Mexico wins praise for swine flu response
(AP)
AP - As swine flu runs rampant in the Southern Hemisphere winter, world health experts are concerned that some hard-hit countries have been reluctant to take forceful measures to protect public health.

Study: New flu inefficient in attacking people
(AP)
AP - With swine flu continuing to spread around the world, researchers say they have found the reason it is — so far — more a series of local blazes than a wide-raging wildfire. The new virus, H1N1, has a protein on its surface that is not very efficient at binding with receptors in people's respiratory tracts, researchers at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology report in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

Advocates are back with real health care stories
(AP)
AP - When carpenter Greg Douglas crashed his pickup truck, his toolbox hit him and smashed his ribs and collarbone. After a month in the hospital, the medical bills hit him even harder, totaling $165,000.

Federal probe finds problems with chelation study
(AP)
AP - A federal investigation has found that heart attack survivors enrolled in a study of a controversial alternative medicine treatment were not told enough about potential dangers from the drug being tested, including death.

Scrub tech may have exposed thousands to hepatitis
(AP)
AP - A former surgery technician may have exposed thousands of Colorado patients to hepatitis C when she swapped her own dirty syringes for ones filled with a powerful narcotic, federal authorities said Thursday.

World health officials tackle swine flu challenges
(AP)
AP - Swine flu is running wild in the Southern Hemisphere and is spreading rapidly through Europe, with Britain projected to reach 100,000 daily cases by the end of August. The virus is even showing signs of rebounding in Mexico.

Bedwetting, being overweight linked to sleep apnea
(Reuters)
Reuters - Children who are overweight and wet the bed at night may have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), researchers report.

Uganda to outlaw female circumcision
(AFP)
AFP - Uganda will pass a law banning female genital mutilation, which is rampant among pastoralist tribes in the country's eastern region, the president said in a statement Friday.

Health Tip: Controlling Asthma
(HealthDay)
HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Medication used to control asthma may be
used every day, without the fear of becoming addicted, the American
Academy of Family Physicians says.

Fertility drug combo promising in older women
(Reuters)
Reuters - The combination of two drugs -- Femara (letrozole) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) -- could be of benefit in infertile women of advanced reproductive age undergoing intrauterine insemination, results of a study indicate.
