Pakistani doctors studying conjoined twins to see if they can operate
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A Pakistani neurosurgeon says doctors are studying a pair of twin girls who were recently born connected at the head to determine whether they can separate them.
The infants were brought to a hospital in Islamabad on Monday from the city of Sahiwal in Punjab province where they were born a few days [...]
Continue Reading >>
'We have set our tiny miracle free;' Baby Isaiah taken off life support in Alta
EDMONTON – Surrounded by family, a brain-injured baby died in the arms of his loving parents in an Edmonton hospital after they had spent months trying everything in their power to keep him alive.
Rebecka and Isaac May went to court in January seeking to prevent doctors from unhooking their son Isaiah from a ventilator until [...]
Continue Reading >>
U.S. govt panel finds too many women denied chance to avoid repeat C-section
WASHINGTON – Too many pregnant women who want to avoid a repeat cesarean delivery are being denied the chance, concludes a U.S. government panel that urged doctors to rethink litigation-spurred policies that have swung the pendulum back toward the days of “once a C-section, always a C-section.”
Fifteen years ago, nearly three in 10 women who [...]
Continue Reading >>
Jump in obesity, C-sections may be playing role in childbirth-related deaths
WASHINGTON – Eleven days after her son Benjamin’s birth by C-section, Linda Coale awoke in the middle of the night in pain, one leg badly swollen. Just as her doctor returned her phone call asking what to do, she dropped dead from a blood clot.
Pregnancy-related deaths like Coale’s appear to have risen across the U.S. [...]
Continue Reading >>
Canadian hospitals inspired by Toyota unfazed by recent troubles
MONTREAL – Toyota may be rapidly becoming a byword for corporate misadventure, but Canadian hospitals are not yet ready to slam the brakes on health-care initiatives inspired by the Japanese carmaker.
A handful of hospitals across the country have in recent years modelled new management practices after the fabled workplace culture fashioned by Toyota’s founder, Sakichi [...]
Continue Reading >>
Could germs be making you fat?
WASHINGTON (Reuters Life!) – Germs that make their home in the gut may help cause obesity and a range of health-threatening symptoms that go along with it, researchers reported Thursday.
It could be that certain bacteria cause inflammation that can affect appetite as well as inflammatory bowel conditions like Crohn’s disease and colitis, the researchers reported [...]
Continue Reading >>
New research suggests obesity risks stacked against minority kids in U.S.
CHICAGO – The odds of obesity appear stacked against black and Hispanic children in the United States starting even before birth, provocative new research suggests.
The findings help explain disproportionately high obesity rates in minority children. Family income is often a factor, but so are cultural customs and beliefs, the study authors said.
They examined more than [...]
Continue Reading >>
Despite health risks, some people continue to buy and sell breast milk online
WINNIPEG – Some women are still trying to sell their breast milk online despite concerns from Health Canada about possible disease transmission and contamination.
One new mother in Winnipeg, who recently had to retract an online ad for her milk, says it is the only way to ensure that her surplus breast milk can get to [...]
Continue Reading >>
Researchers finding few medical differences between 'test-tube' kids and other …
SAN DIEGO – More than 30 years after the world greeted its first “test-tube” baby with a mixture of awe, elation and concern, researchers say they are finding only a few medical differences between these children and kids conceived in the traditional way.
More than 3 million children have been born worldwide as a result of [...]
Continue Reading >>
Alberta brain-damaged baby case put over until March, infant stays on respirator
EDMONTON – An Alberta judge has given the parents of a brain-damaged infant more time to consult with medical experts to review whether their son should be unhooked from life support.
Rebecka May, mother of baby Isaiah May, said Friday that she and her husband should have a much better idea of their infant son’s prognosis [...]