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CHICAGO (Reuters) - An old-fashioned technology -- the photograph -- may help improve the performance of radiologists reading test results from high-tech medical scanners, Israeli researchers said on Tuesday.

(Elsevier health Sciences) As the connection between second-hand smoke and coronary heart disease became clearer and legislation was passed to reduce such passive smoking, exposures have been reduced. In an article published in the January 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive medicine, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, Partners Healthcare, Boston and Columbia University have recalibrated the CHD Policy Model to better predict future trends in CHD.

Babies born by Caesarean section are more prone to developing asthma, say Dutch researchers.

Cancer: Here Today . . . Can breast cancer just disappear on its own? Per-Henrik Zahl of the Norwegian Institute of Public health in Oslo and colleagues compared breast cancer rates in two groups of more than 100,000 women ages 50 to 64. One group got mammograms every two years, while the second got...

An Australian egg company says all its products are safe after several casinos suspended their use.

The Bush administration plans a new 'right of conscience' rule that would allow more workers to refuse more procedures. Critics say it could apply to artificial insemination and birth control. The outgoing Bush administration is planning to announce a broad new "right of conscience" rule permitting medical facilities, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers to refuse to participate in any procedure they find morally objectionable, including abortion and possibly even artificial insemination and birth control.

COURTS Qualcomm dealt blow in patent case

The experimental medication, called tasimelteon, works like melatonin and restores normal sleep patterns, researchers say. An experimental drug that mimics the effects of the hormone melatonin can reset the body's circadian rhythms, bringing relief to jet-lagged travelers and night-shift workers, researchers reported Monday.

CRIME may be an unusual topic for a medical column but is a growing area of scientific research.

Last week, at the Scottish Parliament, Quarriers raised this issue with the health spokesmen and women of the four main political parties. Trish Godman, the Labour MSP for th