Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Smoking tied to artery disease in African-Americans

African-Americans who smoke cigarettes are more likely than those who don't smoke to develop peripheral artery disease, a U.S. study suggests. Smoking has long been linked to increased risk for peripheral artery disease (PAD), which restricts blood flow to the extremities and can lead to mobility limitations, amputations and heart attacks. Even though African-Americans are almost three times more likely to develop PAD than white people in the U.S., research to date hasn't offered a clear picture of what role smoking plays in the development of this artery disease in the black community. Epidemic group invests $34 million in potential vaccine printer tech

A coalition seeking to get ahead of the next pandemic has agreed a $34 million deal with German biotech CureVac to develop vaccine "printing" technology that aims to rapidly produce shots against multiple diseases. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)said its backing will help CureVac's work on a prototype of its RNA Printer product - a transportable, automated printing facility for types of a molecule known as messenger RNA. World's smallest baby boy goes home from Japan hospital

A baby boy weighing just 268 grams (9.45 oz) at birth was sent home after months in a Tokyo hospital, the smallest surviving male baby in the world, Keio University hospital said. The boy was born through Caesarean-section last August after he failed to gain weight during the pregnancy and doctors feared his life was in danger. Mindfulness-based stress reduction may help ease chronic pain

People with chronic pain may experience as much of a decline in symptoms with mindfulness-based stress-reduction training as they do with cognitive behavioral therapy, a small research review suggests. Mindfulness interventions are typically designed to help patients learn meditation techniques they can use at home to cultivate awareness of the present moment during ordinary daily activities such as driving or eating. Therapy often incorporates breathing exercises and practices such as yoga to help encourage body awareness and focus on the present. Certain parenting behaviors may tune baby brains to angry tones

Parents who are very controlling when interacting with their infants may increase the likelihood that their babies tune in to angry voices, a new study shows. When babies heard recordings of angry voices, an area of the brain involved in processing emotional vocalizations responded more sharply in infants with mothers and fathers who practiced more "directive" parenting, according to the study published in PLoS ONE. U.S. senators tell drug company executives pricing is 'morally repugnant'

U.S. senators called drug pricing practices "morally repugnant" and told drug company executives they do not want to hear them blame others for the high prices, taking an aggressive stance at a Senate hearing on the rising costs of prescription medicines. Senators took aim in particular at Abbvie Inc Chief Executive Richard Gonzalez and his company's rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira - the world's top-selling prescription medicine. Doctors confirm new type of twin born from one egg and two sperm

Doctors in Australia say they have identified a second case of twins apparently created from one egg and two sperm, a boy-girl combination in whom the mother's DNA is identical in both babies but the father's DNA varies in each twin. They're being called semi-identical twins and a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that such twins are extraordinarily rare. The only other reported case was uncovered in 2007. Diabetes tied to risk for more advanced, aggressive breast cancer

Women with diabetes are more likely than those without the disease to be diagnosed with a more advanced and difficult to treat form of breast cancer, a Dutch study suggests. The researchers examined data on 6,267 women diagnosed with breast cancer from 2002 to 2014, including 1,567 patients with type 2 diabetes. Top Bristol-Myers shareholder comes out against $74 billion Celgene deal

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's top shareholder Wellington Management said on Wednesday it does not support the U.S. drugmaker's $74 billion deal to buy biotech Celgene Corp, imperiling what would be the largest pharmaceutical acquisition of all time. The announcement strengthens the hand of activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP, which filed a slate of nominees to challenge Bristol-Myers' board last week, and has been canvassing its shareholders seeking to oppose the deal. Congo Ebola center set on fire after armed attack

Armed assailants attacked an Ebola treatment center in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, setting off a fire and becoming embroiled in an extended gunbattle with security forces, health officials said. The identity and motive of the assailants were unclear. Aid workers have faced mistrust in some areas as they work to contain an Ebola outbreak.

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