. The result: thirteen percent fewer heart attacks. Eight percent fewer strokes. Four percent fewer deaths. Eleven percent fewer new cases of heart disease. And two hundred forty billion dollars in health care savings. Researchers found it could prevent one hundred thousand heart attacks and ninety-two thousand deaths every year. The study is in the New England Journal of Medicine. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo... 

Two new studies suggest that modern running shoes could increase the risk of injuries to runners. One study involved sixty-eight healthy young women and men who ran at least twenty-four kilometers a week. The runners were observed on a treadmill machine. Sometimes they wore running shoes. Other times they ran barefoot. Researchers from the JKM Technologies company in Virginia, the University of Virginia and the University of Colorado did the study. They found that running shoes create more stress that could damage knees, hips and ankle joints than running barefoot. They observed that the effect... 

For medical students, real experience begins not in a classroom but at a teaching hospital. These doctors in training are supervised. But sometimes accidents happen and the students get injured. For example, they might stick themselves with a needle while treating patients. Such needle sticks are common. But a recent study found that medical students often fail to report them. Failing to report an injury like this can be dangerous if a patient, or a medical worker, has an infectious disease. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, did the study. It involved a survey answered... 

A condition called atrial fibrillation produces an abnormal heartbeat. People feel their heart race and they lose their breath. It may last a few seconds, but it can get worse and worse with age, leading to a heart attack or stroke. Doctors generally treat atrial fibrillation with drugs. But a new study shows that another treatment may have better results for patients who were not helped by drug therapy. The treatment is called catheter ablation. Doctors place a long, thin tube called a catheter into the heart. Then they use radio frequency energy to heat the tissue around the catheter. The heat... 

The Lancet, a leading British medical journal, has withdrawn a study that scared many parents and angered many experts. The study, published twelve years ago, suggested a link between autism and the vaccine against mumps, measles and rubella. A British doctor led that study. Andrew Wakefield studied twelve children. He said eight of them showed signs of autism shortly after receiving the vaccine. Autism disorders involve problems with social and communication skills and repeated behaviors. Other studies since then have failed to show such a link. In January, Britain's General Medical Council... 

Last month we reported about a study that showed eating even a little less salt could greatly help the heart. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The scientists used a computer model to predict how just three grams less salt a day would affect heart disease in the United States. The scientists said the results would be thirteen percent fewer heart attacks. Eight percent fewer strokes. Four percent fewer deaths. Eleven percent fewer new cases of heart disease. And two hundred forty billion dollars in health care savings. Researchers said it could prevent one hundred... 

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was created in two thousand two. It is an alliance of business, government and civilian partnerships. A new report from the Global Fund says almost five million lives have been saved through the six hundred programs it supports. The programs operate in one hundred forty-four countries, many in sub-Saharan Africa. The Global Fund has approved proposals for more than nineteen billion dollars to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The report says two and one-half million people infected with HIV now are being treated with antiretroviral... 

Researchers say American children now eat an average of three snacks a day between meals. A study found that those snacks add up to almost one-third of all the daily calories eaten by children. And those extra calories could help explain the rise in overweight children in the United States. The study was done at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The researchers studied the diets of thirty-one thousand children ages two to eighteen over a thirty-year period. They found that snacking has increased since the nineteen seventies. And what kinds of snacks have increased the most? Salty,... 

President Obama has signed legislation to make the biggest changes in the health care system in forty-five years. The president said: "Today, after almost a century of trying; today, after over a year of debate; today, after all the votes have been tallied, health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America. Many parts of the plan will fully take effect in four years. But some take effect quickly. For example, in six months the new law will bar insurance companies from denying coverage to children with pre-existing health conditions. Adults with pre-existing conditions will be... 

Some people's ears produce wax like busy little bees. This can be a problem even though earwax appears to serve an important purpose. Experts say it protects and cleans the ear. It traps dirt and other matter and keeps insects out. Doctors think it might also help protect against infections. And the waxy oil keeps ears from getting too dry. So earwax is good. It even has a medical name: cerumen. And there are two kinds. Most people of European or African ancestry have the «wet» kind: thick and sticky. East Asians commonly have «dry» earwax. But you can have too much... 

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