Telus injecting $100 million over three years in medical-data technology unit

TORONTO - Telus Corp. (TSX:T) is grafting a new brand on its health-care technology unit and plans to invest $100 million over three years into the business to build and run networks sharing medical records and other information....More

Study puts a total on diabetes cost: US$218 billion in the United States

TRENTON, N.J. - As diabetes is rapidly becoming one of the world's most common diseases, its financial cost is mounting, too, to well over US$200 billion a year in the U.S. alone....More

Rick Hansen helps open world-class spinal cord research centre

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Man in Motion wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen joined B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell Tuesday to officially open a world-class spinal cord injury research centre in Vancouver....More

Raw-milk activist calls Ontario milk board an 'albatross,' wants it scrapped

TORONTO - Ontario's milk marketing board is an "albatross" that has failed to deliver on its legislated mandate to protect small-scale farming and should be scrapped, farmer and raw-milk activist Michael Schmidt said Tuesday....More

Ont. dentists say urgent action needed to prevent 'infectious' tooth decay in kids

TORONTO - As the mother of a 16-month-old boy, Catherine Arcand-Pinette is eager to prevent him from picking up infectious diseases such as the flu or strep throat. However, the music teacher from Oakville, Ont....More

Learning name of colour changes part of brain handling colour perception

WASHINGTON - Learning the name of a colour changes the part of the brain that handles colour perception. Infants perceive colour in the right hemisphere of the brain, researchers report, while adults do the job in the brain's left hemisphere....More

Doctors report a successful transplant of a windpipe with stem cells

LONDON - Doctors have given a woman a new windpipe with tissue grown from her own stem cells, eliminating the need for anti-rejection drugs. "This technique has great promise," said Dr. Eric Genden, who did a similar transplant in 2005 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York....More

This is your stomach on drugs: Study shows antibiotics disrupt gut for months

TORONTO - This is your gut. This is your gut on drugs. A new study reveals that a common antibiotic disrupts normal bacterial levels in the digestive tract of healthy adults for longer than previously thought....More

Injection site opponents emotional, not scientific: study

OTTAWA - A federal government threat to close Vancouver's supervised injection facility appears to be based more on emotion than rational analysis, a new report suggests....More

Family history can trump breast cancer gene test: U of T research

WASHINGTON - If breast cancer runs in the family, sobering new research shows women can still be at high risk even if they test free of the disease's most common gene mutations....More

Doctors hope for new era of artificial ankles that work more like original joint

WASHINGTON - What was left of Dan Sivia's ankle simply didn't work. He limped through his 30s by sheer force of will, one foot almost completely immobile from repeated broken bones and surgeries. Then a doctor offered his last hope: An ankle replacement....More

Charest offers to help infertile couples, Dumont to crack down on crime

MONTREAL - Premier Jean Charest says a Liberal government will offer financial help to couples needing fertility treatments....More

CFIA issues warning on milk in non-dairy coffee mix

OTTAWA - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning people with allergies to milk not to consume some non-dairy coffee mix. The affected products, which are being recalled, contain milk which is not declared on the label....More

Cases of asthma in Canada may be overdiagnosed by 30 per cent: study

TORONTO - Almost a third of adult Canadians diagnosed with asthma and taking medications to treat their wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath may not actually have the allergic respiratory condition at all, researchers say....More

British expert panel rejects change to organ donation law

LONDON - Britain should not change its organ-donation law to automatically designate every person a donor unless they or their survivors opt out, an expert panel recommended Monday....More

Action urged to prevent 'infectious' tooth decay in children

TORONTO - Ontario parents and politicians are being urged to do more to help prevent what a dental group calls an 'urgent problem' of tooth decay in children The Ontario Dental Association calls tooth decay an infectious disease and the most common preventable chronic childhood...More

B.C. government expected to offer insulin pump program for young diabetics

VICTORIA, B.C. - The B.C. government is expected to announce an insulin pump program Friday that makes life easier for young diabetics and their families....More

