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Lifestyle Changes Can Help Prevent 30% of Cancers

More than 30 percent of cancers can be prevented by lifestyle changes, the World Health Organization said Friday, on the eve of World Cancer Day.

Among key risk factors for cancer are tobacco and alcohol consumption, a diet low in fruit and vegetable intake and lack of physical activity.

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Legionnaires' Disease Kills Three Britons in Spain

Three British tourists have died after catching Legionnaires' Disease in a Spanish seaside hotel, regional authorities said Friday, as they shut the hotel to stop the deadly bug spreading.

"Analyses on the three deceased, of British nationality, aged between 73 and 78 years, found pneumonia caused by Legionnaires'," said the regional government of Valencia in a statement.

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U.S. Breast Cancer Fund to Restore Funding after Outcry

A major U.S. breast cancer foundation Friday reversed its decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood after outcry over the move sparked a political and fundraising backlash by women's health advocates.

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation issued a statement saying it was sorry and would continue to give money to help underwrite breast screening at Planned Parenthood clinics, which amounted to $680,000 last year.

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Mass Hysteria Rare, but Usually Seen in Girls

Fifteen teenage girls report a mysterious outbreak of spasms, tics and seizures in upstate New York. But tests find nothing physically wrong.

Scores of adults in Northern California report crawling skin sensations and other bizarre symptoms. Government doctors find no physical cause after an extensive study.

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Study Shows Malaria Toll Far Higher Than Thought

Malaria kills more than 1.2 million people a year, nearly 50 percent more than previously thought, and inflicts a high toll among adults and older children and not just toddlers, a new investigation says.

But there is also good news: deaths from the mosquito-borne disease have in fact been falling sharply thanks to access to better drugs and insecticide-treated nets.

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Study Says Brains of Addicts are Inherently Abnormal

Drug addicts have inherited abnormalities in some parts of the brain which interfere with impulse control, said a British study published in the United States on Thursday.

Previous research has pointed to these differences, but it was unclear if they resulted from the ravages of addiction or if they were there beforehand to predispose a person to drug abuse.

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Measles Cases Rise after Decade of Decline

Measles outbreaks in parts of Europe and Africa led to some 60,000 more cases worldwide in 2010 over the previous year, after nearly a decade of declines, U.S. health authorities said on Thursday.

Due to a boost in global efforts to vaccinate people against measles, total cases declined from more than 853,000 in 2000 to nearly 278,000 in 2008, and remained stable in 2009.

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Time to Tax Sugar to Combat Health Crisis

Sugar should be identified alongside alcohol and tobacco as a health danger, and governments should tax sweetened drinks and food as part of their efforts to combat it.

So says a commentary, published on Thursday in the journal Nature as part of a widening debate among doctors and policymakers about food fiscality and health.

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Study Says India's Air The Worst

India has the worst air quality in the world, beating even its neighbor China, according to an annual survey based at Yale and Columbia universities in the United States.

Of all the countries surveyed in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), which measures the effects of polluted air on human health, India ranked the lowest at 132.

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Bird Flu Claims Second Victim this Year in Vietnam

A woman in southern Vietnam has died after contracting the bird flu virus, health authorities said Thursday, in the country's second human death from the virulent disease in less than a month.

Concerns about avian influenza have risen in the region with China, Cambodia and Indonesia all reporting deaths from the H5N1 virus this year.

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