Health News Roundup: MERS in Saudi Arabia, Sexual harassment and health effects

Watchdog sues Russian meat firm Cherkizovo over safety violations

Russia's agricultural watchdog said on Wednesday it had filed a lawsuit against meat firm Cherkizovo over safety violations. Rosselkhoznadzor, the watchdog, said it had asked the court to halt sales of products made by one of Cherkizovo's poultry units, citing the detection of Salmonella and listeria bacteria.

Southern diet helps explain extra high blood pressure risk for black men

High blood pressure is widespread among African-American men at least in part because they're more likely than other people to eat a traditional Southern diet with lots of fried and fatty foods, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers followed 6,897 people in the South who didn't have high blood pressure in 2003-2007, including 1,807 African-American men and women. After about 9 years, 46 per cent of black participants and 33 per cent of white participants developed high blood pressure.

Most older breast cancer patients do not suffer mental decline after chemo

Most older women who get chemotherapy for breast cancer do not experience problems with cognition in the first two years after diagnosis and treatment, a new study finds. But researchers did find one small subset of women who suffered some declines in attention, mental processing speed and decision making, according to the results published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

With Hemlibra, Roche seeks to break into tight haemophilia circle

Swiss drugmaker Roche is breaking into haemophilia A treatment, a $10 billion global market dominated by rivals who have cultivated close ties to sufferers of the genetic bleeding disorder. Roche's Hemlibra, on sale since late 2017 for patients with resistance to existing treatments, is widely expected to win the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's blessing for use in nearly all patients this week. The FDA declined to comment.

Ice hockey: More women's brains needed for concussion studies, says Ruggiero

American gold-medal ice hockey player Angela Ruggiero said she hopes her pledge to donate her brain to concussion research would encourage other female athletes to do the same so scientists could gain a fuller picture of the problem. The Hall of Fame defenseman, who retired in 2011 after playing in four Olympics, said medical research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) would benefit from greater female participation.

Venezuelan hospital encourages 'kangaroo' baby care to spare incubators

Venezuela's largest maternity hospital is asking mothers to care for non-critical premature babies with skin-to-skin contact known as "kangaroo care" rather than in incubators, as wards struggle with a lack of equipment. At the Concepcion Palacios Hospital last week, doctors held tutorials to show nurses and mothers how to hold newborns against their bare chests inside a pouch or cloth wrap.

Ten dies of MERS in Saudi Arabia among 32 cases in the last three months: WHO

Ten people have died among 32 infected with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in Saudi Arabia since June in a series of clusters of the viral disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. The latest cases, recorded between June 1 and September 16, bring the global total of laboratory-confirmed MERS cases to 2,254, with 800 deaths, the United Nations agency said in a "disease outbreak" statement on its website.

Sexual harassment, abuse tied to real health effects

Sexual harassment and sexual abuse occur frequently and can harm physical and mental health, according to two studies from the U.S. and Europe published in JAMA Internal Medicine. In one study, roughly 1 in 5 Pittsburgh-area women said they had been sexually harassed or sexually assaulted. These women were two to three times more likely to have high blood pressure, high triglycerides, poor sleep, depression or anxiety.

Impatient patients turn to online 'buyers club' for new drugs

Frustrated by delays in new medicines reaching their own country, a small but growing number of patients are turning to an online broker that bills itself as a legal version of the Dallas Buyers Club. While regulators warn of the risk of buying drugs online, the Amsterdam-based Social Medwork sees its network of trusted suppliers as filling a gap in the market for the latest drugs against diseases such as cancer, migraine and multiple sclerosis.

The attack on ICRC Ebola ambulance in Congo wounds three volunteers

Three International Committee of the Red Cross volunteers helping with the burial of an Ebola victim in eastern Congo were injured in an attack by villagers, prompting the ICRC to suspend burials in the area, health officials said on Wednesday. The attack on an ambulance transporting the body to a cemetery in North Kivu province's Beni region is the latest disruption to efforts to control the current outbreak, which is believed to have killed 106 people since July.

(With inputs from Reuters)

(With inputs from agencies.)