- THURSDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) — Having excess fat around
your heart may be more dangerous than a high body mass index (BMI) or a
thick waist in terms of your heart attack risk, according to new research.

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center researchers and
colleagues measured fat deposits around the heart (pericardial fat) in 159
people, [...]

- THURSDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) — Shelley Volz, now 59, got
the news about her breast cancer diagnosis 10 years ago, right before she
was headed from San Francisco to New York for the wedding of her younger
brother.

After much thought, she decided to tell only her mother before the
wedding and to hold off telling other [...]

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

Vaginal Atrophy

If you are a female aged 40 to 80, are post-menopausal,
and have symptoms of vaginal atrophy, you may qualify for this
study.

The research site is in Denver, Colo.

More information

Please see http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat639.html.

—–

Renal Cell Carcinoma

If you are 18 or older, have [...]

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

HIV Testing Rates Leveling Off

In 2006, 40.4 percent (71.5 million) of American adults said they had
been tested for HIV at some time, a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention analysis finds..

About 10.4 percent of adults said they were [...]

- THURSDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) — Two genes linked to breast,
thyroid and kidney cancer have been identified by Cleveland Clinic
researchers. The discovery of the genes SDHB and SDHD could help improve
early detection of these cancers and boost patients' chances of survival.

In addition, the researchers said their finding could improve screening
and treatment of patients [...]

- THURSDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) — Researchers in Massachusetts
have succeeded in generating several disease-specific stem cell lines
which should advance both research and, one day, treatment.

The lines will be made available to researchers around the world
through a Harvard Stem Cell Institute “core” facility being established at
Massachusetts General Hospital, institute co-director Doug Melton said
during a [...]

- THURSDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) — The vast majority of
Americans are dissatisfied with the U.S. health care system, and 82
percent think it needs to be overhauled, a new survey found.

“There is a broad view by the public that our health care system needs
a full overhaul, either to be totally rebuilt or reformed,” [...]

- THURSDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) — B cells may be more
responsible for causing autoimmune diseases like lupus or rheumatoid
arthritis than initially thought, according to a new study.

The finding, published in the Aug. 7 online issue of the journal
Immunity, may give scientists a new path to pursue in finding ways
to stop the immune [...]

- THURSDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) — Scientists say they're
gaining insight into how the brain rewires itself as it learns new things,
potentially helping them move toward better treatments for mental illness
and brain injuries.

Researchers report that a protein appears to tell the brain that it's
time to start rewiring, because new information is coming in.

While the [...]

An employee of Guatemala’s National Adoptions Council, left, greets a child held by his adoptive mother after a press conference in Guatemala City, Tuesday, July 8, 2008. The child, whose real name has not been revealed in order to protect his identity, is the first case of adoption under the new Guatemalan adoptions’ law. (AP [...]