Health News Roundup: Hypnosis could help irritable bowel syndrome symptoms; Amgen antibody shows promise in myeloma trial

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Evidence thin on medical pot, EU illegal drugs body says

Evidence is still thin on the benefits of medicinal use of cannabis, an EU agency that monitors illegal drugs and addiction said on Tuesday, urging more study into the topic as growing numbers of countries allow it. The Lisbon-based EMCDDA said in its first report on the topic that so far there were "important gaps in the evidence".

World's first baby born via womb transplant from dead donor

A woman in Brazil who received a womb transplanted from a deceased donor has given birth to a baby girl in the first successful case of its kind, doctors reported. The case, published in The Lancet medical journal, involved connecting veins from the donor uterus with the recipient's veins, as well as linking arteries, ligaments and vaginal canals.

More U.S. pregnant women using opioids and meth

A growing number of American pregnant women are using opioids and methamphetamines, and drug use is rising fastest among mothers in rural communities, a U.S. study suggests. Nationwide, between 2008-2009 and 2014-2015, the proportion of babies born exposed to amphetamines - mostly meth - doubled from 1.2 infants for every 1,000 hospital births to 2.4 infants out of every 1,000 hospital births, the study found. By the end of the study period, the highest proportion of babies exposed to meth was in the rural West, where 11.2 babies in every 1,000 were exposed to amphetamine.

Amgen antibody shows promise in myeloma trial, gets FDA fast track

Amgen Inc, updating the first trial of its bispecific antibody for multiple myeloma, said on Monday seven out of 10 patients given the second-highest dose of AMG420 responded to the drug, including four with no detectable cancer. Six patients were still responding at 7.5 months of follow-up, according to research presented in San Diego at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

Mylan to recall all batches of blood pressure medicine valsartan in U.S.

Mylan NV said on Tuesday it is expanding a nationwide voluntary recall of its blood pressure medicine valsartan to include all lots, two weeks after it recalled select batches. The drugmaker said it was recalling 104 additional lots "out of an abundance of caution" after the valsartan-containing products were found to contain traces of a probable cancer-causing impurity.

Hypnosis could help irritable bowel syndrome symptoms

Patients with irritable bowel syndrome may find that hypnotherapy helps them cope with their symptoms, a new study shows. Irritable bowel syndrome is a chronic gastrointestinal disorder with abdominal pain, stomach discomfort, altered bowel habits and other symptoms, the study authors explain in the journal Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Johnson & Johnson's multiple myeloma drug reduces risk of death in late-stage study

Johnson & Johnson's blockbuster blood cancer drug Darzalex significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death in patients who have not been previously treated for multiple myeloma, late-stage study data showed on Tuesday. The injection when used with standard of care drugs, Celgene Corp's Revlimid and dexamethasone, reduced the risk of the disease spreading or death by 44 percent at about 28 months in patients who are not eligible for stem cell transplant.

U.S. relies heavily on foreign-born healthcare workers

More than one in four doctors in the United States were born in another country, and a new study suggests many nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and home health aides are also immigrants. Researchers who analyzed U.S. census data on 164,000 health care professionals found that overall, almost 17 percent weren't born in America and almost five percent were not U.S. citizens.

Novartis's new treatment for hives outperforms Xolair in trials

Novartis said on Tuesday it was taking its experimental medicine ligelizumab to late-stage trials after the drug showed signs of outperforming existing product Xolair in treating severe urticaria, also known as hives. Xolair is sold by both Novartis and Roche, but has lost patent protection in Europe and the United States, leaving it exposed to rivals who are developing copies of the biological drug. None are yet on the market.

Ambulances show up faster in wealthy U.S. neighbourhoods

Where you live in the United States may affect how quickly an ambulance shows up after a 911 call, a large new study finds. Looking back at a year's worth of data on patients who had cardiac arrests in 46 states, researchers found that it took an average of nearly four more minutes in poorer neighborhoods compared to wealthy ones for a patient to get to the hospital, according to the study published in JAMA Network Open.

(With inputs from Reuters)