Health Headlines
Ga., Minn. part of national salmonella outbreak
AP - THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2009 9:11 A.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia, Ohio and Minnesota are among the states that are part of a national salmonella outbreak that has sent at least a dozen people to the hospital and sickened nearly 400 people, officials said Thursday....
Drug from genetically engineered goats a first
AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 9:11 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- You've heard of making cheese from goats' milk, but prescription drugs? In what would be a scientific first, an anti-clotting drug made from the milk of genetically engineered goats moved closer to government approval Wednesday after experts at the Food and Drug Administration reported that the medication works and its safety is acceptable....
Major lab discloses problem with vitamin D testing
AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 8:09 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation's largest medical lab company says it recently discovered and fixed a problem that led to inaccuracies in a small number of tests for vitamin D deficiency....
C-sections best for baby when close to due date
AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 2:55 P.M.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Babies do better after a scheduled Caesarean section if they're born no sooner than seven days before their due date, a new large study of U.S. births shows. Those delivered earlier had more complications, including breathing problems, even though they were full term, the researchers reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. Even just a few days made a difference, they said....
Mississippi has highest teen birth rate, CDC says
AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2009 2:08 P.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Mississippi now has the nation's highest teen birth rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title, a new federal report says. Mississippi's rate was more than 60 percent higher than the national average in 2006, according to new state statistics released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The teen birth rate for that year in Texas and New Mexico was more than 50 percent higher....
Brain pacemaker helps Parkinson's, but with risks
AP - TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2009 3:17 P.M.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Parkinson's sufferers who had electrodes implanted in their brains improved substantially more than those who took only medicine, according to the biggest test yet of deep brain stimulation. The study, which followed patients for six months, offers the most hopeful news to date for Parkinson's sufferers. The new technique reduced tremors, rigidity and flailing of the limbs and allowed people to move freely for nearly five extra hours a day....
Shaping good health as teens outgrow pediatrician
AP - MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2009 3:56 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ever watched a teen skulk in the corner of a toddler-packed pediatrician's waiting room, obviously wishing to be anywhere else?...
MySpace is research place for busybody 'Dr. Meg'
AP - MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2009 1:03 P.M.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Many teenagers cleaned up their MySpace profiles, deleting mentions of sex and booze and boosting privacy settings, if they got a single cautionary e-mail from a busybody named "Dr. Meg." The e-mail was sent by Dr. Megan Moreno, lead researcher of a study of lower-income kids that she says shows how parents and other adults can encourage safer Internet use....
Nursing industry desperate to find new hires
AP - MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 2009 11:49 A.M.
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Please, please accept a high-paying job with us. In fact, just swing by for an interview and we'll give you a chance to win cash and prizes....
Cell phone soap operas deliver safe-sex message
AP - SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2009 11:15 A.M.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- "Hey baby, you OK?" Mike asks his girlfriend as she sits down next to him....
Doctor, former patient now colleagues in Detroit
AP - SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2009 7:24 A.M.
DETROIT (AP) -- When Dr. Trevor Banka treats cancer patients alongside Dr. Michael Mott he is working with not only his mentor, but the physician who helped save his life....
Recording studio in hospital about more than music
AP - SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2009 7:23 A.M.
HOUSTON (AP) -- Just down the hall from the chemo infusion rooms at Texas Children's Hospital, Jalen Huckabay was about to slip into another world, away from the wearying regimen of pokes, prods and pinches she'd endured since being diagnosed with lymphoma in November....
Smoking ban leads to major drop in heart attacks
AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2008 6:11 P.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- A smoking ban in one Colorado city led to a dramatic drop in heart attack hospitalizations within three years, a sign of just how serious a health threat secondhand smoke is, government researchers said Wednesday. The study, the longest-running of its kind, showed the rate of hospitalized cases dropped 41 percent in the three years after the ban of workplace smoking in Pueblo, Colo., took effect. There was no such drop in two neighboring areas, and researchers believe it...
Trying to prevent lymphedema after breast cancer
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2008 6:12 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hospitals in about a dozen states are testing whether some simple steps, such as arm-strengthening exercises, could reduce the risk of one of breast cancer's troubling legacies - the painful and sometimes severe arm swelling called lymphedema. Lymphedema has long been a neglected side effect of cancer surgery and radiation: Many women say they never were warned, even though spotting this problem early improves outcomes....
