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

One-Quarter of Mammals Face Extinction:
Report

About 25 percent of the Earth's mammal species are at risk of
extinction, says a report compiled over five years by 1,700 experts in 130
countries. That figure could be as high as 36 percent because data on some
species is so scarce, the Washington Post reported.

“Mammals are definitely declining, and the driving factors are habitat
destruction and over-harvesting,” said lead author Jan Schipper, the
global mammals assessment coordinator for the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature.

The report covers all 5,487 wild mammal species identified since 1500
and is the most thorough tally of land and marine mammals since 1996. It
found that land and marine mammals face different threats and that large
mammals are more vulnerable than smaller ones, the Post
reported.

Habitat loss and hunting are the major threats facing land mammals,
while marine mammals are most threatened by accidental killing through
fishing bycatch, ship strikes and pollution.

The study was published in the journal Science.

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Physical Activity Improves Obese People's
Quality of Life

Boosting physical activity by just one hour a week can help severely
obese people improve their quality of life, according to a U.S. study that
included more than 1,200 participants who were, on average, 100 pounds
overweight.

“Things that many people take for granted like tying one's shoes,
getting dressed, or simply moving around were easier for those who
reported routine exercise,” Martin Binks, research director at the Diet
and Fitness Center at Duke University Medical Center, said in a prepared
statement, United Press International reported.

“These folks weren't reporting high levels of activity yet they still
felt better. This supports what we've been teaching for years — no amount
of exercise is too little to have an impact and it's beneficial no matter
what you weigh,” Binks noted.

The ability to complete basic daily tasks — such as using the stairs,
getting up from chairs, dressing and undressing — and improvement of
physical symptoms such as shortness of breath were among the quality of
life benefits associated with being more active, UPI reported.

Binks said many obese people think “why bother,” but these findings
show the value of physical activity no matter how overweight. The study
was presented at the Obesity Society's annual scientific meeting in
Phoenix.

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Chemotherapy Best Option for Testicular Cancer: Study

A single dose of chemotherapy is the best way to cure testicular cancer
in many patients, according to a long-term British study that included 573
men who received one dose of carboplatin chemotherapy and 904 who received
radiotherapy.

The Southampton University-led study found that both groups had similar
rates of relapse. Lead researcher Dr. Ben Mead said the results were
“reassuring” and that carboplatin chemotherapy is the better option,
BBC News reported.

“Giving patients a carboplatin injection rather than radiotherapy is
less unpleasant with fewer long-term risks,” Mead said.

The study, presented Monday at a cancer conference in the United
Kingdom, also found that just two of the 573 patients who received
chemotherapy had cancer develop in the other testicle, compared with 15 of
the 904 patients who received radiotherapy.

Currently, radiotherapy remains the standard of treatment in the United
States and many other parts of the world. Mead said he hoped the study
findings would change this, BBC News reported.

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Nobel Prize for AIDS, Cervical Cancer Virus
Discoveries

The 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded Monday to three European
researchers for their separate discoveries of the viruses that cause AIDS
and cervical cancer.

Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier of France were honored for
their discovery of HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), while Harald zur
Hausen of Germany was cited for identifying human papilloma viruses that
cause cervical cancer, the Associated Press reported.

The two French scientists shared half of the $1.4 million prize while
zur Hausen received the other half.

Identification of the viruses that cause AIDS and cervical cancer —
the second most common cancer in women — have helped fight the deadly
diseases, the AP reported.

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Law Means Equal Insurance Coverage of Mental,
Physical Ills

A new law that requires equal coverage of mental and physical illnesses
means that more than one-third of Americans will soon receive improved
insurance coverage for treatment of mental health and addiction problems
such as depression, schizophrenia, eating disorders and drug and alcohol
abuse.

The new regulation, included in the economic bailout bill signed Friday
by President Bush, means that employers and group health plans will no
longer be allowed to provide less coverage for mental health care than for
physical ailments, The New York Times reported.

“A large majority of health plans currently have limits on hospital
inpatient days and outpatient visits for mental health treatments, but not
for other treatments. They will have to change their plan design,” said
Frank B. McArdle, a health policy expert at the benefits consulting firm
Hewitt Associates.

The new law will improve coverage for 133 million people, including 82
million in employer-sponsored plans that aren't subject to state
regulation, federal officials said. Businesses with 50 or fewer workers
are exempt. For most plans, the effective date for the new law will be
Jan. 1, 2010, the Times reported.

The Congressional Budget Office said the new law will boost premiums by
an average of about two-tenths of 1 percent.

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Scientists ID Genetic Variations Linked With
Ulcerative Colitis

Genetic variations associated with ulcerative colitis have been
identified by a team of German and British researchers, who said their
findings may lead to improved treatments for the common inflammatory bowel
condition, BBC News reported.

The scientists scanned the genomes of 1,000 people with ulcerative
colitis and 800 healthy people and found that those with the condition had
key variations in genetic regions directly alongside the gene that
produces interleukin 10, a compound that regulates inflammation.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Genetics.

It was already known that people with first-degree relatives with
ulcerative colitis have a higher risk of the condition, but the individual
genes involved hadn't been identified, BBC News reported.