Health News Roundup: Factbox: U.S. vaping-related deaths rise to 21; Diabetics can reduce heat illness from exercise

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Factbox: U.S. vaping-related deaths rise to 21

Massachusetts state health officials on Monday confirmed one death from a mysterious lung illness linked to e-cigarettes, bringing the total number of fatalities to 21 across 18 U.S. states. Latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which updates the national numbers every Thursday, listed 1,080 confirmed and probable cases of the illness as of Oct. 1. 

Swedish hospital sounds all clear after testing patient for Ebola

Medical tests on a patient in southern Sweden for possible Ebola have detected no sign of the deadly virus, hospital authorities said on Tuesday. The patient, who was not identified, arrived at the Skane University Hospital on Monday running a high fever after traveling in a region of Africa stricken by Ebola.

U.S. FDA approves Clinuvel Pharma's rare genetic disorder treatment

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it approved Australian drugmaker Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd's treatment for a rare inherited disorder that results in skin damage from exposure to light. The treatment, Scenesse, is an under-the-skin implant that treats erythropoietic protoporphyria, a painful disorder that causes the skin to itch, burn, and scar in some rare cases, when exposed to sunlight and some types of artificial light.

Humira, Rituxan top list of U.S. drugs with biggest price increases: report

AbbVie Inc's rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira and Roche Holding AG's cancer drug Rituxan topped a list of seven treatments whose combined 2017 and 2018 price hikes accounted for a $5.1 billion increase in U.S. spending, a report released on Tuesday showed. The price hikes were more than twice the rate of medical inflation and were not supported by any new clinical evidence, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) said in the analysis.

Novartis gets FDA boost in crowded eye drug market

Novartis's anti-blindness medicine Beovu has become the latest eye drug to win U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, giving the Swiss drugmaker a boost in the increasingly competitive market for eye problems among an aging population. Beovu injections into the eye treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which affects 20 million people worldwide, the Swiss drugmaker said on Tuesday.

GSK recalls popular heartburn drug Zantac globally after cancer scare

GlaxoSmithKline on Tuesday said it is recalling the popular heartburn medicine Zantac in all markets as a "precaution", days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found "unacceptable" levels of probable cancer-causing impurity in the drug. Zantac, also sold generically as ranitidine, is the latest drug in which cancer-causing impurities have been found. Regulators have been recalling some blood pressure and heart failure medicines since last year.

CDC says STD cases in U.S. rose to record high in 2018 as funding lags

The number of Americans who were diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) last year rose to a record high, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday, partly because funding for local health departments has dropped. Nearly 2.46 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and other STDs were reported in 2018, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a report. The total includes some 1,300 cases of congenital syphilis in newborns.

Diabetics can reduce heat illness from exercise

Diabetes can make people more prone to heat stroke when they exercise on hot days, but two studies suggest there are things diabetics and others can do to lower their risk of heat-related illnesses. Exercising in the heat may get harder with age because older adults don't sweat as easily to help reduce body temperature. This risk may be even greater when people have diabetes because of diminished blood flow in the skin and reduced ability to get rid of excess heat by sweating, researchers note in JAMA.

Dog ownership linked with longer life, especially for heart patients

Dog owners live longer, and canine companionship may be especially good for people with heart disease and those living alone, new research shows. "We studied more than 3 million people, and the results are very significant," Dr. Caroline K. Kramer of the University of Toronto Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes at Mt Sinai Hospital told Reuters Health by phone.

Cracks in Purdue's proposed opioid settlement as Arizona backs out

The U.S. state of Arizona withdrew its support for a proposed nationwide opioid settlement with Purdue Pharma LP, saying the maker of OxyContin sought to "undermine material terms of the deal," according to a court filing on Monday. Since Purdue filed for bankruptcy protection in September, Arizona is the first state to switch sides in the looming showdown over the privately-held company's proposed settlement, which it has estimated is worth more than $10 billion.

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