Study finds HPV vaccine prevents genital warts in males

ATLANTA - For the first time, an expensive vaccine aimed at preventing cervical cancer in women has proven successful at preventing a disease in men, according to a study released Thursday by the vaccine's maker....More

B.C. government expected to offer insulin pump program for young diabetics

VICTORIA, B.C. - The B.C. government is expected to announce an insulin pump program Friday that makes life easier for young diabetics and their families....More

Alberta contacts more than 1,000 people who may be infected by dirty syringes

EDMONTON - Alberta Health says it has contacted more than 1,000 people who may have been infected by the re-use of single-use syringes in the High Prairie area....More

Saskatoon health region to examine options after report notes health disparities

SASKATOON - Health officials in Saskatoon will be considering ways to boost the health of people in the city's poorest neighbourhoods. Officials are expected to meet Monday to examine the options....More

Surgeons aren't following all guidelines to lower infection risks: survey

TORONTO - Alberta surgeons aren't always following guidelines aimed at minimizing the risk patients will develop an infection as a result of their surgery, a new survey reveals....More

Major U.S. study says vitamin C or E pills do not help prevent cancer

Vitamin C or E pills do not help prevent cancer in men, concludes the same big study that last week found these supplements ineffective for warding off heart disease....More

Burlington, Vt., is healthiest U.S. city: CDC

The healthiest city in the United States is Burlington, Vt., the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Vermont's largest city is tops among U.S. metropolitan areas by having the largest proportion of people - 92 per cent - who say they are in good or great health....More

Mexico City has decided to give out Viagra to men 70 and older

MEXICO CITY - Mexico City is giving out free Viagra and other impotence drugs to men 70 and older. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard says the city is implementing the plan because sexuality has a lot to do with quality of life and happiness....More

Melamine fears: FDA slaps sweeping hold order on foods imported from China

WASHINGTON - Health authorities in Washington have slapped a sweeping detention order on dozens of imported foods from China. The unusual move by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration covers everything from snacks and drinks to chocolates and candies....More

Hundreds in Chile not told of positive HIV tests; contributes to spread of AIDS

SANTIAGO, Chile - Chile is scrambling to reach people who could be unknowingly spreading AIDS. Health Minister Alvaro Erazo told legislators Thursday that public health services failed to tell 512 people that they had tested positive for HIV....More

Health-care spending to outpace inflation: report

OTTAWA - Canada's health-care spending will continue to outpace inflation this year, reaching $171.9 billion or $5,170 per person, a new study predicts. Spending is forecast to be $10.3 billion more than the estimated expenditure for 2007, or a 3....More

Dealing with poverty 1st step in cutting TB among aboriginals, experts say

TORONTO - The photos say it all: young children, three and four to a bed, black mould growing on a paper-thin wall near their heads. A tiny house, only a step or two up from a shack, a broken window half-covered by a board to keep the weather out....More

Civilians can be treated for hernias at Halifax military base

HALIFAX, N.S. - Civilians will soon be able to undergo surgeries for hernias at a military base in Halifax following a one-day trial....More

Chronically ill Canadians waited longest of 8 countries to see specialists

TORONTO - Canadians with chronic illnesses wait longer to see medical specialists than counterparts in seven other developed countries, a new international survey suggests....More

B.C. government expected to offer insulin pump program for young diabetics

VICTORIA, B.C. - The B.C. government is expected to announce an insulin pump program Friday that makes life easier for young diabetics and their families....More

Mtl leukemia patient who raised awareness about bone marrow donations dies

MONTREAL - Emru Townsend, a Montreal leukemia patient who launched an international appeal for ethnic bone marrow donors and raised awareness about the lack of donations among ethnic groups, has died....More

Marrow transplant may have cured AIDS, German doctors say

BERLIN - An American man who suffered from AIDS appears to have been cured of the disease 20 months after receiving a targeted bone marrow transplant normally used to fight leukemia, his doctors said Wednesday....More

Global meeting in Toronto targets TB

OTTAWA - Native leaders and health experts from 60 countries will meet Thursday in Toronto to craft a global plan to cut alarming tuberculosis rates among the poor....More

