Diabetes warning over soft drinks

Drinking one or more cans of sugary soft drinks a day is linked to an increased risk of diabetes in later life, a study suggests. A can a day raises the relative risk of Type-2 diabetes by about a fifth, compared with one can a month or under, say European scientists. The report in the journal Diabetologia mirrors previous US findings. A diabetes charity recommends limiting sugary foods and drinks as they are calorific and can cause...

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Cutting cord early 'risk to babies'

Cutting the umbilical cord immediately after birth - currently standard practice - puts the baby at risk of iron deficiency, experts say. Official guidelines are currently being examined - and professionals and campaigners say they should change. Leaving the cord attached for a few minutes allows the blood in the cord to transfer to the baby, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) says it will publish new guidelines next...

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Study suggests new approach to dengue fever

Dengue fever may be more than three times more prevalent than current estimates, according to a new report.  The study, led by researchers at the University of Oxford in England, estimates there are 390 million dengue infections around the world each year. Currently, the World Health Organization puts the number between 50 and 100 million infections each year. Researchers hope their findings will help pinpoint...

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Merger of drugmakers Valeant, Actavis on hold: source

(Reuters) - A proposed merger of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc and Actavis Inc was put on hold after the two drugmakers failed to agree on terms of a deal that would have created a healthcare giant with a combined market value of $35 billion, a person familiar with the situation told Reuters on Saturday. Actavis spokesman David Belian and Valeant spokeswoman Laurie Little both declined to comment. Canada's Valeant was seeking to buy smaller U.S. rival Actavis for more than $13 billion before the...

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Complications of chronic empyema

Complications due to chronic toxaemia.—The most common complications are those which arise as the result of a chronic toxaemia ; they include pulmonary osteoarthropathy, amyloid disease and nephritis. The symptoms and joint effusions associated with pulmonary osteoarthropathy usually clear up quickly as soon as the chronic suppuration in the chest has been controlled. It is important to realize that amyloid disease is also reversible, provided...

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Treatment (Empyema)

A chronic empyema can be cured permanently only by obliteration of the cavity. This may occur either as the result of re-expansion of the lung or in consequence of operative mobilization of the chest wall ; in the latter case, the parietal pleura falls inwards to meet and fuse with the visceral layer where it covers the partially collapsed lung. It is obvious that the functional and cosmetic result is much better when the cavity is obliterated...

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