 Exercise may slow physical and mental decline after menopause
By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who exercise regularly after menopause tend to maintain their physical strength and mental acuity longer than those who don’t, according to a new review of past studies that found exercise that gets the heart rate up is best. “We found that all the studies showed that physical activity was associated with decreased rates of cognitive decline and that even becoming active in later life as opposed to a lifetime of physical activity still lowered the risk compared to those who were inactive,” said Debra Anderson. Anderson worked on the study at the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation of the Queensland University of Technology in Kelvin Grove, Australia. She and her team reviewed 21 studies published between 2009 and 2014 assessing exercise or leisure time physical activity among women ages 65 and older.
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Dutch prepare to mourn as task of identifying bodies begins
The remains of the victims of last week's downing of a Malaysian airliner will begin to arrive in the Netherlands on Wednesday, but the intricate and harrowing process of giving names to the bodies could take weeks or months, Dutch officials said. Two military transport aircraft will touch down at 1400 GMT (10 a.m. ET) at the airport in Eindhoven in the southern Netherlands on Wednesday, which has been declared the country's first day of mourning in more than half a century. At Eindhoven, the first bodies will be unloaded to a solemn trumpet salute as dignitaries including the Dutch King and Queen and representatives of other countries that lost citizens look on, the Dutch governement said. The Netherlands is taking the lead in identifying the 298 victims of Thursday's crash, 193 of whom were Dutch.
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Pregnancy doesn’t drive women doctors out of surgical training
By Ronnie Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study disputes a common stereotype that women who become pregnant during surgical training often drop out of those training programs. Researchers led by Dr. Erin G. Brown of the University of California, Davis found that neither women nor men who had children born during their school’s surgical residency program were more likely to quit than residents who did not have children during training. Brown told Reuters Health the idea for the study came to her when she was pregnant with her daughter, now one and a half years old, during her surgical residency. It’s a slow, steady culture change away from the old boys’ club mentality that women who have children during training aren’t going to cut it,” she said.
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California firm issues nationwide fruit recall
CUTLER, Calif. (AP) — A Central California company is recalling specific lots of its fresh peaches, plums, nectarines and pluots sold nationwide over concerns of possible listeria contamination.
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U.S. Senate panel advances global disabilities treaty
By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee voted on Tuesday to advance a U.N. treaty to protect people with disabilities from discrimination, but the agreement faces a tough fight winning the two-thirds majority needed for ratification by the full Senate. Although 146 nations and the European Union have ratified the United Nations convention, it has failed to win approval in the deeply divided U.S. Senate, where many conservatives are wary of subjecting American social policies to global laws. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-6 in favor of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Only two Republicans, John McCain of Arizona and John Barrasso of Wyoming, joined the panel's 10 Democrats in favor.
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Fourth bacterial infection death reported at South Carolina hospital
By Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON S.C. (Reuters) - A patient who contracted a rare bacterial infection during surgery at a South Carolina hospital died last week, bringing the total deaths to four since the outbreak was first suspected in May, a hospital spokeswoman said on Tuesday. The four dead are among 15 patients infected by Mycobacterium abscessus during surgery at Greenville Memorial Hospital, spokeswoman Sandy Dees said. Hospital officials cited tap water as the likely origin of the bacteria. "Although we use sterile water in or near the surgical sterile field, even something as seemingly safe as pre-surgery hand washing may have contributed," said Dr. Robert Mobley Jr., the hospital's medical director of quality.
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Deaf Toddler Has Second Brainstem Device Surgery to Help Him Hear
A deaf toddler, who underwent surgery to have a radical auditory device implanted into his brainstem to help him hear, is showing vast improvement after undergoing the surgery a second time, giving new hope that the device could one day be a viable treatment option for deaf children.
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Cartoonist Roz Chast takes on eldercare
 By Randi Belisomo NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cartoonist Roz Chast, famous for her deceptively simple drawings in The New Yorker magazine, is now touching a chord with the “sandwich generation” with her wryly sensitive graphic memoir about caring for her aging parents. Readers of her new book, “Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?” see their own experiences reflected in Chast’s sketches of her struggles caring for George and Elizabeth, her stubborn, quirky, “codependent” Jewish parents in Brooklyn. “Whether they are Midwestern Lutherans or Jewish girls from Brooklyn, details are different, but the story is the same.” Chast didn’t know how to broach the painful issues of eldercare with George and Elizabeth, who lived independently into their 90s. Elizabeth, a self-described “Jewish Christian Scientist,” informs the attorney that hospitals are where “you go to die” and that doctors “have a God complex.” Her preferences, however, are clear, and emphasized in capital letters.
