WASHINGTON -- Recombinant clotting Factor VIIa should be used only as a last resort to treat variceal bleeding in patients with advanced cirrhosis, according to European researchers.

WASHINGTON -- Sacral nerve stimulation may be an effective alternative to surgery for patients whose idiopathic constipation doesn't respond to laxatives or biofeedback, researchers reported here.

WASHINGTON -- When fatty liver is the problem, a simple blood test can determine as well as an hepatic biopsy whether the condition is dangerous or benign, a researcher said here.

LONDON -- Ovarian suppression can help reduce the risk of recurrence of hormone-sensitive premenopausal breast cancer, found international investigators.

LONDON -- A single oral dose of vitamin D may give the immune system enough ammunition to fight off tuberculosis for six weeks after exposure, researchers here found.

STOCKHOLM -- Blood transfusions from donors with an undetected cancer do not increase the recipients' risk of developing a malignancy, researchers here reported.

CHICAGO -- If the human target is healthy, a shock from a Taser X26 causes no lasting ill effects, a researcher said here.

MADISON, Wis. -- Americans who consider cancer to be just one of those things, a disease that is essentially random and capricious, are significantly more likely to become a statistic, found researchers here.

EDMONTON, Alberta -- Chronic pain interferes with the brain's ability to keep information in mind while working on other tasks that require attention, researchers here found.

NEW YORK -- The Wall Street Journal suggested today that the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) may be tempting its members to buy low or sell high, on the sly, by sending them advance confidential copies of its annual meeting abstract book.

CAMPERDOWN, Australia -- Aspirin therapy during pregnancy may modestly reduce pre-eclampsia risk, but unknown long-term effects require weighing the decision with each patient, researchers said.

PHILADELPHIA -- In what may be good news for the bald, researchers here have shown that mice can regenerate hair follicles in much the same way that newts and salamanders can regrow body parts.

BOHEMIA, N.Y. -- A maker of shark cartilage capsules has issued a nationwide recall after routine product testing revealed potential Salmonella contamination.

TURIN, Italy -- ACE inhibitors reduced the risk of progressive kidney disease by 20% in children and young people with early-stage IgA nephropathy and moderate proteinuria, researchers here reported.

SEATTLE -- Prostate cancer risk is unaffected by lycopene, and beta-carotene appears to triple the risk for aggressive forms of the malignancy, a large study showed.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- Sixteen years after activist Erin Brockovich first suggested that hexavalent chromium in drinking might be a health hazard, a federal scientific panel has agreed with her.

CLEVELAND -- Breast tumor grade and the potential for regional nodal metastasis can be determined by genomic alterations in the tissue surrounding sporadic malignancies, investigators here reported.

CHICAGO -- Infants with bronchiolitis are 42% more likely to be successfully discharged from the emergency department when they are treated with nebulized albuterol rather than epinephrine.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Supplementation with calcium and vitamin D may help some postmenopausal women avoid weight gain, researchers here reported.

BETHESDA, Md. -- Men who take multi-vitamin supplements more than once a day are twice as likely to die of prostate cancer as men who never take supplements, researchers here confirmed.