Evidence too weak to say pesticides linked to cancer - yet: experts

TORONTO - It's one of those thorny issues that keeps cropping up among scientists, health-advocacy groups and the public: do the myriad pesticides that farmers use to grow our food cause cancer? The answer? Nobody is really sure....More

Evidence lacking for mass screening of heart patients for depression: study

TORONTO - Not enough medical evidence exists to recommend that cardiologists screen all their heart patients for depression, says a new study....More

British group urges more men to donate sperm because there is a shortage

LONDON - The British Fertility Society is warning that the country is facing a shortage of men willing to donate sperm. Fertility clinics are struggling to recruit donors, have long waiting lists and high costs and in some parts of the country, there are no clinics at all....More

People with egg allergies should not use Lucerne 10% Half and Half cream:

CALGARY - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning people with allergies to egg proteins to not consume Lucerne 10 per cent Half and Half Cream. The agency and Lucerne Foods, a division of Canada Safeway, says the product may contain egg which is not declared on the label....More

Chronically ill Canadians waited longest of 8 countries to see specialists

TORONTO - Canadians with chronic illnesses wait longer to see medical specialists than counterparts in seven other developed countries, a new international survey suggests....More

Malaria vaccine trial involving 16,000 children to begin in Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Researchers trying to create the world's first malaria vaccine are launching a massive medical trial as early as next month involving 16,000 children that could be the largest such trial ever conducted on children in Africa....More

Immune cells worn out from HIV fight given new life to assault disease: study

TORONTO - A Canadian-U.S. research team has discovered a way to rejuvenate key virus-killing immune cells that become "exhausted" after a person is infected with HIV....More

Elderly fare well in open-heart surgery, heart association conference told

NEW ORLEANS - Eighty-year-olds with clogged arteries or leaky heart valves used to be sent home with a pat on the arm from their doctors and pills to try to ease their symptoms....More

Blood pressure gap leads to deaths of 8,000 blacks: U.S. study

ATLANTA - The lives of nearly 8,000 black Americans could be saved each year if doctors could figure out a way to bring their average blood pressure down to the average level of whites, a surprising new study found....More

B.C. health workers get $68 million in compensation after jobs privatized

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Thousands of British Columbia health-care workers who lost their jobs through contracting out will be getting payouts from a total of $68 million in compensation....More

Aboriginal leaders reject upcoming report on cancer rates downstream of oilsands

FORT CHIPEWYAN, Alta. - Aboriginal leaders say they reject an upcoming report on cancer rates among their people who live downstream of Alberta's oilsands....More

Romaine lettuce 'prime suspect' in southwestern Ontario E. coli outbreak

TORONTO - Romaine lettuce is the "prime suspect" in an E. coli outbreak in southwestern Ontario that has sickened at least 26 people, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Tuesday....More

New study casts doubt on vitamin D's role as a breast cancer prevention tool

TORONTO - Vitamin D may not have the cancer preventive powers proponents ascribe to it, at least in so far as breast cancer is concerned, a new study suggests....More

Study says music headphones can interfere with heart devices

TORONTO - Headphones for portable MP3 players can interfere with pacemakers and defibrillators implanted in patients' chests to control heart rhythm problems and should be used with care, a study has found. U.S....More

Rerouting urinary nerves helps spina bifida patients robbed of bladder control

WASHINGTON - It's a delicate and daring experiment: Could doctors switch a leg nerve to make it operate the bladder instead? Families of a few U.S....More

Malaria vaccine trial involving 16,000 children to begin in Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Researchers trying to create the world's first malaria vaccine are launching a massive medical trial as early as next month involving 16,000 children that could be the largest such trial ever conducted on children in Africa....More

Immune cells worn out from HIV fight given new life to assault disease: study

TORONTO - A Canadian-U.S. research team has discovered a way to rejuvenate key virus-killing immune cells that become "exhausted" after a person is infected with HIV....More

