If the excruciating pain in the joint of your big toe has been diagnosed by your doctor as gout, then relief might be found in a bowl of cherries. A new study by Boston University researchers found that eating roughly 30 cherries within the first 48 hours of having a gout attack might cut down the risk of the painful arthritic condition from returning, by up to 35%. Anecdotal evidence that cherries have powers to heal gout has been around since the middle of the 20th century. The study’s lead author,... 

Regular aerobic exercise is routinely recommended by doctors to reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes.  However, a new study shows that weight training can protect against diabetes as well.  Type 2 diabetes is a disease that afflicts nearly 26 million Americans. Nearly all of the studies showing that resistance training can help improve control of blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes and preventing the condition has involved aerobic exercise.  However, the new study found that those... 

New York City health department officials are amidst an investigation into the outbreak of meningitis in HIV-positive men. To date, there has been one death and another man is currently in the hospital with his status listed as critical. Health department officials released a prepared statement that said any man experiencing a rash, stiff neck, high fever and a headache should visit their primary care physician immediately. In addition, the statement said that all four of the meningitis cases that... 

Two drugs for combating different forms of vision loss were recommended by an U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee of outside experts.  The FDA panel gave its support to Roche Holding AG’s Lucentis eye drug for treatment of diabetic macular edema and ThromboGenics’ treatment for viteromacular adhesion.  These conditions often lead to blindness among a range of adults, including diabetics and the elderly.  The recommendations will now be considered by FDA regulators. Both... 

A new virus that is potentially fatal from the same family as the SARS virus was discovered in London last week. It appears that it is not easily spread from one person to another, said the World Health Organization on Friday. The virus thus far has killed one man from Saudi Arabia and caused a Qatar patient to become critically ill, said the health agency from the United Nations. The organization is working together with its international partners trying to understand the potential health risk to... 

A new form of genetic analysis by researchers of breast cancer found four distinct forms of the disease. Experts said this explains why a drug therapy for one type of the cancer might not work to help cure another form. The new findings are just the latest rewards for a huge project of cancer-gene mapping that is offering hope of even more effective forms of treatment for the disease, with drugs that are already available. What is probably the most intriguing discovery thus far by the Cancer Genome... 

Researchers investigating colon cancer tumors have found genetic vulnerabilities that could result in powerful new treatments.  The hope is that drugs can be designed to attack these weak spots and will eventually stop this dangerous type of cancer.  The colon cancer results were based on a study of 224 tumors. The study is the first part of a sweeping effort by more than 200 researchers that is expected to produce many discoveries for a wide range of cancers.  The effort, called the Cancer Genome... 

A new medication for hemophilia patients might require fewer injections to gain control of their bleeding, says a new study released by Biogen Idec and its partner Orphan Biovitrium of Sweden. The new drug for hemophilia is a bioengineered version of factor IX, the clotting enzyme. It could dominate the more than $1 billion market for hemophilia B treatments, which is the rarer form. The new treatment could displace the current BeneFix by Pfizer, which had over $700 million in sales in 2011. The... 

Older men who choose bariatric surgery to lose weight may not see reductions in medical costs in the following years.  Improvements in health and enhancements in quality of life after the surgery were not measured by the study.  The new study’s findings runs counter to the widely accepted claim that significant weight loss from bariatric operations leads to significant reductions in medical expenses. Nearly 113,000 Americans undergo bariatric surgery every year.  The most common form of bariatric... 

The Cancer Research UK group has released a report that says the death rates from cancer would take a dramatic fall over the next two decades. The new reports said fewer people were smoking and a number of improvements have been made allowing for better diagnosis of cancer and its subsequent treatment. Those two factors and others will help the death rate from cancer to fall up to 17%. As of 2010 in the United Kingdom, 170 deaths out of 100,000 people were from cancer. That figure is projected to...