Health

A kindergarten teacher in China’s Henan province has been detained after she allegedly poisoned 23 children by putting nitrite into their food. The victims, who were all students at Mengmeng kindergarten in Jiaozuo city, fell ill after eating porridge supplied by the school on Wednesday morning, according to a statement …

The number of people dying as a result of air pollution may exceed the number killed by smoking, a major new study suggests. German researchers estimate that as many as 8.8 million deaths per year globally can be attributed to dirty air. In Europe alone they estimate there are more …

Quebec’s appeals court on Friday upheld a historic ruling ordering three tobacco firms to pay Can$15.5 billion (US$11.6 billion) to smokers in the Canadian province who claimed they were never warned about the health risks associated with smoking. Imperial Tobacco Canada, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco, Rothmans Benson & …

Shares of the pharma and medical giant Johnson & Johnson have tumbled sharply after an investigation suggested the company had known for years its famous baby powder was contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos. Reuters published a lengthy inquiry into one of the company’s most celebrated products, that claimed as early as …

Nurses and trade union members in a busy Italian emergency department have been accused of releasing an infestation of cockroaches in a bid to be transferred elsewhere or discredit officials. Local media have been following the suspected sabotage since a video emerged on social media of an infestation in a …

  The number of people infected with measles in the European region in 2018 is the highest in a decade, the World Health Organization said Thursday. According to newly released data for the year, 82,596 people were infected and 72 people (children and adults) died from measles last year. Sixty-one …

  E-cigarettes are almost twice as effective as nicotine replacements for helping smokers quit, a study suggests. A trial found 18% of smokers who used them to quit remained smoke-free after a year, compared with 9.9% of those using nicotine-replacement treatments. The study of 886 smokers is the first to …

People who received intensive treatment for hypertension were less likely to develop minor cognitive problems than those receiving standard treatment. In dementia research, so many paths have led nowhere that any glimmer of optimism is noteworthy. So some experts are heralding the results of a large new study, which found …

A coalition of investors is calling on McDonald’s, KFC, and other fast food suppliers to take swift action on climate change. The group, with around $6.5 trillion under management, want the chains to cut carbon and water risks in their dairy and meat suppliers. Animal agriculture, they argue, is one …

Confidential data detailing the HIV-positive status of thousands of people living in Singapore has been leaked online by a US citizen, officials in the country have said. Records leaked include 5,400 Singaporeans diagnosed as HIV-positive before January 2013 and 8,800 foreign residents diagnosed before December 2011, the city state’s Ministry …

Letting a toddler spend lots of time using screens may delay their development of skills such as language and sociability, according to a large Canadian study. The research, which tracked nearly 2,500 two-year-olds, is the latest piece of evidence in the debate about how much screen time is safe for …

Researchers have genetically modified chickens that can lay eggs that contain drugs for arthritis and some cancers. The drugs are 100 times cheaper to produce when laid than when manufactured in factories. The researchers believe that in time production can be scaled up to produce medicines in commercial quantities. The …

    A sleep-deprived brain is awash in excess amounts of not one but two proteins whose bad behavior is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease. A new study finds excessive amounts of a protein called tau in the fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord of extremely sleep-deprived adults. Tau, …