Elderly fare well in open-heart surgery, heart association conference told

NEW ORLEANS - Eighty-year-olds with clogged arteries or leaky heart valves used to be sent home with a pat on the arm from their doctors and pills to try to ease their symptoms....More

Blood pressure gap leads to deaths of 8,000 blacks: U.S. study

ATLANTA - The lives of nearly 8,000 black Americans could be saved each year if doctors could figure out a way to bring their average blood pressure down to the average level of whites, a surprising new study found....More

B.C. health workers get $68 million in compensation after jobs privatized

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Thousands of British Columbia health-care workers who lost their jobs through contracting out will be getting payouts from a total of $68 million in compensation....More

Aboriginal leaders reject upcoming report on cancer rates downstream of oilsands

FORT CHIPEWYAN, Alta. - Aboriginal leaders say they reject an upcoming report on cancer rates among their people who live downstream of Alberta's oilsands....More

Achoo! Who knew? Pesky raccoons can catch and spread the flu

TORONTO - Who knew? Raccoons can catch the flu. New research shows the pesky critters - called the animal world's "Typhoid Mary" by one of the study's authors - can catch and spread both human and avian strains of influenza....More

Wishes of critically ill children should be legally recognized: doctors

OTTAWA - Provincial and territorial governments should legally recognize advance care directives for critically ill or dying children that would stop doctors from performing such life-sustaining procedures as CPR, the Canadian Paediatric Society says....More

Winnipeg scientists offer explanation for sporadic nature of Ebola outbreaks

TORONTO - Why does the Ebola virus only sporadically break out of its hiding place in the jungles of central Africa to infect humans or great apes? New research from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg may help scientists answer that question....More

Washington state voters approve assisted suicide initiative

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Voters have approved a ballot measure making Washington the second U.S. state to allow terminally ill people the option of medically assisted suicide....More

TV chef Jamie Oliver fears belt-tightening means bigger bellies

LONDON - Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver says he's worried about what the credit crunch will do to people's waistlines. Oliver says the U.K. faces a health crisis because millions of Britons can't cook basic meals....More

New American study links lead in blood to wild game consumption

BISMARCK, N.D. - North Dakota health officials are recommending that pregnant women and young children avoid eating meat from wild game killed with lead bullets. The recommendation is based on a study that examined the lead levels in the blood of more than 700 state residents....More

CFIA orders recall of specific Dunn smoked meat pouches in B.C.

OTTAWA - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Les Salaisons Desco Inc. are warning the public not to consume some Dunn's Famous brand smoked meat pouches because the product may be contaminated with Staphylococcus toxin....More

Achoo! Who knew? Pesky raccoons can catch and spread the flu

TORONTO - Who knew? Raccoons can catch the flu. New research shows the pesky critters - called the animal world's "Typhoid Mary" by one of the study's authors - can catch and spread both human and avian strains of influenza....More

N.L.'s largest health board probing breakdown of stem cell freezer

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Questions surrounding the quality of cancer care in Newfoundland were rekindled Thursday after the province's largest health board announced that a freezer storing the stem cells of 29 cancer patients unexpectedly broke down....More

Society spells out environmental links to cancer in online handbook

TORONTO - The Canadian Cancer Society has launched an online handbook that details the environmental substances known to or suspected of causing cancer and what people can do to limit their exposure....More

Hospital infection rates up despite attention SARS drew to problem: study

TORONTO - A new study says rates of hospital-acquired infections rose in Canada, even after Toronto's SARS outbreak and Quebec's C. difficile nightmare turned political attention to the problem....More

Despite political focus post-SARS, hospital infection rates continued to rise

TORONTO - Toronto's SARS crisis and Quebec's C. difficile nightmare drew political attention - and additional funding - to the problem of hospital-acquired infections....More

Despite political focus post-SARS, hospital infection rates continued to rise

TORONTO - Toronto's SARS crisis and Quebec's C. difficile nightmare drew political attention - and additional funding - to the problem of hospital-acquired infections....More

