NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
The anti-smoking drug Chantix
appears more effective than the nicotine patch in helping
people stop smoking, European and U.S. researchers report.

In a study of 746 smokers, the investigators found that 56
percent of those who took for Chantix for 12 weeks were
cigarette-free during the last month of treatment. That
compared with 43 percent of [...]

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

Food Container Chemical Not Harmful, U.S.
Government Scientists Find

A chemical used in the making of baby bottles and other food containers
is not dangerous, U.S. Food and Drug Administration researchers have
decided.

The Associated Press reports that FDA scientists have confirmed
the agency's original [...]

- SATURDAY, Aug. 16 (HealthDay News) — Irresponsible eating, lack
of exercise and alcohol consumption are among the factors that contribute
to the Freshman 15, which refers to the extra pounds packed on by many new
college students, according to a Duke University expert.

Many freshmen don't know how to select or make healthy meals, and
stress from [...]

People enter an unemployment office in Dresden in 2007. Several thousand long-term unemployed Germans will be trained to care for people suffering from dementia, Suddeutsche Zeitung daily reported Saturday of a scheme that has drawn mixed reactions.(AFP/DDP/File/Norbert Millauer)

BERLIN (AFP) -
Several thousand long-term unemployed Germans will be trained to care for people suffering from dementia, Suddeutsche [...]

Camelback brand water bottles hang on display at an outdoor supply store in Arcadia, California. Camelback bottles are BPA free, but the controversial plastic chemical does not pose a hazard when used at typical exposure levels, a US Food and Drug Administration draft said according to media reports Saturday.(AFP/Getty Images/File/David Mcnew)

WASHINGTON (AFP) -
A controversial plastic [...]

A Bissau resident cleans a gutter to prevent the spreading of the cholera virus. The United Nations gave 400,000 euros (600,000 dollars) in aid to the tiny west African nation of Guinea Bissau to fight a cholera epidemic that has claimed 40 lives to date, the UN said Saturday.(AFP/LUSA/File/Manuel Almeida)

BISSAU (AFP) -
The United Nations gave [...]

This file photo shows Alberta cattle feeding on a ranch outside Calgary. A new case of mad cow disease has been detected in the western Canadian province of Alberta, the government's Food Inspection Agency announced Friday.(AFP/File/David Buston)

OTTAWA (AFP) -
A new case of mad cow disease has been detected in the western Canadian province of Alberta, [...]

NASSIRIYA, Iraq (Reuters) -
A woman has given birth to rare
sextuplets in southern Iraq, but two of them died because the
hospital lacked the proper equipment to keep them alive, her
doctor said on Saturday.

Some Iraqi media described it as the first birth of
sextuplets — six children born at once — in the country,
although this could not [...]

An Egyptian woman has given birth to a set of septuplets in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, in what doctors termed “a miracle”.(AFP/File)

CAIRO (AFP) - An Egyptian woman has given birth to a set of septuplets in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, in what doctors termed “a miracle,” the official MENA news agency reported on [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
Giving a pregnant woman
supplemental omega-3 fatty acids does not appear to influence
her child's overall intelligence at the age of 7, but it may
benefit certain aspects of the child's cognitive function,
Norwegian researchers report.

Specifically, the researchers found a link between the
concentration of the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid
(DHA) and its precursor, alpha [...]