Paracetamol no better than placebo in low-back pain: study
Paracetamol, the first-choice lower-back pain killer, worked no better than dummy drugs administered in a trial of more than 1,600 people suffering from the condition, researchers said
Geneticists find 100+ DNA pointers for schizophrenia
A massive gene trawl has linked over 100 DNA coding mutations to schizophrenia, yielding critical clues about what causes the illness and possibly how to treat it, scientists said
Encephalitis kills 60 in eastern India in fortnight
An outbreak of encephalitis has killed 60 people in two weeks in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, a top health official has said, calling the situation "alarming'.
HIV scare after Australian health worker diagnosed with virus
Australian authorities were urging 399 people in eastern Victoria state to have an HIV test after a health care worker was diagnosed with the virus that causes AIDS.
UN has 'moral responsibility' to tackle Haiti cholera: Ban
The United Nations has a "moral responsibility" to help impoverished Haiti end a devastating cholera outbreak some blame on peacekeepers, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says.
US govt lab reveals series of dangerous mix-ups
The United States' top public health agency revealed Friday a series of alarming incidents in which dangerous biological agents including anthrax, influenza and botulism were mishandled over the past decade.
Vials of smallpox discovered in US govt storage room
Federal investigators are probing how vials of smallpox made their way into a storage room at a Food and Drug Administration lab near the US capital, health authorities said.
Chikungunya virus spreads from Caribbean to C. America
The mosquito-born chikungunya virus is spreading into Central America, health authorities there say, after outbreaks in several Caribbean nations.
Infected food blamed for British baby's hospital death
A likely contamination of liquid food was on Wednesday blamed for the death in Britain of one baby and the poisoning of 14 more, regulators said.
Immunotherapy is new revolution in cancer fight
Immunotherapy has made great strides against cancers like melanoma that were once believed incurable, though scientists still do not understand why it works well in some cases but not others.
After 8,000 cholera deaths, Haiti faces new epidemic
Hard-hit by a cholera epidemic that started in 2010, Haiti now faces a new threat in the expanding chikungunya virus, authorities said
McCartney to make full recovery from virus in Tokyo
Music legend Paul McCartney has been treated in a Tokyo hospital for an illness that forced him to cancel a tour of Japan but is expected to make a full recovery, his representatives said.
Khmer Rouge 'First Lady' hospitalised in Thailand: son
The former "First Lady" of Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime has been hospitalised in neighbouring Thailand and is relying on a feeding tube and oxygen to survive, her son said.
Ex-Beatle McCartney cancels Japan tour over illness
Former Beatle Paul McCartney has cancelled his Japan tour due to illness, organisers said Tuesday, days after apologising to fans for missing a pair of weekend concerts.
13 new MERS deaths in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has announced 13 more deaths from the MERS coronavirus, as the World Health Organisation prepared for an emergency meeting over worries about the spread of the disease.
Unusual new penguin flu found in Antarctica
A new kind of bird flu has been detected for the first time in Adelie penguins in Antarctica, though the virus does not seem to make them sick, researchers said.
Deadly Middle East respiratory virus strikes in US
The first case of MERS, a dangerous respiratory virus that originated in the Middle East and has a high death rate, has been confirmed in the United States, officials said.
US orange production hit by disease, juice prices soar
A citrus disease spread by a tiny insect has devastated Florida's orange crop, which is expected to be the worst in nearly 30 years, and sent juice prices soaring on New York markets.
Garcia Marquez, godfather of magic realism, dies at 87
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Nobel-winning Colombian author who used magical realism to tell epic stories of love, family and dictatorship in Latin America, died Thursday at the age of 87.
Goat to be cloned to treat rare genetic disorder
Scientists in Brazil have genetically modified a goat to produce milk with an enzyme to treat a rare genetic disorder, O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper reported.
