Reuters - Health Report

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Monday, November 13, 2017

Microsoft founder Gates commits $100 million for fund, start-ups, to fight Alzheimer's

LONDON (Reuters) - Billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is to invest $50 million in the Dementia Discovery Fund, a venture capital fund that brings together industry and government to seek treatments for the brain-wasting disease.

Smog chokes Indian capital as emergency measures fail to bring relief

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A thick cloud of toxic smog 10 times the recommended limit enveloped India's capital, New Delhi, on Monday, as government officials struggled to tackle a public health crisis that is well into its second week.

Opioid abuse crisis takes heavy toll on U.S. veterans

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Opioid drug abuse has killed more Americans than the Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam wars combined, and U.S. veterans and advocates this Veteran's Day are focusing on how to help victims of the crisis.

Legionnaires sickens 12 in California, including 9 at Disneyland

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Disneyland has shut down and decontaminated two cooling towers following an outbreak of Legionnaires disease that sickened 12 people, nine of them guests or employees at the theme park in Anaheim, county health officials said on Saturday.

Novartis posts eye drug data amid play for Eylea's turf

ZURICH (Reuters) - Novartis's bid to move in on Bayer's and Regeneron's eye-drug turf was buoyed on Friday by data showing patients on the Swiss drugmaker's new RTH258 drug showed less disease activity than those on its rivals' drug Eylea.

Roche MS drug Ocrevus wins European panel backing

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche on Friday won a key European panel's recommendation for its multiple sclerosis drug Ocrevus, which is on track for nearly $1 billion in sales in 2017 after winning U.S. regulators' go-ahead earlier this year.

Fire trucks to spray Indian capital amid deepening smog emergency

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India plans to use fire trucks to spray water over parts of its capital to combat toxic smog and dust that has triggered a pollution emergency, with conditions expected to worsen over the weekend.

Yemen set to run out of fuel and vaccine in a month: UNICEF

GENEVA (Reuters) - Yemen's stocks of fuel and vaccines will run out in a month unless a Saudi-led military coalition allows aid into the blockaded port of Hodeidah and Sanaa airport, UNICEF's representative in the country said on Friday.

Death toll from Legionnaires' disease in Lisbon hospital up at four

LISBON (Reuters) - The death toll from an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in a large Lisbon hospital doubled to four on Friday, Portugal's health authority DGS said, but the number of new cases being discovered appeared to subside.

Obesity tied to serious complications after knee injuries

(Reuters Health) - Knee dislocations are becoming more common among obese people, and these patients are more likely than normal-weight individuals to develop blood vessel damage that can lead to amputations, a recent study suggests.