Mississippi most obese state, Colorado least

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The number of obese U.S. adults rose in 16 states in the last year, helping to push obesity rates in a dozen states above 30 percent, according to a report released on Thursday. By that measure, Mississippi is the fattest state in the union with an adult obesity rate of 34.4 percent. Colorado is the least obese -- with a rate of 19.8 percent -- and the only state with an adult obesity rate below 20 percent, according to "F as in Fat," an annual report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Medicaid improves health and budgets of poor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Medicaid, a government health insurance program designed to help the poorest of the poor, is giving people unprecedented access to doctors and also improving their finances, a study co-authored by the Harvard School of Public Health has found. The study, released on Thursday, showed that new recipients of Medicaid reported better physical and mental health and were less likely to go into debt to pay their medical bills.

High diabetes risk in New York's South Asians

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study from New York City finds that immigrants from the Indian subcontinent have the highest rates of diabetes in the city -- a fact that may be masked by their being grouped with other Asians in assessments of community health risks, researchers say. Using data from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the authors found that foreign-born South Asians -- including people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan -- have the highest rate of diabetes of any ethnic group in New York. It is nearly double that of other foreign-born Asians.

Planned Parenthood goes to court over North Carolina cuts

WILMINGTON, North Carolina (Reuters) - Planned Parenthood asked a federal court on Thursday to block enforcement of part of North Carolina's budget that bars extending state funds to the women's health provider because it performs abortions. In a suit filed in the U.S. District Court in Greensboro, Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina sought an injunction to halt enforcement of budget provisions that deny the organization state and federal funds used to subsidize family planning services and provide teen pregnancy prevention programs.

Germany approves genetic testing of human embryos

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's parliament agreed in a conscience vote on Thursday to allow the limited use of genetic testing of human embryos. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) -- in which a cell or two are extracted from a developing embryo to test for genetic disorders -- has divided governments around the world, with many people opposing it on religious and ethical grounds, or arguing that it would let parents choose a "designer baby."

Rule aims to cut smog and soot from coal plants

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. environmental regulators finalized a rule on Thursday to slash air pollution from coal-fired power plants in 27 states east of the Rocky Mountains that result in unhealthy levels of smog and soot. The Environmental Protection Agency measure, known as the Cross State Air Pollution Rule, will add costs for some power generators, but should cut health care bills for Americans.

WHO wants more graphic warnings to cut smoking rates

LONDON (Reuters) - More than a billion people in 19 countries are now covered by laws requiring large, graphic health warnings on tobacco packs but too many countries are still not doing enough to cut smoking rates, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. In its third Global Tobacco Epidemic report, the United Nations health body said such warnings are proven to motivate people to quit smoking and also to reduce tobacco's appeal for people who are not yet addicted.

Experts find rogue stem cells in liver cancer

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Liver cancers are embedded with a type of super cancer stem cells that make them resistant to chemotherapy, spread to other body parts and stage a comeback even after they are surgically removed, researchers in Hong Kong reported on Thursday. The discovery, published this week in the journal Cell Stem Cell, is important because it means experts can target these stem cells in their fight against liver cancer, a major blight in China and southeast Asia.

Pushing Western medicine with fear in India

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - If you sleep less than six hours a night, you're increasing your risk of developing or dying from heart disease by 48 percent. At least, that's what U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Abbott would have 1.2 billion people in India believe. But doctors say the grim message, which appeared in a newspaper ad in India earlier this year, is baseless.

Doctors keeping very sick babies off life support

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A study of babies in intensive care suggests that doctors are getting better at recognizing situations where infants are sure to die or have severe brain damage -- and are often holding back on life support when that's the case. The findings "reflect increasing awareness by the medical community of the need to limit interventions of minimal or very questionable benefit, and particularly if those interventions potentially include significant pain or suffering to the patient," said Dr. Renee Boss, a neonatologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, who wasn't part of the new research.