Study says music headphones can interfere with heart devices

TORONTO - Headphones for portable MP3 players can interfere with pacemakers and defibrillators implanted in patients' chests to control heart rhythm problems and should be used with care, a study has found. U.S....More

Study finds that wider use of a cholesterol-lowering drug may save lives

NEW ORLEANS - People with low cholesterol and no big risk for heart disease dramatically lowered their chances of dying or having a heart attack if they took the cholesterol pill Crestor, a large study found....More

Studies warn that vitamin pills don't prevent heart disease as once thought

NEW ORLEANS - Vitamins C and E - pills taken by millions of Americans - do nothing to prevent heart disease in men, one of the largest and longest studies of these supplements has found....More

Achoo! Who knew? Pesky raccoons can catch and spread the flu

TORONTO - Who knew? Raccoons can catch the flu. New research shows the pesky critters - called the animal world's "Typhoid Mary" by one of the study's authors - can catch and spread both human and avian strains of influenza....More

Wishes of critically ill children should be legally recognized: doctors

OTTAWA - Provincial and territorial governments should legally recognize advance care directives for critically ill or dying children that would stop doctors from performing such life-sustaining procedures as CPR, the Canadian Paediatric Society says....More

Winnipeg scientists offer explanation for sporadic nature of Ebola outbreaks

TORONTO - Why does the Ebola virus only sporadically break out of its hiding place in the jungles of central Africa to infect humans or great apes? New research from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg may help scientists answer that question....More

Washington state voters approve assisted suicide initiative

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Voters have approved a ballot measure making Washington the second U.S. state to allow terminally ill people the option of medically assisted suicide....More

TV chef Jamie Oliver fears belt-tightening means bigger bellies

LONDON - Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver says he's worried about what the credit crunch will do to people's waistlines. Oliver says the U.K. faces a health crisis because millions of Britons can't cook basic meals....More

New American study links lead in blood to wild game consumption

BISMARCK, N.D. - North Dakota health officials are recommending that pregnant women and young children avoid eating meat from wild game killed with lead bullets. The recommendation is based on a study that examined the lead levels in the blood of more than 700 state residents....More

CFIA orders recall of specific Dunn smoked meat pouches in B.C.

OTTAWA - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Les Salaisons Desco Inc. are warning the public not to consume some Dunn's Famous brand smoked meat pouches because the product may be contaminated with Staphylococcus toxin....More

Achoo! Who knew? Pesky raccoons can catch and spread the flu

TORONTO - Who knew? Raccoons can catch the flu. New research shows the pesky critters - called the animal world's "Typhoid Mary" by one of the study's authors - can catch and spread both human and avian strains of influenza....More

Washington state voters approve assisted suicide initiative

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Voters have approved a ballot measure making Washington the second U.S. state to allow terminally ill people the option of medically assisted suicide....More

TV chef Jamie Oliver fears belt-tightening means bigger bellies

LONDON - Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver says he's worried about what the credit crunch will do to people's waistlines. Oliver says the U.K. faces a health crisis because millions of Britons can't cook basic meals....More

New American study links lead in blood to wild game consumption

BISMARCK, N.D. - North Dakota health officials are recommending that pregnant women and young children avoid eating meat from wild game killed with lead bullets. The recommendation is based on a study that examined the lead levels in the blood of more than 700 state residents....More

CFIA orders recall of specific Dunn smoked meat pouches in B.C.

OTTAWA - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Les Salaisons Desco Inc. are warning the public not to consume some Dunn's Famous brand smoked meat pouches because the product may be contaminated with Staphylococcus toxin....More

Achoo! Who knew? Pesky raccoons can catch and spread the flu

TORONTO - Who knew? Raccoons can catch the flu. New research shows the pesky critters - called the animal world's "Typhoid Mary" by one of the study's authors - can catch and spread both human and avian strains of influenza....More

Saskatchewan, birthplace of medicare, faces overhaul of health care system

REGINA - Saskatchewan, the birthplace of medicare, wants to overhaul its health-care system and officials won't rule out privatizing some elements. Health Minister Don McMorris announced details Wednesday of a $1....More

