GENEVA – More than half a million women still die each year in pregnancy and childbirth, often bleeding to death because no emergency obstetrical care is available, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday. Despite modest progress, particularly in Asia, the global maternal mortality toll remains stubbornly stable due to a lack of financial resources and political will, it said.

Obesity may diminish a man's fertility

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Being obese may dim a man's chances of becoming a father, even if he is otherwise healthy, a new study suggests. Researchers found that among 87 healthy men ages 19 to 48, those who were obese were less likely to have ever fathered a child. More importantly, they showed hormonal differences that point to a reduced reproductive capacity, the researchers report in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

Studies show more links between vitamin D and MS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Children later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis had far lower levels of vitamin D than other youngsters, Canadian researchers reported on Friday in studies showing more links between the “sunshine” vitamin and disease. These were the first studies to show the effects in children, although others have shown that adults who live in northern latitudes, who get less sun exposure, may have a higher risk of MS.

Mom's prenatal stress tied to child's brain power

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children whose mothers were exposed to even moderately severe stress during pregnancy may show the effects in their intellectual development, a new study suggests. Research has shown that significant stress during pregnancy may affect fetal growth and development, but less is known about whether this has long-term effects on children's cognitive functioning.

WHO warns against use of electronic cigarettes

GENEVA (Reuters) – The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday against using electronic cigarettes, saying there was no evidence to prove they were safe or helped smokers break the habit. First made in China and sold mainly over the Internet in countries including Brazil, Britain, Canada and Israel, they have grown in popularity despite a lack of regulatory approval, it said.

Exercise reduces fat in livers of diabetics: study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Regular moderate exercise helps people with diabetes to reduce fat in their livers, in turn potentially preventing liver failure and heart disease, U.S. researchers said on Friday. People with type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease and one closely tied to obesity, often have elevated liver fat levels and are at high risk for a condition called nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Uncontrolled high blood pressure? Skip the salt

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – People who have uncontrolled high blood pressure despite taking multiple blood pressure-lowering drugs can lower their blood pressure by adopting a low-salt diet, according to a study released today at the American Heart Association's 62nd Annual Fall Conference of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research in Atlanta. “A high-salt diet contributes importantly to treatment-resistant hypertension (high blood pressure),” Dr. Eduardo Pimenta from the Dante Pazzanese Institute of Cardiology, Sao Paulo, Brazil, told Reuters Health.

Aggression among nursing home patients widespread

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Aggression among nursing home residents is extremely common, and often triggered by territorial issues, according to one of only a handful of studies to look at this issue. The findings suggest that giving residents more control and choice in their daily lives, as well as not having demented and non-demented individuals share living space, might help relieve the problem, Tony Rosen of Weill Medical College at Cornell University in New York City and colleagues say.

Pain is common in Parkinson's disease

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Nearly 70 percent of patients with Parkinson's disease report pain, which is significantly higher than the frequency of pain in healthy controls, according to a brief report in the Archives of Neurology. ”Patients with Parkinson's disease often complain of painful sensations,” which may involve body parts affected or unaffected by dystonia, Dr. Giovanni Defazio, from the University of Bari in Italy, and colleagues point out.

One Tysabri PML patient deteriorates, one improves

BOSTON (Reuters) – One of two patients who developed a potentially deadly brain infection after taking the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri is deteriorating, while one is recovering, according to a researcher involved in their care. Dr. Ralf Gold of the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, said in an interview Friday that a 52-year-old German patient who is hospitalized near the