Health News

ATLANTA, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Heart attack hospital admissions in the city of Pueblo, Colo., fell sharply after a municipal smoking ban, federal health officials said.

BALTIMORE, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The number of U.S. adults consuming sugar-sweetened beverages such as soft drinks, fruit drinks and punches has increased dramatically, researchers said.

QUEBEC CITY, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The stress of thinking causes overeating, with heavy thinkers seeking out more calories than their excessive thinking used up, a university study found.

LONDON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would block any move to legalize assisted suicide, saying British law must recognize the value of human life.

DEERFIELD, Ill., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Major U.S. drugstore chains and supermarket pharmacies account for nearly one-in-four pharmacists on state pharmacy boards, a newspaper examination shows.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- U.S. government workers will be prohibited from smoking in federal building courtyards or within 25 feet of doorways and air-intake ducts, a new rule says.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. drug industry has agreed to stop giving branded gifts like pens to doctors to counter the idea they unduly influence medicine, an industry group says.

CHICAGO, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- One in 5 adults ages 45 and older are suffering health problems because of financial stress, an AARP survey indicates.

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Long-term use of the hypertension drug candesartan may reduce symptoms of heart disease, researchers in the Czech Republic say.

PLEASANTON, Calif., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. government Tuesday approved a nucleic acid test that screens for less common forms of HIV that recently have appeared in the United States.

DALLAS, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Exploding champagne corks may add a dramatic flair to New Year's Eve, but can also cause serious eye injuries, U.S. eye experts warn.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Before brides-to-be say "I do," they should be taking a daily multivitamin with 400 micrograms of folic acid daily, U.S. researchers said.

CHICAGO, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers tracked people's healthcare expenditures and health outcome to determine if the benefits of spinal surgery outweigh the costs.

BALTIMORE, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Increasingly, hand washing is believed to be the most important element of germ control, U.S. health experts say.

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Long-term gene therapy resulted in improved cardiac function and reversed deterioration of the heart in rats with heart failure, U.S. researchers said.