Dozens of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange on Thursday embarked on a controversial detoxification treatment plan developed by the Church of Scientology, a Hanoi hospital director said.US aircraft sprayed chemical defoliants such as Agent Orange over vast swathes of jungle during the Vietnam War in an attempt to flush out Viet Cong communist guerrillas by depriving them of tree cover and food.Th

Federal scientists have isolated a virus in ticks that has never before appeared in the Western Hemisphere and are calling on other scientists to look for evidence of the disease-causing pathogen.Virus hunters from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the virus causes an illness nearly identical to ehrlichiosis, a tick-borne disease that is caused by a bacterium.The newfound pathogen, known as a phlebovirus, was isolated in 2009 in two Missouri men who doctors knew had been bitten

Many think that colon cancer is something that people aged over 50 should be worried about, but it pays to be on guard against the disease at a much earlier age, doctors say. A study released Thursday by the Korean Society of Coloproctology found that over 20 percent of men in their 30s who underwent colonoscopies between 2009 and 2011 had one or more polyps, the primary seed of colon cancer. It was a surprisingly high rate for the age group, which was regarded as less vulnerable, researchers sa

Cystitis is an inflammation of the bladder lining which can be caused by microorganisms (bacteria, protozoa or viruses), allergies, radiation and pharmacological agents. The most common mechanism of cystitis is bacterial infection through the urethra. Because women have shorter urethras than men, they are more prone to urinary tract infections. This is because the bacteria from the urethra, vagina or the cervix can flow back to the bladder. In this case, the main bacterial organisms are those of

A horse farm in Lake Ariel, not far from Scranton, Pennsylvania, has become a place to help victims of abuse recover from the atrocities they have suffered through horse therapy, according to news reports. In 2009, a 5-year-old was savagely raped by a complete stranger, leaving her mute. Her parents tried all types of therapy, including talk therapy and art therapy, to get her to speak, but nothing worked. Her therapist Ann Cook decided to try something different. Cook had the girl spend time wi

 A compound in green tea -- epigallocatechin gallate -- may help combat cancer by shrinking tumors, researchers in Scotland suggest.Study leader Dr. Christine Dufes of the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences and colleagues at the University of Glasgow said the team used an approach that allowed the treatment of epigallocatechin gallate delivered specifically to the tumors int

Studies conducted by separate researchers indicate a correlation between beauty and money but also that virtually nothing can be done to change a person’s beauty, even through plastic surgery, according to news reports. According to a recent study by Middle Tennessee State University researchers, real estate agents who are relatively more attractive tend to sell properties at higher prices. Sean Salter, a finance professor who co-authored the study, believes that this is because of the “halo eff

 German health authorities and researchers have come out swinging recently against the Taiwanese drink bubble tea, warning that the popular dessert beverage presents a choking hazard to children and may contain cancer-causing chemicals.The warnings, released separately, come as Europe, and Germany in particular, begin to catch on to the bubble tea trend which has already swept major urban centers

For severely obese people, gastric bypass surgery can be the surest, and the most cost-effective, way to weight loss, a new study found. Surgeries are expensive, but their long-term economic benefits, in terms of improvements in health and life quality, are greater than traditional weight-loss options such as diet, exercise and medication, the National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency said in its recently released research. “They are costly, but far more effective in treating obesi