Hard to hear at holiday parties? Blame your brain
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2008 3:07 P.M.
NEW YORK (AP) -- It's almost New Year's Eve, a time for plunging into boisterous crowds bathed in loud music. And for some of us, that means turning to an old friend and hearing things like this: "Did you know (BOOM-da-da-BOOM) went over (Bob! You look wonder-) so she said (clink-clink) and then I (Here, have another one) what would you do?" Huh? Too noisy to hear! But wait - how come these younger people understood what she said? What's wrong with your ears? Actually, part of the probl...
Study: Obesity surgery reverses diabetes in teens
AP - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 9:07 P.M.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Obesity surgery can reverse diabetes in teens, just as it does in adults, according to a small study....
Study: Family behavior key to health of gay youth
AP - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2008 9:02 P.M.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Young gay people whose parents or guardians responded negatively when they revealed their sexual orientation were more likely to attempt suicide, experience severe depression and use drugs than those whose families accepted the news, according to a new study....
Hospitals ill from more bad debt, credit troubles
AP - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2008 2:35 P.M.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Gainesville's first community hospital has been on life support since the Shands Healthcare system in northern Florida bought it a dozen years ago....
Millions of older Americans use risky drug combos
AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2008 3:24 A.M.
CHICAGO (AP) -- At least 2 million older Americans are taking a combination of drugs or supplements that can be a risky mix - from blood thinners and cholesterol pills to aspirin and ginkgo capsules - a new study warns....
Too sick to work? Need health care? Take a number
AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2008 9:28 A.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Master toolmaker John McClain built machine parts with details so small they couldn't be seen with the naked eye. Then a lump on his neck turned out to be cancer....
Avoiding the painkiller-overuse rut in migraines
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2008 6:21 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Those pain pills you think help your migraines? Take too many and you could make them worse. Overusing painkillers can spin migraine patients into a rut, spurring more headaches that in turn require more pain medication. A very unlucky fraction even get what's called chronic migraine, where they're in pain more days than not, and new research suggests certain prescription painkillers, including narcotics, increase that risk....
Sex no longer a taboo subject at nursing homes
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2008 9:10 A.M.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- When Kansas State University sent researchers into nursing homes to find out how the topic of sex was being addressed, they initially found silence....
Got the flu? CDC says Tamiflu may not be much help
AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2008 2:56 P.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- The medical arsenal against the flu just got weaker. Government health officials said Friday that a leading flu medicine, Tamiflu, might not work against all cases of the flu this year. The most common flu bug right now is overwhelmingly resistant to Tamiflu, they said. The alert is "an early heads-up" for doctors. If current trends continue, they may need to change how they treat patients this flu season, said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disea...
Nursing home industry worries about new ratings
AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2008 1:16 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- About 22 percent of the nation's nearly 16,000 nursing homes received the federal government's lowest rating in a new five-star system unveiled Thursday, while 12 percent received the highest ranking possible....
New rule for health providers stirs objections
AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2008 8:43 A.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration, in its final days, has issued a federal rule reinforcing protections for doctors and other health care workers who refuse to participate in abortions and other procedures because of religious or moral objections....
Tumor in Colorado newborn's brain contained foot
AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2008 8:33 A.M.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- A pediatric neurosurgeon says a tumor he removed from the brain of a Colorado Springs infant contained a tiny foot and other partially formed body parts....
Woman gets near-total face transplant in Cleveland
AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2008 3:32 P.M.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Her injuries were ghastly: no nose, no palate, no way to eat or breathe normally, a face so hideous that children who saw her screamed and ran away. From the moment they met earlier this year, Dr. Maria Siemionow knew the severely disfigured woman would be the one - the first person in the U.S. to receive a face transplant....
Face transplant doctor waited long for this chance
AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2008 3:06 P.M.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The nation's first face transplant is a big risk not just for the severely disfigured woman who received it, but also for the surgeon who has made it the highlight of her career....
FDA raises the bar for new diabetes drugs
AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2008 2:05 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- New drugs to treat an epidemic of diabetes will have to be screened more closely for heart risks, federal health officials said Wednesday....
