Health News Roundup: Baseline mammogram, Yemen cholera outbreak and lot more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Many women never heard of a 'baseline mammogram'

About half of women who routinely get mammograms haven't heard of the term "baseline mammogram," a recent study suggests. A baseline mammogram is usually the first screening mammogram a woman gets. It's used for comparison with follow-up screenings.

Football concussions drop after Ivy League kickoff change

(Reuters Health) - Concussion rates plummeted in Ivy League football under new rules moving the kickoff line in an attempt to minimize the risk of high-speed head-on collisions during this part of the game, a new U.S. study suggests. The intention of the 5-yard (4.57 m) move was to have more kickbacks land in the end zone, reducing the likelihood that the receiving players would advance the ball. Ivy League football coaches recommended this change after reviewing 2015 data showing kickoffs accounted for 6 per cent of all plays but 21 per cent of concussions.

Yemen cholera outbreak accelerates to 10,000+ cases per week: WHO

Yemen's cholera outbreak - the worst in the world - is accelerating again, with roughly 10,000 suspected cases now reported per week, the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO) showed on Tuesday. That is double the average rate for the first eight months of the year when 154,527 suspected cases of cholera - which can kill a child within hours if untreated - were recorded across the country, with 196 deaths.

Eli Lilly's diabetes treatment meets the main goal in two late-stage studies

Eli Lilly and Co said on Tuesday its experimental diabetes treatment was shown to be as effective as the drugmaker's Humalog medicine in two late-stage studies. The study also found that the drug, Ultra Rapid Lispro, significantly improved post-meal blood sugar levels in people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes and had a similar safety profile as Humalog.

The U.S. working to halt the spread of diseases from Venezuela

The United States is working with governments across Latin America to help prevent the spread of diseases like diphtheria and measles from Venezuela as refugees flee the chaotic country, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Tuesday. Azar, a former executive at drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co, said it was important to effectively treat infirm Venezuelan migrants before diseases like malaria spread through neighbouring countries.

Loblaw recalls some chicken products on fear of salmonella outbreak - CFIA

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said on Tuesday that grocery and drugstore chain Loblaw Cos Ltd was recalling certain $10 chicken fries due to Salmonella concerns. The recall was issued amid an investigation of Salmonella outbreaks, CFIA said.

GSK resumes some doctor payments, backtracking on a blanket ban

GlaxoSmithKline, which five years ago stopped paying doctors for promoting its drugs, said on Tuesday it would allow such payments once again in limited circumstances. The British group's 2013 no-payment pledge marked a first for an industry battling past scandals over sales practices. But other drugmakers failed to follow suit, leaving it at a competitive disadvantage.

FDA seizes documents from Juul in latest e-cigarette crackdown

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it seized more than a thousand pages of documents from Juul Labs related to the company's sales and marketing practices after a surprise inspection, the latest clampdown on e-cigarette companies. The FDA said last month it was considering a ban on flavoured e-cigarettes from Juul and others as the agency grapples with an "epidemic" of youth e-cigarette use that threatens to create a new generation of nicotine addicts.

Yo-yo dieting tied to heart attacks and strokes, even in healthy people

(Reuters Health) - People with fluctuations in their weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar may be more likely to have heart attacks and strokes than those with stable measurements, a Korean study suggests. Obesity and consistently elevated blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar have long been linked to an increased risk of having, and dying from, heart attacks and strokes, senior study author Dr Seung-Hwan Lee of the Catholic University of Korea in Seoul said by email. But less is known about what happens when people have fluctuations in these so-called metabolic risk factors over time, especially if they haven't been diagnosed with conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure, Lee said.

Service employees can be trained to respond to overdoses in public restrooms

After learning about opioid overdose and how to respond with the opioid-reversing drug naloxone, a group of New York City service industry workers felt "confident and equipped" to help during a real-life overdose situation at their workplace, researchers report. Public restrooms are a popular location for injection drug use, so employees of fast-food restaurants, diners and other businesses often find themselves unwitting first-responders to a drug overdose, the study authors write. With training, these employees can both protect themselves and potentially save a life, the authors argue.