Health Highlights: Sept. 27, 2007
Mar. 23 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments,compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Cervical, Testicular Cancers Boost Divorce Risk
Problems with sexuality and intimacy may be reasons why testicular and cervical cancer patients are at increased risk for divorce, according to a Norwegian study presented Thursday at the European Cancer Conference in Barcelona, Spain.
The study found that women who develop cervical cancer are 40 percent more likely to divorce, while men who develop testicular cancer are 20 percent more likely to suffer failed marriages, Bloomberg news reported.
"During the course of treatment (for cervical and testicular cancers), sexual function will certainly be impaired," noted Dr. John Smyth, professor of medical oncology at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and outgoing president of the Federation of European Cancer Societies.
He added that sexual counseling should be included in the care provided to people with testicular and cervical cancer, Bloomberg reported.
The risk of divorce actually declined for colorectal, lung, prostate and breast cancer patients in the initial years after diagnosis, the study found.
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Russian Woman Has 17-Pound Baby
A 42-year-old women in Siberia gave birth to a 17.05-pound baby girl, the heaviest newborn ever recorded in Russia. The baby was delivered by Caesarean section on Sept. 17 and was doing well and developing normally, a doctor said.
The infant, the 12th child for Tatiana Khalina, was born at a maternity clinic in the town of Aleisk in southern Siberia and then transferred to a maternity hospital in the city of Barnaul, the Associated Press reported.
A Russian newspaper quoted a local official as saying that the mother and father weren't tall.
According to international statistics, an average weight for a newborn baby is about 7.04 pounds., the AP reported. A 23.12-pound baby born in the United States in 1879 is the heaviest ever recorded in the world, says the Guinness Book of Records. The baby died 11 hours after it was born. Babies weighing 22.8 pounds were born in Italy in 1955 and in South Africa in 1982.