Nation's first face transplant done in Cleveland
AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2008 1:21 A.M.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A woman so horribly disfigured she was willing to risk her life to do something about it has undergone the nation's first near-total face transplant, the Cleveland Clinic announced Tuesday. Reconstructive surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow and a team of other specialists replaced 80 percent of the woman's face with that of a female cadaver a couple of weeks ago in a bold and controversial operation certain to stoke the debate over the ethics of such surgery....
AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2008 7:02 A.M.
AP (AP) -- - Cleveland Clinic announces it has done nation's first almost total face transplant....
Combo treatment for prostate cancer cuts deaths
AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2008 4:34 A.M.
LONDON (AP) -- Treating advanced prostate cancer with radiation and hormone-blocking drugs cut the death rate in half in a study of Scandinavian men, researchers report. In the United States, the combination has been standard care since the 1990s. But in Europe, many doctors have avoided the combo treatment and used hormone drugs alone, thinking the pair would be too harsh for most patients....
Pushing more doctors to ditch the prescription pad
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2008 6:41 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The push for paperless prescriptions is about to get a boost: Starting in January, doctors who e-prescribe can get bonus pay from Medicare....
Racial gap in colon cancer deaths is widening
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2008 4:39 A.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- The racial gap in colon cancer death rates is widening, a new report says, and experts partly blame blacks' lower screening rates and poor access to quality care....
New study firmly ties hormone use to breast cancer
AP - SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2008 2:47 P.M.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Taking menopause hormones for five years doubles the risk for breast cancer, according to a new analysis of a big federal study that reveals the most dramatic evidence yet of the dangers of these still-popular pills....
New test aims to predict breast cancer risk better
AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2008 3:37 P.M.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- A new test to predict an ordinary woman's odds of getting breast cancer works better than a method doctors have relied on for decades, researchers reported Friday. The test is the first to combine dozens of genes and personal factors like age and childbearing to gauge risk in women who don't have a strong family history of the disease. They account for three-fourths of all cases....
FDA reconsiders consumer advice on fish
AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2008 2:33 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- For years, the federal government has recommended that pregnant women and young children limit their consumption of fish to avoid exposure to potentially harmful amounts of mercury....
Study: Small breast tumors may need more treatment
AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2008 2:05 P.M.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Some women with small breast tumors may have a greater risk of the cancer recurring after treatment than has been believed, and might benefit from taking the drug Herceptin, a new study suggests....
Lancet: Dozens of nations inflated vaccine numbers
AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2008 11:02 A.M.
LONDON (AP) -- Dozens of developing countries exaggerated figures on how many children were vaccinated against deadly diseases, which allowed them to get more money from U.N.-sponsored programs, a new study said Friday....
Study: Bone drug helps chemo fight breast cancer
AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008 6:24 P.M.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- New research adds fresh hope that a drug that strengthens bones might also fight breast cancer. Women who were given the drug, Zometa, as part of their initial treatment had greater tumor shrinkage and were less likely to need radical surgery, according to a preliminary study reported Thursday at a cancer conference in Texas....
FDA advisers: restrict some asthma drugs
AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008 2:51 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Government health advisers recommended restrictions Thursday on some long-acting asthma drugs, although not Advair, a top-selling medication....
FDA puts black box warning on bowel-clearing drugs
AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008 11:25 A.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal health officials said Thursday they will add the sternest safety warnings available to prescription drugs used to cleanse the bowel before colonoscopies....
Correction: Alternative medicine story
AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008 8:08 A.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- In a Dec. 10 story on a study of alternative medicine use, The Associated Press erroneously reported U.S. supplement sales growth. The Nutrition Business Journal reported sales grew 6 percent from 2006 to 2007, not from 1998 to 2007....
About 1 in 9 US kids use alternative medicine
AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008 7:07 A.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Just like their parents, kids are taking herbal supplements from fish oil to ginseng, a sign of just how mainstream alternative medicine has become....
