Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Americans Uninformed About Lung Cancer Testing

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, but many Americans are uninformed about options for lung cancer testing, according to a national survey released Tuesday by the Lung Cancer Alliance.

The survey found that only 37 percent of Americans have talked to a health professional about getting tested for lung cancer. The survey also revealed a large gender difference: 23 percent of men thought about getting tested for lung cancer, compared to 9 percent of women.

Younger people were more likely than older people to think about getting tested for lung cancer — 19 percent of those ages 18 to 54 compared to 9 percent of people 55 and older — even though lung cancer risk increases with age.

The lack of public knowledge was highlighted by the finding that 48 percent of the survey respondents said they’d heard about a blood test for lung cancer — something that doesn’t exist.

Many seo services of the respondents knew about older tests for lung cancer, such as chest x-ray (80 percent), MRI or CT scan (74 percent); only 26 percent knew about a new and effective test called autofluorescence bronchoscopy.

“The survey confirms a desperate need to educate Americans about lung cancer testing and underscores the need for new testing options,” Laurie Fenton, president of the Lung Cancer Alliance, said in a prepared statement.

Lung cancer will kill about 163,000 Americans this year.

—–

Virtual Reality Games May Help Correct Lazy Eye

People with lazy eye (amblyopia) may benefit from playing virtual reality (VR) computer games, say researchers at Nottingham University in the U.K.

They found that it’s possible to use this approach in order to encourage the lazy eye to be more active and to get both eyes working together. As a patient plays a game, the computer sends different images to each eye. The eyes have to team up in order for the patient to be successful at the game, BBC News reported.

“Traditionally, VR has been used to present realistic environments in 3D so you imagine you’re there because of the depth of the world around you,” said researcher Richard Eastgate. “But we’re using VR to make something unrealistic. You could call it virtual unreality.”

In one experiment, one hour of a virtual reality racing game achieved the same results as 400 hours of the traditional approach that forces the lazy eye to work harder by wearing a patch over the good eye, BBC News reported.

“The technique hasn’t been proven with rigorous trials, but the early results show a very rapid effective treatment through this system,” Eastgate said.

—–

HIV Treatment Program Misses Goal: WHO

Each day, about 18,000 babies worldwide are born with HIV because their mothers don’t get the antiretroviral drugs they need, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report that said a program to expand access to the drugs had failed to achieve its target.

The report said fewer than 10 percent of pregnant women with HIV in developing countries received antiretroviral drugs between 2003 and 2005.

Currently, about 1.3 million people get the drugs, which is well short of the goal of three million by 2005 set by the WHO and UNAids in 2003, BBC News reported.

The seo tips “Three by Five” target was not achieved due to inadequate supplies of drugs, weak health systems in developing countries, and ineffective partnerships among aid providers, the report said.

Even so, expanded access to antiretroviral drugs averted 250,000 to 350,000 premature deaths and 18 countries met the goal of provid