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

Study Reveals New Genetic Clues About
Cancer

A genetic anomaly in people with a higher-than-normal risk of
developing cancer has been identified by Canadian researchers. They said
the findings may lead to the development of a blood test that can detect
tumors at an [...]

- TUESDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) — Fewer psychiatrists are
providing psychotherapy to their patients during office visits.

The trend, noted by researchers publishing in the August issue of the
Archives of General Psychiatry, appears to be due to fewer
psychiatrists trained or specializing in psychotherapy and an increase in
the number of drugs available, along with a reluctance [...]

- TUESDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) — A new tool for diagnosing
anemia related to chronic illness and diseases of iron overload has been
developed by U.S. researchers.

Both anemia and iron overload have various causes.

“It is hard to diagnose the anemia of chronic disease. Having an assay
for hepcidin would make it much easier, and it [...]

- TUESDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) — The drug nevirapine — widely
used in developing countries to prevent transmission of HIV from mothers
to babies — persists in the breast milk and blood of mothers, a new
Stanford University study finds.

That, in turn, could increase the risk that they and their children
will develop drug-resistant strains of [...]

- TUESDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) — Traditional laser therapy is
more effective than the recent trend of using steroid injections to treat
diabetics with swelling in their eyes, a new study finds.

The multi-center trial, published in the online edition of
Ophthalmology, also noted that laser therapy has far few side
effects than corticosteroids in trying to preserve [...]

- TUESDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) — Many new mothers in the
United States struggle with chronic emotional and physical problems, often
with little or no support from their husbands or partners, all the while
trying to meet the needs of their newborns, and in some cases the pressure
to return to work, a new report finds.

“Mothers of [...]

- TUESDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) — Light to moderate exercise —
just walking a few blocks or even dancing — can help prevent the abnormal
heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation in those most vulnerable to it —
older people, a new study finds.

Atrial fibrillation, in which the two upper chambers of the heart tend
to twitch rather [...]

- TUESDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) — New insight into how the
brain processes the rewarding and addictive properties of nicotine sheds
light on why some people seem to become addicted once they have their
first cigarette, say Canadian researchers.

“Nicotine interacts with a variety of neurochemical pathways within the
brain to produce its rewarding and addictive effects. However, [...]

- TUESDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) — An analysis of human DNA has
provided new information about how ancient people shared knowledge that
helped advance civilization, say Stanford University researchers.

They found that animal-herding methods arrived in southern Africa about
2,000 years ago on a wave of human migration, rather than by movement of
ideas between people. The discovery [...]

HIV positive Indian child S. Ananthakrishnan is held by his mother TK Rema outside their home in the village of Kottiyoor in 2004. Despite stunning economic growth in China and India, child mortality rates remain high amid widening health disparities in the world's two most populous countries, a UN report said Tuesday.(AFP/File/Indranil Mukherjee)

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) [...]