Kids with obesity-linked gene like fattening foods
AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008 4:34 A.M.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Scientists may have figured out one reason some people reach for the french fries instead of an apple. It could be a gene that's been linked to an increased risk of obesity. A study of children found those with a common variation of the gene tend to overeat high-calorie foods. They ate 100 extra calories per meal, which over the long term can put on weight, said Colin Palmer, who led the study at the University of Dundee in Scotland....
Cancer to be world's top killer by 2010, WHO says
AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2008 4:55 P.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Cancer will overtake heart disease as the world's top killer by 2010, part of a trend that should more than double global cancer cases and deaths by 2030, international health experts said in a report released Tuesday. Rising tobacco use in developing countries is believed to be a huge reason for the shift, particularly in China and India, where 40 percent of the world's smokers now live....
Study: Gender gap remains for heart attack care
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2008 5:59 P.M.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Women hospitalized with heart attacks still don't get the treatment they need and are more likely to die than men if they suffer a massive heart attack, a new study of U.S. hospitals shows....
Scientists find nutty risk reducer: Eat more nuts
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2008 5:59 P.M.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Here's a health tip in a nutshell: Eating a handful of nuts a day for a year - along with a Mediterranean diet rich in fruit, vegetables and fish - may help undo a collection of risk factors for heart disease....
Malaria vaccine shows promise in Africa tests
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2008 1:46 P.M.
NEW YORK (AP) -- A vaccine that may become the world's first to prevent malaria shows promise in protecting African children, researchers said Monday, calling the results a "major milestone."...
Half-dose flu shots work in adults, study finds
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2008 1:44 P.M.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Half-dose flu shots are effective in adults, especially in women and those younger than 50, and offer a viable way to stretch supplies during vaccine shortages, a government study found. The strategy also might be an option during hard economic times since lower doses likely would mean cheaper shots, said Vanderbilt University vaccine expert Dr. Kathryn Edwards, who wasn't involved in the study. And the lower dosage could open doors to vaccinating people in poor countrie...
Does memory screening help spot dementia, or harm?
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2008 12:22 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- There's no mammogram or Pap smear for Alzheimer's disease. Yet an Alzheimer's group this week begins a push for simple memory screenings in a bid to catch possible warning signs of dementia sooner....
State laws fail to curb teens' indoor tanning
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2008 4:10 A.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- State laws meant to keep teens out of indoor tanning booths haven't made a dent, a new study has found, disappointing doctors hoping to reduce deadly skin cancers....
Scientists back brain drugs for healthy people
AP - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2008 6:12 P.M.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Healthy people should have the right to boost their brains with pills, like those prescribed for hyperactive kids or memory-impaired older folks, several scientists contend in a provocative commentary....
Youthfulness an American obsession - at what cost?
AP - SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2008 4:49 A.M.
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- It's one of those photos that make you do a double-take. Dr. Jeffry Life stands in jeans, his shirt off. His face is that of a distinguished-looking grandpa; his head is balding, and what hair there is is white. But his 69-year-old body looks like it belongs to a muscle-bound 30-year-old....
WHO sets limitations on use of melamine
AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2008 10:46 P.M.
GENEVA (AP) -- The World Health Organization said Friday that tiny traces of the chemical melamine are not harmful in most foods, but it joined the U.S. and EU in setting a strict limit that regulators should impose before pulling products off the shelf....
Heart attack patients get 'big chill' treatment
AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2008 6:03 P.M.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- It took five mighty shocks to get Cynthia Crawford's heart to start beating again after she collapsed at Ochsner Clinic a few weeks ago. A dramatic rescue, to be sure, yet it was routine care she could have had at any hospital. What came next, though, was not. As she lay unconscious, barely clinging to life, doctors placed her in an inflatable cocoon-like pool that sprayed her naked body with hundreds of icy cold jets of water, plunging her into hypothermia....
Horrifying parasitic illness reaches all-time low
AP - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2008 11:20 A.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Cases of Guinea worm disease - a horrifying infection that culminates in worms coming out of a victim's skin - have reached an all-time low worldwide, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced Friday....
Good cheer may spread itself, a study suggests
AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 9:34 P.M.
LONDON (AP) -- When you're smiling, the whole world really does smile with you....
