ATLANTA - The number of Americans with diabetes has grown to about 24 million people, or roughly 8 percent of the U.S. population, the government said Tuesday.
A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on data from 2007, said the number represents an increase of about 3 million over two years. The [...]

The WHO unveiled Tuesday a safety checklist to be used in operating rooms around the world aimed at reducing the risks of complications resulting from major surgery. “Using a checklist is the best way to reduce surgical errors and improve patient safety,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said in a statement.(AFP/LEHTIKUVA/Heikki Saukkomaa)

WASHINGTON (AFP) -
The World Health [...]

Floodwaters rise in Clarksville, Missouri June 19, 2008. (Eric Thayer/Reuters)

CHICAGO (Reuters) -
Extreme floods and droughts brought on
by climate change can turn normally harmless infections into
significant threats, international researchers said on Tuesday.

They said weather extremes can create conditions in which
several fairly harmless diseases converge at once, creating a
“one-two punch” that can devastate populations of wildlife [...]

- (HealthDay News) — Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy
of CenterWatch:

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

If your child is a hospitalized person, aged 17 or younger, and
requires acid suppression therapy to treat suspected, symptomatic or
proven GERD, the child or adolescent may qualify to participate in this
study.

The research site is in Little Rock, Ark.

More [...]

- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments,
compiled by editors of HealthDay:

U.S. House Votes to Stop Medicare Cut for
Physicians

With less than a week to go before a 10.6 percent cut takes effect in
the amount Medicare reimburses participating doctors, the U.S. House of
Representatives passed a bill Tuesday to reverse the [...]

- SATURDAY, June 14 (HealthDay News) — A new computerized program
that helps parents and pediatricians adjust childhood immunization
schedules when one or more vaccinations are missed has been developed by
researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

It's common for children to miss getting vaccines at the recommended
time. About 28 percent of toddlers haven't been vaccinated [...]

- TUESDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) — A new medication and an
improved delivery system for an older drug appear to hold promise for
taming the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

In the first study, patients taking the drug SLV308 showed significant
reductions in typical Parkinson's symptoms, such as tremors and slowness
of movement. The results also indicate that SLV308 [...]

- TUESDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) — Preeclampsia may change the
way arteries respond to insulin, thereby increasing the risk of
cardiovascular problems years after the dangerous pregnancy complication
occurs, Scandinavian researchers report.

In this small study, researchers found an association between insulin
sensitivity in women and a history of preeclampsia, which is high blood
pressure during pregnancy.

“Although insulin sensitivity [...]

- TUESDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) — Women who give birth at top-rated
hospitals have fewer complications for Caesarean section and fewer
complications for vaginal birth, according to a HealthGrades study that
compared the quality of maternity and cardiac/stroke care for women at
U.S. hospitals in 17 states.

This is the fifth annual Women's Health in American Hospitals [...]

- TUESDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) — The higher death rate from
colorectal cancer among minorities in United States may be linked to
socioeconomic, health care access, language and cultural barriers that
lead to less preventative screening among these groups, a new report
finds.

The report, published in the June 23 issue of Archives of Internal
Medicine, analyzes [...]