The Kenya Red Cross Society and local partners started distributing food assistance from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Government of Kenya to tens of thousands of people in the Nairobi slums hardest-hit after days of post-election violence. It was the first time WFP food was handed out in the slums in a general food distribution.

No matter how old diabetes patients are, whether or not they have cardiovascular disease, irrespective of whether they are male or female, statin therapy reduces the risk of major vascular events, such as heart attack, stroke, or coronary revascularization (the need for an operation to bypass or unblock the coronary arteries). This is according to an Article in The Lancet, this week’s issue.

Heart disease is still a major killer, especially in the western world, but new therapies based on stem cells and other techniques could now be imminent. Progress is being held back however by the difficulty testing new therapies on human heart tissue, with animal models being only of limited value owing to differences in structure and activity.

Medicare’s prescription drug benefit led to a 17% reduction in out-of-pocket costs, or $9 per month, for beneficiaries who enrolled in the program in 2006, according to a study published online Tuesday on the Annals of Internal Medicine Web site, the Chicago Tribune reports. For the study, G.

Researchers in New Mexico are looking into increased risk of breast and cervical cancers for women living along the New Mexico-Mexico border, the Las Cruces Sun-News reports. John Moraros of the New Mexico State University Department of Health Science, said, “Hispanic women on the U.S.

A person who experienced severe stress-related symptoms straight after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the USA has a higher risk of being diagnosed with heart/cardiovascular problems during the subsequent three years, says an article in Archives of General Psychiatry (JAMA/Archives). The researchers explain “Extremely stressful events may precipitate biological processes that increase one’s risk of developing cardiovascular ailments.

Arizona-based Chicanos Por La Causa has decided to stop providing HIV/AIDS services to Hispanics through the Ryan White Program, leaving local officials “scrambling” to find another Hispanic group to take over the services, the Arizona Republic reports.

A teenager who is physically active and takes part in school or extra-curricular physical activities is less likely to become overweight as a young adult, compared to teenagers who are not physically active during their adolescence, according to an article in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (JAMA/Archives).The authors explain that approximately 16% of American teenagers are overweight. 85% of obese teenagers become obese adults.

The lower a teenage girl perceives herself to be on the social ladder the higher her likelihood of gaining weight for the subsequent 24 months of this perception seems to be, says an article in Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (JAMA/Archives).The writers explain that the percentage of American adolescent girls who are classified as overweight has gone up from 14% in 1999 to 16% in 2004.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt (R) has launched several statewide initiatives to promote the state’s MO HealthNet program, which was overhauled last year, the St.