Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Food-benefits recipients need a better shopping experience

Parents who receive supplemental food vouchers for grocery shopping need a better retail experience to make the most of the benefits, U.S. researchers say. When shoppers have a difficult time identifying allowable items under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, and then feel stigma during checkout, they're more likely to feel frustrated and uncomfortable and not use the benefits, the study authors write in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Breast cancer survivors may have lingering mental health effects

Breast cancer survivors may be more likely to experience anxiety, depression, sleep troubles and other mental health issues than women who have not been diagnosed with the disease, a research review suggests. The study team examined data from 60 previously published studies of women who had survived breast cancer that focused on a variety of psychological issues as well as challenges with cognitive and sexual function one year or more after treatment.

CDC says nine more people added to E.coli infection investigation

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday an additional nine people are being investigated in connection with the multistate outbreak of E. coli infections related to romaine lettuce. This brings the total number of people who have reported infections from 15 states to 52. [https://bit.ly/2Dzorjd ]

U.S. healthcare spending growth slows for second year in a row

Healthcare spending growth in the United States slowed for the second year in a row in 2017, mainly due to slower spending growth for hospital care, physician and clinical services as well as retail prescription drugs, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. National health spending grew at a rate of 3.9 percent to $3.5 trillion, the health agency reported on Thursday. In 2016, it grew at 4.8 percent. The low rate of spending growth in 2017 was similar to the average annual growth rate of 3.9 percent seen between 2008 and 2013.

Brain implants might one day help paralyzed patients use tablets

Paralyzed people might one day be able to operate smartphones and tablets just by thinking about the actions they want to perform, with help from sensors implanted in their brains, a recent experiment suggests. While previous experiments have had some success using brain sensors paired with customized computers to help paralyzed patients type up to eight words a minute, the current test focused on making it possible for these patients to use tablets and smartphones right out of the box without any special modifications, said lead author Dr. Jaimie Henderson of the Stanford University School of Medicine in California.

Exclusive: Dutch hospitals to drop U.S. body brokers, cite ethical concerns

Two major Dutch hospitals say they will stop importing human body parts from American firms, which they have been doing without any regulation for a decade. The hospitals told Reuters in recent weeks they made their decisions on ethical grounds. The move comes amid investigations by U.S. law enforcement into some so-called body brokers - companies that obtain the dead, often through donation, dissect them and sell the parts for profit.

No-deal Brexit disruption at UK ports could last up to six months: minister

A no-deal Brexit could cause up to six months of disruption at some ports, a British minister warned on Friday, vowing to prioritise pharmaceuticals as the UK develops contingency plans less than four months before it is due to leave the EU. Lawmakers look set to vote down Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal next week, hurtling the world's fifth-largest economy into even deeper uncertainty and leaving open a number of possible outcomes including a disorderly Brexit.

Roche's lung cancer combo treatment wins FDA approval

Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG said on Thursday that its Tecentriq immunotherapy in combination with Avastin and chemotherapy won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval as a first-line treatment for a type of lung cancer. The approval was based on results from a late-stage study, which showed the Tecentriq regimen helped patients with metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) live significantly longer, compared with Avastin and chemotherapy, the company said in a statement.

AstraZeneca's Imfinzi fails to meet main goals in head and neck cancer study

AstraZeneca Plc's immunotherapy treatment Imfinzi did not meet the main goals in a late-stage study for advanced head and neck cancer, the London-listed drugmaker said on Friday. The study, known as "EAGLE", did not improve overall survival compared with standard chemotherapy in patients with the hard-to-treat disease, the company said.

Older adults may be unwilling to give up colorectal screening

At age 76 the risks of a repeat colonoscopy may exceed the benefits for seniors whose previous screenings have found no signs of cancer, but many older adults don't like the logic behind this guideline based on life expectancy. A new study surveyed U.S. military veterans and found many believe age is not a good reason to give up regular colonoscopies even though most thought it was reasonable to use age in deciding when to start screening.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)