Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Adicet Bio raises $80 million to develop cancer cell therapies

Adicet Bio Inc, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of cancer therapies using gamma delta T cells, said on Wednesday it raised $80 million in private funding. "This financing will permit Adicet to continue to develop our proprietary technology, to enter the clinic in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and to advance our solid tumor programs," Adicet CEO Anil Singhal said. New investors include Israel's aMoon2 Fund, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Samsung Venture Investment Corp. All existing investors including OrbiMed, Novartis Venture Fund and Pontifax also participated in the financing. Low-carb 'keto' diets have some health benefits and some risks

While extremely low-carbohydrate diets may aid short term weight loss, they have mixed effects on health markers that can contribute to heart disease risk, according to new recommendations from the National Lipid Association. Based on a review of existing research, the scientific statement emphasizes some advantages of a ketogenic, or very low-carb, diet including appetite suppression, lower lipid levels and lower blood sugar in people with diabetes. Walmart to test programs for U.S. workers to cut its healthcare costs

Walmart Inc said on Thursday it will begin several healthcare pilot programs for its U.S. employees starting Jan. 1 as it looks for ways to cut healthcare costs - one of the largest expenses for the retailer after wages. Walmart will pilot a program that will connect patients with local doctors in an effort to cut down on its workers relying on word of mouth or social media to find a doctor. The pilot programs will be held in parts of Arkansas, Florida and Texas. South Korea confirms 13th case of African swine fever

South Korea confirmed two additional cases of deadly African swine fever at pig farms in towns near its border with North Korea, the country's agriculture ministry said on Thursday. The latest confirmation brings the total number of cases of detected since the first outbreak on Sept. 17 to 13, underlining the urgency of efforts to contain the disease that has swept across Asia since arriving in China last year. FDA says finds 'unacceptable level' of carcinogen in Zantac and its generics

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday it found "unacceptable levels" of a cancer-causing impurity in the popular heartburn drug Zantac and its generic versions known chemically as ranitidine. U.S. and European health regulators said last month they were reviewing the safety of ranitidine, after online pharmacy Valisure flagged the impurities to regulators. Canada's health authorities have asked makers of the drug to halt distribution as it gathers more information. Trump to unveil order aiming to boost Medicare health program, woo seniors

President Donald Trump will unveil an executive order on Thursday aimed at strengthening the Medicare health program for seniors by seeking to improve its fiscal position and offer more affordable plan options, administration officials told Reuters. The order, which Trump will discuss during a visit to a retirement community in Florida known as the Villages, is the Republican president's answer to some Democrats who are arguing for a broad and expensive expansion of Medicare to cover all Americans, plans that Republicans reject. China's hog herd may drop by 55% from fatal swine fever: Rabobank

China's hog herd fell by half in the first eight months of 2019 due to a devastating outbreak of African swine fever and will likely shrink by 55% by the end of the year, analysts at Rabobank said on Wednesday. The pace of herd losses will likely slow in the coming months due to reduced farm numbers and Chinese government measures to control the pig disease in the world's largest pork consumer, according to a report by Rabobank. However, the bank said relatively unstable market conditions will likely persist for the next three to five years. Sanders presidential campaign pivots health scare to Medicare for All message

Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential election campaign on Wednesday sought to use news the candidate had a heart procedure to highlight the benefits of his trademark Medicare for All healthcare plan. Sanders' campaign canceled campaign events and pulled TV ads after the 78-year-old U.S. senator had two stents inserted into an artery after he experienced discomfort during a campaign visit to Nevada on Tuesday. Amazon fires drive spike in child breathing problems in Brazil: study

The surge in fires in Brazil's Amazon rainforest this year fueled a spike in young children being treated for breathing problems as smoke clouded the air throughout the region, according to a study released on Wednesday. Roughly 5,000 children aged nine or younger were treated each month in May and June in 36 areas within Brazil's so-called "arc of deforestation," the area partially encircling the Amazon where destruction of the forest is the highest, according to a study by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a public health research institute. U.S. doctors rule out pneumonia due to inhaled oil as cause of vaping injuries

Doctors studying lung tissue from people with vaping-related injuries have ruled out one diagnosis as a probable explanation of how vaping harms the lungs, further deepening the mystery over the exact cause of hundreds of illnesses in the United States. Pathologists from the Mayo Clinic studied lung biopsies from 17 patients in the vaping-related outbreak that has sickened more than 800 and claimed the lives of 16 people in 13 U.S. states.

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