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U.S. CDC says to announce safety advisory panel by end of week
 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will announce its safety advisory panel later this week following breaches in its handling of anthrax and a deadly form of bird flu in recent weeks, the director of the agency said on Tuesday. CDC's Dr Thomas Frieden told reporters the members of the panel will consist of biosecurity experts who have no ties to the agency. The CDC has shut down two labs involved in the anthrax and bird flu incidents and has suspended the transfer of samples from high-security labs until their safety protocols are reviewed. As a result, Frieden has pledged to make sweeping changes to improve safety measures at CDC labs handling dangerous bacteria and viruses.
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U.S. court rulings create new uncertainty over Obamacare
 By David Morgan and Aruna Viswanatha WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. judicial panels on Tuesday injected new uncertainty into the future of President Barack Obama's healthcare law, with conflicting rulings over whether the federal government can subsidize health insurance for millions of Americans. The appeals court rulings, handed down by three-judge panels in Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia, augured a possible rematch before the U.S. Supreme Court, which in June 2012 narrowly upheld the Democratic president's 2010 healthcare overhaul.
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Using a nicotine patch during pregnancy tied to higher ADHD risk
By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Smoking during pregnancy has been linked to a higher chance of the child having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and a new study suggests women who use nicotine replacement products may also have children with an elevated risk. For instance, it could be that women dependent on nicotine are more likely to have ADHD symptoms themselves, said senior author Dr. Carsten Obel, from Aarhus University in Denmark. The children of women who use nicotine replacement products to quit smoking may be at risk of ADHD because of genes or their family environment, he told Reuters Health by email. Mothers were interviewed while pregnant and asked if they currently smoked, used nicotine replacement products including gum, patches or sprays or had quit smoking before pregnancy without nicotine replacement.
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Schizophrenia has many genetic links, study says
By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK - More than 100 locations on the human genome may play a role in a person’s risk of developing schizophrenia, according to a new study. While the results do not have an immediate effect on those living with the psychiatric disorder, one of the study’s authors said they open areas of research that had not seen advances in recent years. "The exciting thing about having little openings is it gives you a place to dig and make big openings,” said Steve McCarroll, director of genetics for the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. McCarroll is part of the Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, which published the study in the journal Nature.
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Oregon recreational pot initiative qualifies for November ballot
 An initiative seeking to legalize, tax and regulate recreational marijuana in Oregon has qualified for the November ballot, the state said on its website on Tuesday. Only two U.S. states, Washington and Colorado, currently allow recreational marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law. Oregon's proposal will come before voters just two years after they rejected a similar measure. "This is a moment we've been waiting for, that we've worked months to get to," said Peter Zuckerman, spokesman for the campaign in favor of the Oregon initiative.
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Obama nominee McDonald pledges to 'transform' VA
 WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's choice to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs pledged Tuesday to transform the beleaguered agency, saying that "systematic failures" must be addressed.
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Undercover probe finds health law failings
 Congressional investigators using fake identities were able to obtain taxpayer-subsidized health insurance under President Barack Obama's law, according to testimony to be delivered Wednesday.
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Puma says cancer drug meets trial goal, shares soar
(Reuters) - Puma Biotechnology Inc said its experimental breast cancer drug met its main goal in a late-stage trial. Puma said on Tuesday it plans to file for marketing approval of neratinib, code named PB272, in the first half of 2015. Adjuvant treatment with the drug showed a statistically significant improvement in disease-free survival of 33 percent versus patients on placebo, according to trial data. Adjuvant treatment, or additional treatment, is given after the primary treatment.
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Colorado judge sets new December 8 trial date in theater massacre case
 By Keith Coffman CENTENNIAL Colo. (Reuters) - Jury selection in the much-delayed trial of accused movie theater gunman James Holmes will begin on Dec. 8, a Colorado judge said on Tuesday, dismissing objections by the defense who said they needed more time. Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour made the ruling at a pre-trial hearing in Centennial, a suburb of Denver.