Plastic lab equipment leaches chemicals, can influence outcome of experiments

TORONTO - A group of scientists warned Thursday that disposable plastic laboratory equipment - things like test tubes and pipette tips - may exude compounds that can interact with solutions or cells placed in them, leading to wonky results....More

N.L.'s largest health board probing breakdown of stem cell freezer

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Questions surrounding the quality of cancer care in Newfoundland were rekindled Thursday after the province's largest health board announced that a freezer storing the stem cells of 29 cancer patients unexpectedly broke down....More

Wishes of critically ill children should be legally recognized: doctors

OTTAWA - Provincial and territorial governments should legally recognize advance care directives for critically ill or dying children that would stop doctors from performing such life-sustaining procedures as CPR, the Canadian Paediatric Society says....More

Winnipeg scientists offer explanation for sporadic nature of Ebola outbreaks

TORONTO - Why does the Ebola virus only sporadically break out of its hiding place in the jungles of central Africa to infect humans or great apes? New research from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg may help scientists answer that question....More

Washington state voters approve assisted suicide initiative

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Voters have approved a ballot measure making Washington the second U.S. state to allow terminally ill people the option of medically assisted suicide....More

TV chef Jamie Oliver fears belt-tightening means bigger bellies

LONDON - Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver says he's worried about what the credit crunch will do to people's waistlines. Oliver says the U.K. faces a health crisis because millions of Britons can't cook basic meals....More

New American study links lead in blood to wild game consumption

BISMARCK, N.D. - North Dakota health officials are recommending that pregnant women and young children avoid eating meat from wild game killed with lead bullets. The recommendation is based on a study that examined the lead levels in the blood of more than 700 state residents....More

CFIA orders recall of specific Dunn smoked meat pouches in B.C.

OTTAWA - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Les Salaisons Desco Inc. are warning the public not to consume some Dunn's Famous brand smoked meat pouches because the product may be contaminated with Staphylococcus toxin....More

Achoo! Who knew? Pesky raccoons can catch and spread the flu

TORONTO - Who knew? Raccoons can catch the flu. New research shows the pesky critters - called the animal world's "Typhoid Mary" by one of the study's authors - can catch and spread both human and avian strains of influenza....More

Saskatchewan, birthplace of medicare, faces overhaul of health care system

REGINA - Saskatchewan, the birthplace of medicare, wants to overhaul its health-care system and officials won't rule out privatizing some elements. Health Minister Don McMorris announced details Wednesday of a $1....More

Deregulating food inspection puts public at risk: union

OTTAWA - The union representing government scientists is calling for an immediate freeze on the privatization of food inspection....More

Brain slows at 40, starts body decline, new research from Los Angeles suggests

WASHINGTON - Think achy joints are the main reason we slow down as we get older? Blame the brain, too: The part in charge of motion may start a gradual downhill slide at age 40....More

3,000 residents in southern Ontario told to boil water as a precaution

CLINTON, Ont. - About 3,000 residents in the southern Ontario communities of Seaforth and Egmondville are being told to boil their drinking water. The advisory was issued as a precaution because of a water-main break over the weekend....More

Third Saskatchewan health region reports reuse of syringes in operating room

REGINA - A third health region in Saskatchewan said Tuesday it has been reusing syringes, but also suggested that patients aren't at great risk of infection....More

Call for donors averts blood shortage, but supply still tenuous

TORONTO - Canada's stockpile of blood products has improved from dangerously low levels a week ago, but it's critical that donors continue to roll up their sleeves and give, Canadian Blood Services says....More

Achoo! Who knew? Pesky raccoons can catch and spread the flu

TORONTO - Who knew? Raccoons can catch the flu. New research shows the pesky critters - called the animal world's "Typhoid Mary" by one of the study's authors - can catch and spread both human and avian strains of influenza....More

Washington state voters approve assisted suicide initiative

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Voters have approved a ballot measure making Washington the second U.S. state to allow terminally ill people the option of medically assisted suicide....More

CFIA orders recall of specific Dunn smoked meat pouches in B.C.

