Health experts help TV docs get facts straight

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - That young mother with breast cancer on "Grey's Anatomy" may do more than just drive the storyline: She may also be teaching you something.

FDA review also shows Glaxo diabetes drug risk

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Food and Drug Administration preliminary analysis found a level of heart-attack risk with GlaxoSmithKline Plc'sdiabetes drug Avandia similar to what was reported in a study earlier this week, the agency confirmed on Friday.

Researchers find big batch of breast cancer genes

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A genetic mutation that raises the risk of breast cancer is found in up to 60 percent of U.S. women, making it the first truly common breast cancer susceptibility gene, researchers reported on Sunday.

Turning off gene makes mice smarter

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Turning off a gene that has been associated with Alzheimer's disease made mice smarter in the lab, researchers said on Sunday in a finding that lends new insight on learning and may lead to new drugs for memory problems.

Beijing ponders heat-stroke warning index

BEIJING (Reuters) - Heat-stroke warnings could be issued in weather forecasts for the 2008 Olympic Games, the Xinhua news agency said, after the temperature in the capital soared to its highest May level in more than 50 years.

Food scares help China's nascent organic market

BEIJING (Reuters) - Fish could give you cancer, snails meningitis and baby milk may kill your children -- barely a day goes by without some new food horror story in China.

Some Frito-Lay products to bear heart claim

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vegetable oils, salad dressings, crackers and other oil-containing foods made by PepsiCo Inc.'s Frito-Lay unit will now carry claims that products with unsaturated fat can curb the risk of heart disease, U.S. regulators said on Friday.

Umbilical cord cells could produce insulin: study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Stem cells taken from the umbilical cords of newborns can be engineered to produce insulin and may someday be used to treat diabetes, U.S. and British researchers reported on Friday.

U.S. women, especially minorities, short on folate

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A government study shows that despite requirements that grains be fortified with folic acid, many U.S. women -- particularly blacks and Hispanics -- are not getting enough of the B vitamin.

Dads' Parenting Style Influences Childhood Obesity (HealthDay)

HealthDay - SATURDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- Fathers' parenting styles have a major influence on children's weight, says an Australian study that looked at almost 5,000 children, ages 4-5, and their parents.