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Obama's veterans agency nominee vows corporate-style discipline
 By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's nominee to fix the Department of Veterans Affairs pledged on Tuesday to bring corporate-style discipline and accountability to the troubled agency plagued by healthcare delays and accusations of mismanagement and fraud. Bob McDonald, the former chief executive officer of Procter & Gamble Co, the world's largest manufacturer of household products, told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee that he would work to reorganize the VA to deliver care more efficiently to veterans. In a confirmation hearing brimming with corporate management buzzwords, McDonald said he would immerse himself in the VA's operations and devise ways to focus each of the department's 341,000 employees on its core mission of serving veterans. He also told senators he would give them his cellphone number and encouraged them to use it, adding that as P&G's CEO, his phone was turned on "24 hours a day." McDonald, 61, was nominated to replace Eric Shinseki, who resigned as VA secretary in late May amid a scandal over the coverup of delays in scheduling medical appointments at dozens of VA hospitals and clinics across the country.
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Latest Obamacare legal knot won't be easy to untangle
By David Ingram NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. judges have their work cut out for them untangling a legal knot created on Tuesday when two federal appeals courts released conflicting rulings hours apart going to the heart of the role the federal government will play in Obamacare. The latest conservative challenge to President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul will not necessarily land in the U.S. Supreme Court, although it could end up there as soon as this year if the two lower courts go on disagreeing. At stake is how millions of Americans pay for private health insurance, or if they can afford it at all. The 2010 Affordable Care Act authorized tax credits to subsidize private health insurance.
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U.S. Supreme Court lifts stay of execution for Arizona inmate
By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday vacated a stay of execution for an Arizona inmate who had sued the state demanding more information about the drugs that will be used in the lethal injection procedure he faces. Joseph Wood is one of six death row inmates who sued Arizona last month arguing that secrecy surrounding lethal-injection drugs used in botched executions in Ohio and Oklahoma violated their constitutional rights. He is set to executed at 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday inside the state prison complex in Florence, about 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Phoenix, officials at Arizona's Department of Corrections said.
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Seven ex-NFL players appeal concussion settlement
(Reuters) - Seven retired National Football League players are appealing a recent settlement between the league and about 5,000 former players stemming from a lawsuit over concussions suffered on the field, court records show. The appeal, filed in the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, came about two weeks after U.S. District Judge Anita Brody granted preliminary approval to a settlement that removed a $675 million cap on awards to former players who were part of the groundbreaking head injury lawsuit. Attorneys for the plaintiffs say 20,000 retired players could be covered under the agreement. The players filing the appeal said the settlement did not offer enough to those who had yet to see the worst of their symptoms appear, and did not cover all diagnoses suffered by players with head trauma.
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Meningitis diagnosis prompted W.Va. clinic probe
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — An investigation that found syringes were being reused at a West Virginia pain management clinic — whose operator had his medical license revoked in Texas — was triggered after a patient developed bacterial meningitis, a health official said Tuesday.
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Dueling rulings: Courts split on health law clash
 WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's health care law is snarled in another big legal battle, with two federal appeals courts issuing contradictory rulings on a key financing issue within hours of each other Tuesday.
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L.A. Clippers would lose players if Sterling stays: CEO
 By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Clippers could face an exodus of players, sponsors, fans and their coach if embattled owner Donald Sterling is still associated with the team, Richard Parsons, the franchise's interim chief executive, said on Tuesday at a trial over the NBA team's $2 billion sale. Parsons, the former Time Warner CEO who was installed by the NBA to run the Clippers in May, testified that the team would likely lose profitability and its overall value if sponsors, one of its top revenue streams, leave because of Sterling. "We have a bunch of sponsors who are sitting at the edge of the pool and they don't want to go into the water," Parsons told Los Angeles Superior Court a day after failed settlement talks between Sterling, 80, and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who won the bidding for the team.
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Obama government looks to satisfy religious groups on Obamacare
 The Obama administration is developing a method for religious organizations opposed to contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act to opt out of providing the coverage in their health plans without filling out a form. Under President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, known as Obamacare, employers must provide health insurance policies that cover preventive services for women, including contraception and sterilization. As a result, the Obama administration intends to augment its regulations to provide an alternative way for such religious organizations to provide notification while ensuring that enrollees in plans of such organizations receive separate coverage of contraceptive services.
