Patients receiving antihistamines to suppress stomach acid are at greater risk of infection from Clostridium difficile a common cause of diarrhea, particularly in health care settings, Mayo Clinic researchers have found. The study focused on histamine 2 receptor antagonists. The researchers found no significant risk for…

With previous evidence suggesting that melatonin may have a role in glucose metabolism, researchers have found an independent association between decreased secretion of melatonin and an increased risk for the development of type 2 diabetes, according to a study in the April 3 issue of…

The use of 4 different 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine immunization schedules in healthy term infants resulted in no statistically significant differences in antibody levels between the infants after the booster dose at 12 months of age for almost all serotypes, according to a study in…

Using large and frequent doses of the pain-killer codeine may actually produce heightened sensitivity to pain, without the same level of relief offered by morphine, according to new research from the University of Adelaide.

New evidence suggests that taking vitamin B supplements may help reduce the risk of stroke.  “Previous studies have conflicting findings regarding the use of vitamin B supplements and stroke or heart attack,” said author Xu Yuming, with Zhengzhou University in Zhengzhou, China. “Some studies have…

The benefits of screening for colorectal cancer, regardless of approach, are made apparent in two New England Journal of Medicine studies. The first study comprises almost 90,000 clinicians followed for 22 years. Relative to no self-reported endoscopy, those who underwent sigmoidoscopy had an approximately 40%…

Obese men and women who have binge eating disorder have similar demographic and psychological features. Obese men with binge eating disorder are more likely to develop metabolic syndrome, including high blood pressure, elevated glucose and high cholesterol.

Post-menopausal women whose doctors prescribe hormone replacement therapy for severe hot flashes and other menopause symptoms may want to consider taking low doses of Food and Drug Administration-approved bioidentical forms of estrogen or getting their hormones via a transdermal patch. A new observational study shows…

Frequent bedsharing between a mother and infant was associated with longer duration of breastfeeding, but researchers warned of the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) associated with bedsharing, in a study by Yi Huang, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and colleagues.

A cheap and easy-to-administer dextrose gel should be used to treat low blood sugars in newborns (neonatal hypoglycaemia), a common problem that affects up to 15% of otherwise healthy babies*, and a preventable cause of brain damage, according to new research published in The Lancet.

The current practice of testing bone mineral density every 2 years in older adults may be too frequent, suggests a JAMA study.

Young Swiss men who say that they believe in God are less likely to smoke cigarettes or pot or take ecstasy pills than Swiss men of the same age group who describe themselves as atheists. Belief is a protective factor against addictive behaviour. This is…