OTTAWA - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Les Salaisons Desco Inc. are warning the public not to consume some Dunn's Famous brand smoked meat pouches because the product may be contaminated with Staphylococcus toxin....More

As Cda stays mum on chrysotile asbestos, B.C. family remembers what they’ve lost

TORONTO - Erica Casselman still struggles to find words to describe how she felt watching an aggressive form of asbestos cancer kill her husband....More

Women lead in bacteria, hands down, according to study of 51 college students

WASHINGTON - Wash your hands, folks, especially you ladies. A new study found that women have a greater variety of bacteria on their hands than men do. And everybody has more types of bacteria than the researchers expected to find....More

Teen pregnancies tied to tastes for sexy TV shows

CHICAGO - Groundbreaking research suggests that pregnancy rates are much higher among teens who watch a lot of TV with sexual dialogue and behavior than among those who have tamer viewing tastes. "Sex and the City," anyone? That was one of the shows used in the research....More

Patients diagnosed with a chronic illness need help for emotional fallout

TORONTO - They may not share the same physical symptoms, but for many people with a chronic illness, the psychological ramifications following diagnosis are remarkably similar....More

Drugs sending more British Columbians to hospital but booze, smokes top killers

VICTORIA, B.C. - Illegal drug use is sending an increasing number of British Columbians to hospital for treatment of symptoms ranging from psychotic episodes and pregnancy complications to traffic accidents, says a new report released Monday....More

Deregulating food inspection puts public at risk: union

OTTAWA - The union representing government scientists is calling for an immediate freeze on the privatization of food inspection....More

Brain slows at 40, starts body decline, new research from Los Angeles suggests

WASHINGTON - Think achy joints are the main reason we slow down as we get older? Blame the brain, too: The part in charge of motion may start a gradual downhill slide at age 40....More

3,000 residents in southern Ontario told to boil water as a precaution

CLINTON, Ont. - About 3,000 residents in the southern Ontario communities of Seaforth and Egmondville are being told to boil their drinking water. The advisory was issued as a precaution because of a water-main break over the weekend....More

HIV trial hears taped statement of alleged victim who died of AIDS-related cancer

HAMILTON - The first-degree murder trial of a man accused of fatally infecting two women with HIV heard evidence today from one of his alleged victims....More

Final witness tells N.L. inquiry she only learned of flawed cancer test this year

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - The final witness to testify at an inquiry into botched breast cancer tests in Newfoundland and Labrador says she didn't know her test was flawed until this year - eight years after she was first diagnosed with the disease....More

Alta, Sask need better risk review of reused syringes: patient safety group

EDMONTON - A patient safety group says more answers are urgently needed to find out what risk people are facing from reused syringes at some hospitals in Alberta and Saskatchewan....More

Alberta calls other Canadian medical officers of health over reused syringes

EDMONTON - Concerns over the potential reuse of syringes spread across the country Friday as Alberta offered to help other provinces, while the federal government said it was convening a working group on the issue. Alberta's acting chief medical health officer, Dr....More

Food inspection agency warns recalled Hershey products may be on sale again

OTTAWA - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has expanded its warning about the potential distribution of previously recalled Hershey chocolate products in Ontario....More

China: Feed makers defied rule in adding chemical

BEIJING - Animal feed makers deliberately added an industrial chemical to their products, ignoring a year-old government rule meant to protect China's food supply, a government official said....More

As Cda stays mum on chrysotile asbestos, B.C. family remembers what they’ve lost

TORONTO - Erica Casselman still struggles to find words to describe how she felt watching an aggressive form of asbestos cancer kill her husband....More

Teen pregnancies tied to tastes for sexy TV shows

CHICAGO - Groundbreaking research suggests that pregnancy rates are much higher among teens who watch a lot of TV with sexual dialogue and behavior than among those who have tamer viewing tastes. "Sex and the City," anyone? That was one of the shows used in the research....More