Reuters Health News Summary
Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Upbeat music may make people more cooperative
The right mood music can influence how well people work together, a new management-oriented study suggests. Many retail establishments carefully select the music they play in order to influence consumer behavior, such as encouraging shoppers to buy more, the authors write. But employees hear the same music and its effect on them hasn't been studied.
Singapore confirms Zika spread; some countries issue travel warnings
The number of confirmed cases of Zika virus in Singapore rose to 82 on Tuesday, with some of the latest infections detected beyond the area of the initial outbreak. Several countries advised pregnant women or those trying to conceive to avoid traveling to the city-state.
More teens get needed vaccines in 'blue states'
Parental politics may influence whether teens get recommended vaccinations, according to a U.S. study. Dividing states into red and blue based on how they voted in the 2012 presidential elections, researchers found that in that year, adolescents in blue states were significantly more likely to have received three important vaccines recommended for 11 to 12 year olds.
Want to detect gluten on the go? There's a device for that
A California startup has developed a portable technology that will allow consumers to test their food for gluten on the go. "Even when you go out and see these labeled menu items, you are still playing Russian roulette," said Shireen Yates, co-founder and chief executive of NIMA, which was founded in 2013.
More than 300 million at risk of life-threatening diseases from dirty water: U.N.
More than 300 million people in Asia, Africa and Latin America are at risk of life-threatening diseases like cholera and typhoid due to the increasing pollution of water in rivers and lakes, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said. Between 1990 and 2010, pollution caused by viruses, bacteria and other micro-organisms, and long-lasting toxic pollutants like fertilizer or petrol, increased in more than half of rivers across the three continents, while salinity levels rose in nearly a third, UNEP said in a report on Tuesday.
History of gallstones may signal higher risk of heart disease
People who have had gallstone disease are more likely than others to develop coronary heart disease, according to a large analysis of past studies. Hardened deposits known as gallstones form in the gallbladder when the bile contains too much cholesterol or other abnormal substances, and while the cause is not fully understood, factors like obesity, high-calorie diets and metabolic syndrome are associated with gallstone risk.
New York expands access to restrictive medical marijuana program
New York state will loosen rules on marijuana prescribing, allow home delivery of the drug and take other steps to expand its medical cannabis program, health officials announced on Tuesday. The announcement follows a report issued earlier this month by the New York Department of Health recommending that the state increase access to the program, seen by experts as one of the most restrictive of its kind in the United States.
U.S. FDA approves Novartis biosimilar to Amgen's Enbrel
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Novartis AG's biosimilar version of Amgen Inc's arthritis drug Enbrel. The FDA approved the drug, Erelzi, known also as etanercept-szzs, for multiple inflammatory conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and plaque psoriasis, a skin condition.
University study finds flaws in criticism of St. Jude cyber security
University of Michigan researchers on Tuesday said their own experiments undermine recent allegations of security flaws in St. Jude Medical Inc's pacemakers and other implantable medical devices. Shares of St. Jude fell 5 percent on Thursday after short-selling firm Muddy Waters and its business partner, cyber security company MedSec Holdings Inc, alleged finding significant security bugs in the company's Merlin@home device for monitoring implanted heart devices. They said the flaws could potentially enable others to remotely speed up the heart devices or drain their power.
2011 Ohio law made abortions riskier, more costly
After Ohio enacted a law forcing abortion providers to prescribe an outdated drug regimen, women who received medication abortions there were more likely to experience complications and higher prices, a study shows. "That's what happens when laws aren't based on scientific evidence," said lead researcher Ushma Upadhyay, of the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco.
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