ROYAL OAK, Mich. -- Kidney disease and cardiovascular disease are intertwined risk factors, each contributing to the other, according to two studies.

SAN DIEGO -- Breast cancer survivors who eat properly and exercise may halve their mortality risk regardless of obesity, researchers here found.

WASHINGTON -- The risk of developing dementia within six years can be predicted by a simple assessment tool that relies on clinical impression and patient history, researchers reported here.

CHICAGO -- A hardy handshake is a good way to begin a doctor-patient encounter, according to a nationwide survey.

HOUSTON -- All-at-once counseling proved marginally better than the one-by-one approach when helping patients change multiple behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

WASHINGTON -- The worldwide prevalence of Alzheimer's disease, estimated at 26.6 million patients, may quadruple by 2050, according to a mathematical model.

BOSTON -- As elderly patients get fatter, their blood levels of vitamin D decline even if they continue to go out into the noonday sun, according to researchers here.

CHICAGO -- Increasing the dose of pemetrexed (Alimta) to 900 mg/m 2 did not improve outcome for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but did slightly increase toxicity, researchers found.

CHICAGO -- Irinotecan (Camptosar) plus carboplatin (Paraplatin) modestly extends survival for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer compared with a standard etoposide and carboplatin regimen, researchers found.

GENEVA, Switzerland -- The choice of a vaginal or sublingual route for misoprostol, if used alone for early abortion, and the timing of doses gives women several safe and effective options.

CHICAGO -- The investigational drug RAD001 has demonstrated activity in the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors, researchers reported here.

CHICAGO, June 7 -- Adding chemotherapy to active symptom control did not extend survival or significantly improve quality of life in patients with malignant pleural mesolthelioma.

CHICAGO -- Time off from chemotherapy early in oxaliplatin (Eloxatin)-based treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer may reduce toxicity but impair survival, researchers said.

BALTIMORE -- Patients with internal carotid artery stenosis may be undergoing needless tests and interventions, investigators reported here.

CHICAGO -- African Americans with metastatic colorectal cancer do not fare as well as Caucasians when bevacizumab (Avastin) is added to the FOLFOX regimen, investigators reported here.

CHICAGO -- Confirming results of earlier studies, pemetrexed combined with either cisplatin or carboplatin demonstrated activity in previously untreated malignant pleural mesothelioma, said researchers here.

BOSTON -- Decline in renal function associated with Amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis can be slowed by eprodisate (Kiacta), a drug that inhibits the deposit of the complex protein in tissues.

CHICAGO -- An investigational immunotherapy that targets an antigen produced by non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tended to reduce the risk of recurrence by 27% when used as adjuvant therapy with surgery.

TURIN, Italy -- Mitotane (Lysodren), a controversial derivative of the insecticide DDT, extends relapse-free survival in cases of radically resected adrenocortical carcinoma, researchers here say.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Few hotels, motels, and resorts have installed carbon monoxide detectors despite nearly 800 cases of poisonings over 15 years, according to researchers here.