CHICAGO (Reuters) - Women with mutations in the well-known BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes who have their breasts and ovaries removed are much more likely to survive than women who do not get preventive surgery, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty directed state agencies on Tuesday to decline all discretionary participation in federal healthcare reform, throwing up roadblocks to President Barack Obama's goal of providing health insurance to all Americans.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Tuesday appealed a ruling that blocked federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, asking the judge who issued the injunction to put it on hold pending the appeal.

LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of people are putting their health and life savings at risk to travel to private clinics around the world for unproven and potentially dangerous stem cell treatments, British experts said on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new proposed diabetes test could miss millions of cases of diabetes and pre-diabetes and also over-diagnose black Americans if it was used as a screening tool, suggests a new study.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Some thirty years after authorities doled out the last dose of smallpox vaccine, the world faces another multiplying menace: monkeypox.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - An experimental drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer reduces the risk of stroke by more than half compared with aspirin, with no significant rise in major bleeding, researchers said on Tuesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Hormone replacement therapy after menopause may interfere with the accuracy of mammograms used to screen for breast cancer -- and the risk may be greater with hormones delivered by patch or injection compared with pills, a new study finds.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health officials are set to rule on whether a faster-growing, genetically engineered fish is safe to eat in a decision that could deliver the first altered animal food to consumers' dinner plates.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Two Iowa egg farms linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened thousands failed to follow their own safety plans, allowing rodents and other animals into poultry houses, U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors found.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Scientists have identified genetic mutations that appear to be associated with both esophageal and stomach cancer in two studies in China, suggesting they may share similar triggers.

SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - Cancer patients, particularly in developing regions, are in dire need of painkillers and affordable drugs, experts said.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - While the extent of obesity among kids overall seems to have peaked, it's still climbing among African American and Native American girls, new research from California shows.

LONDON (Reuters) - The government said on Friday it was considering withdrawing benefits from those with drug or alcohol problems who refused to seek treatment.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite some earlier evidence that hormone replacement therapy after menopause can help maintain women's muscle mass, a new study suggests that any such benefit does not last.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it will examine the potential heart risks of Novartis AG's Parkinson's drug Stalevo, a combination of two treatments for the debilitating brain disease.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Acne is a difficult enough burden for a young person to bear. Now there's evidence that antibiotics commonly prescribed to help control severe breakouts may, in a very small number of patients, lead to inflammatory bowel disease.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More cases of food-borne illness are likely in a U.S. salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds of people in three states and prompted a nationwide recall of suspect eggs, a federal official said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More U.S. teens are getting recommended vaccines against certain cancers, meningitis and infectious diseases, government researchers reported on Thursday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Common painkillers that have been linked to an increased risk of heart attack may also elevate risk of stroke, a new study suggests.

LONDON (Reuters) - The growing burden of cancer in developing countries could be reduced without expensive drugs and equipment, scientists said Monday, but it requires a global effort similar to the fight against HIV/AIDS.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A gene linked with the immune system may play a role in developing Parkinson's disease, researchers said on Sunday, marking a possible advance in the search for effective treatments.

LILONGWE (Reuters) - A measles outbreak has killed 197 people in Malawi since the start of this year, the highest number recorded in the country in the last decade, a senior health ministry official said Sunday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. aid official said on Saturday he was optimistic a serious cholera outbreak could be averted in flood-hit Pakistan after emergency steps taken by international and Pakistani relief groups.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When James Howard was diagnosed with brain cancer in March he did not know how he would pay for radiation treatments costing $87,000 and $2,300 a week for chemotherapy.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Health officials on Friday approved a new, longer-lasting "morning-after" pill to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex.

DENVER (Reuters) - A Colorado hospital that pioneered liver transplants using tissue from healthy donors has suspended further surgeries of that type following two recent deaths of U.S. donors.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who use estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy don't appear to be at increased risk of dying from lung cancer.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Patients with advanced head and neck cancer survived just as well on experimental drugs as they did on FDA-approved standard therapies in a new study.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Fast food outlets should hand out free cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to their customers to "neutralize" the heart risks of eating fatty foods like burgers and fries, British scientists suggested on Thursday.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Researchers in China, where at least six children died in a tainted milk scandal in 2008, have identified seven stable molecules in cow's milk that they hope to use to create a test to identify tainted dairy products.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Health Organization, governments and nonprofit groups are saving lives by distributing drugs to developing countries, but they are not paying enough attention to the dangers of drug-resistant bugs, according to a report released on Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - A cheap and easily administered medicine which helps to stem excessive bleeding could save the lives of many thousands of accident victims across the world, British scientists said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Monday announced new rules it said would protect Americans who want to keep their current health insurance but critics say the changes could end up causing millions to lose their coverage.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A murder in the neighborhood can significantly knock down a child's score on an IQ test, even if the child did not directly witness the killing or know the victim, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A study of brain scans has confirmed the role of several genes linked with Alzheimer's disease, and turned up two others that are worth exploring, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Mastectomy rates among US women with breast cancer are not on the rise, despite recent studies from three major cancer centers suggesting that more women were opting for the operation.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - High levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol - a.k.a. "good cholesterol" -- may be linked to lower risks of cancer as well as heart attacks, new research suggests.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The bad news: Commonly used drugs known to make people more sensitive to sunlight may slightly increase the risk of a certain kind of cataract, according to a new study.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Medical costs for U.S. employers will rise by 9 percent in 2011, slightly less than they have risen this year, according to a survey released on Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A nicotine mouth spray may help calm cigarette cravings up to three times faster than nicotine lozenges or chewing gum, a study suggests.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A brain mechanism that acts like a recycling plant for toxic proteins goes haywire in people with a gene mutation linked with Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers said on Thursday, unveiling a discovery offering a new lead for drug companies.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study adds to evidence that pregnancy may worsen or bring on symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder in some women -- suggesting, researchers say, that certain cases of the disorder involve abnormal responses to hormonal changes.

MANILA (Reuters) - President Barack Obama telephoned Philippine President-elect Benigno Aquino to pass on his congratulations -- and offer advice on how to quit smoking.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned Pfizer Inc for failing to quickly report serious and unexpected potential side effects from its drugs already on the market.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Heart attack rates fell 24 percent in California between 2000 and 2008, probably because of better care, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have found three genetic differences that affect a person's risk of being deficient in the "sunshine" vitamin D and say their work helps explain why sunlight and a good diet aren't always enough.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. regulators need to provide a clear path for drug companies to develop new antibiotics and should consider offering financial incentives, experts told a Congressional panel on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An estimated 45 million Americans do not have dental insurance, according to a government report released on Wednesday, and recently passed healthcare reform offers little direct help.

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's largest genetic scan of people with autism in their families has found that many patients have their own unique pattern of genetic mutations, not necessarily inherited.