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Five held in China food scandal probe, including head of Shanghai Husi Food
 By Adam Jourdan SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Shanghai police said on Wednesday they detained five people in an investigation into a Chinese-based supplier of foreign fast-food brands, including KFC, McDonald's Corp and coffee chain Starbucks Corp, over allegations the firm supplied old and rotten meat. The five detained include the head of the company - Shanghai Husi Food Co Ltd, a unit of U.S.-based OSI Group LLC - and the firm's quality manager, the police said in an online statement. McDonald's and Yum Brands Inc, the parent company of KFC and Pizza Hut, and a number of other global brands have pulled products from their outlets after it emerged that Shanghai Husi supplied expired meat to clients in China, as well as Japan. Earlier, the official Xinhua news agency cited the Shanghai food and drug watchdog as saying that food safety violations at Shanghai Husi were company-led rather than the acts of individuals.
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Britain plans new laws to prevent female genital mutilation
By Kylie MacLellan and Emma Batha LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will introduce new laws to combat female genital mutilation (FGM) including making it compulsory for teachers and health workers to report cases, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday. "It's absolutely clear what we are trying to achieve...and that is to outlaw the practices of female genital mutilation and childhood and early forced marriage; Around 103,000 women aged between 15 and 49, and another 10,000 girls aged under 15 who have migrated to England and Wales are estimated to have undergone FGM, according to a report on Tuesday from City University London. Cameron said ending FGM and child marriage was a global challenge on a par with eradicating poverty and tackling diseases.
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Benin detains 10 people in child trafficking probe
Benin has detained 10 people on suspicions of child-trafficking just weeks after a group in neighbouring Niger was held for links to a "baby factory" ring, police sources said on Tuesday. While it was not immediately clear if there was a connection between the two cases, the latest detentions point to the persistence of human trafficking across West Africa. "There have been around 10 people detained in the civil prison since last week," said Ghislaine Bokovo, director of the Benin police force's central office for child protection. Martial Degbessou, from the Porto-Novo police division, said people operating in trafficking networks often purported to be holding children on behalf of a nongovernmental organisation.
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Worldwide FGM ban sought at 'Girl Summit'
 Prime Minister David Cameron called on Tuesday for a worldwide ban on female genital mutilation and child marriage as he launched the first UN-backed "Girl Summit" on issues that affect millions around the globe. Cameron announced that parents in Britain would face prosecution for failing to prevent their daughters from being subjected to FGM, while setting out steps to tackle both practices in developing nations. "Our aim is to outlaw FGM and child marriage everywhere for everyone," Cameron told the summit in London, to applause from an audience of experts and campaigners from around the world. FGM, which affects tens of millions of women, particularly in the Horn of Africa, ranges from removal of the clitoris to the mutilation and removal of other female genitalia.
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U.N.'s Pillay says Israel may be committing war crimes
GENEVA (Reuters) - Israel may be committing war crimes in Gaza, where its punitive house demolitions and killing of children raise the "strong possibility" that it is violating international law, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said on Wednesday. Pillay, opening an emergency debate at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, also condemned the indiscriminate firing of rockets and mortars by Hamas into Israel. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, editing by Tom Miles)
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Survey finds sharp increase in teen use of HGH
 NEW YORK (AP) — Experimentation with human growth hormones by America's teens more than doubled in the past year, as more young people looked to drugs to boost their athletic performance and improve their looks, according to a new, large-scale national survey.
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Ohio woman has long road ahead after rock attack
 DANVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Doctors had a simple goal when they first saw how a football-size rock thrown from an interstate overpass in Pennsylvania had shattered Sharon Budd's skull — to keep her alive.
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Judges in health care rulings vote party line
WASHINGTON (AP) — In rapid succession, six federal judges on two appeals courts weighed in on a key component of President Barack Obama's health care law. Their votes lined up precisely with the party of the president who appointed them.
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Experiment offers hope for OCD
Brett Larsen spent decades trying to quell the anxiety churning inside him. But nothing worked -- until doctors implanted electrodes in his brain. 
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Dads' brains change post-kids
Scientists know mothers are neurologically prepared to care for their kids. But fathers' brains can learn to bond too, a new study shows. 
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Science limited on the drinking age
On July 17, 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which withheld a percentage of highway funds from any state that didn't raise the minimum drinking age to 21. 
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