UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Children’s Fund said Friday the number of children who die before the age of five has declined by 27 percent over the last two decades, and the rate is expected to continue falling.
According to new UNICEF figures, there were 68 deaths per 1,000 live births around the world in 2007 [...]

- FRIDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) — People with chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could one day benefit from an
antioxidant compound in broccoli, researchers report.

COPD is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States,
affecting more than 16 million people, and is often the result of
long-term smoking. There is no cure for this deadly disease, [...]

- FRIDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) — Taking better care of
seriously ill patients can actually save hospitals more than $300 a day,
according to a U.S. study.

An aging population in the United States means hospitals are caring for
an increasing number of people with cancer, heart disease, kidney failure
and other serious health problems. Through palliative care [...]

- FRIDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) — Three people with a rare,
incurable form of hereditary blindness regained some sight after receiving
experimental gene therapy, a new report says.

The patients, all in their early 20s, have Leber congenital amaurosis
type 2 (LCA2), a disease in which photoreceptor cells cannot respond to
light, because a gene called RPE65 [...]

- FRIDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) — International health experts
will convene in New York City next week to discuss an unconventional and
arguably radical approach to treating people with type 2 diabetes:
weight-loss surgery.

These “bariatric” procedures are normally reserved for the morbidly
obese, but recent studies suggest that patients with type 2 diabetes may
benefit as well, by [...]

- FRIDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) — Doing more thorough
screening of people with unexplained blood clots — particularly in the
legs, arms and lungs — could increase the rate of cancer detection among
these people by 21 percent, according to a new research analysis.

Scientists with the Ottawa Health Research Institute, who studied data
from almost 10,000 [...]

- FRIDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) — For many women, unsightly
bumps and bulges above and below the back of their bra can make wearing
body-hugging fashions a nightmare.

Now, a plastic surgeon in North Carolina has designed a procedure that
lifts and smoothes the upper and middle back.

In a one-hour procedure, with the patient under general anesthesia, [...]

- FRIDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) — Almost 40 percent of eye injuries
happen to people doing yard work or gardening at home, yet few people
think about wearing eye protection during these times.

And half of all eye injuries occur doing everyday chores, including
cleaning, cooking, yard and garage work, according to the American Academy
of [...]

Homebred beef cattle are seen at a local cattle market in Hongseong, about 170 km (106 miles) south of Seoul July 29, 2008. A rare genetic mutation may underlie some cases of mad cow disease in cattle and its discovery may help shed light on where the epidemic started, U.S. researchers reported on Friday. (Lee [...]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Two U.S. lawmakers are investigating
advertising claims by Wyeth that promote its Centrum Cardio
vitamin as a cholesterol-lowering product, according to a
letter to the company released on Friday.

Michigan Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak are seeking
related company documents following television commercials that
tout the vitamin as “the only complete multivitamin that can
lower cholesterol,” according to [...]