Brain-injured troops face unclear long-term risks
AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 11:27 A.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Many of the thousands of troops who suffered traumatic brain injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan are at risk of long-term health problems including depression and Alzheimer's-like dementia, but it's impossible to predict how high those risks are, researchers say....
Measles deaths drop worldwide, report estimates
AP - THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 7:02 A.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Measles deaths worldwide declined dramatically to about 200,000 a year, continuing a successful trend, global health authorities reported Thursday....
Study raps Web sites touting stem cell therapies
AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008 12:10 P.M.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Consumers should be wary of Web sites from clinics that offer stem cell treatments, says a study that found a lack of firm medical evidence to back up their claims. The Web sites in the study generally portrayed their therapies as safe, effective and ready for routine use, but published research doesn't support that "overoptimistic" picture, the study authors said....
Cleveland Clinic disclosing doctors' business ties
AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008 8:54 A.M.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Cleveland Clinic says its publicizing the business ties its 1,800 doctors and researchers have with drug companies and device makers....
British conjoined twin dies after surgery
AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008 7:35 A.M.
LONDON (AP) -- Faith was breathing for Hope. So when the newborn conjoined Williams twins were separated, it turned out that Hope couldn't live without her sister....
Saudi Arabia finds chemical in milk from China
AP - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008 5:17 A.M.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- The Saudi government has found excessive amounts of the industrial chemical melamine in powdered milk imported from China and lower concentrations in chocolate wafer cream made in Malaysia....
Report: Young doctors still too tired for safety
AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2008 2:03 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Doctors-in-training are still too exhausted, says a new report that calls on hospitals to let them have a nap. Regulations that capped the working hours of bleary-eyed young doctors came just five years ago, limiting them to about 80 hours a week....
Brain waves are window into autism language woes
AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2008 7:07 A.M.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Unique brain wave patterns, spotted for the first time in autistic children, may help explain why they have so much trouble communicating....
1 in 5 young adults has personality disorder
AP - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2008 4:47 A.M.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Almost one in five young American adults has a personality disorder that interferes with everyday life, and even more abuse alcohol or drugs, researchers reported Monday in the most extensive study of its kind....
Patient photos aid docs reading faceless CT scans
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2008 9:30 P.M.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Imagine sitting in a dark room all day, evaluating CT scans and other medical images on a computer screen but never actually seeing real patients. That's life for many radiologists....
Depression leads to internal fat in 70-somethings
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2008 1:10 P.M.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Older people who are depressed are much more likely to develop a dangerous type of internal body fat - the kind that can lead to diabetes and heart disease - than people who are not depressed, a disturbing new study found....
Deadlines for other inhalers to go eco-friendly
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2008 1:03 P.M.
Patients with asthma and other lung diseases should stay tuned: Quick-acting albuterol inhalers aren't the only lung medicines poised for changes because they're powered by ozone-damaging chemicals called CFCs....
Asthma inhalers to go 'green' on Dec. 31
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2008 12:28 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Last warning: Asthma inhalers go "green" on Dec. 31, forcing patients still using the old-fashioned kind to make a pricey and even confusing switch. The medicine inside these rescue inhalers - the albuterol that quickly opens airways during an asthma attack - isn't changing. But the chemicals used to puff that drug into your lungs are....
Study shows families' financial strain from autism
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2008 7:36 A.M.
CHICAGO (AP) -- More than half a million U.S. children have autism with costly health care needs that often put an unprecedented financial strain on their families, national data show....
Some doctors may give up vaccines because of cost
AP - MONDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2008 7:28 A.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- About one in 10 doctors who vaccinate privately insured children are considering dropping that service largely because they are losing money when they do it, according to a new survey....
Global AIDS crisis overblown? Some dare to say so
AP - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2008 8:58 A.M.
LONDON (AP) -- As World AIDS Day is marked on Monday, some experts are growing more outspoken in complaining that AIDS is eating up funding at the expense of more pressing health needs....
FDA sets melamine standard for baby formula
AP - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2008 4:26 A.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Less than two months after federal food regulators said they were unable to set a safety threshold for the industrial chemical melamine in baby formula, they announced a standard that allows for higher levels than those found in U.S.-made batches of the product....
Obama to broaden role of genetics in medical care
AP - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2008 10:57 A.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- For years, scientists have held out hope that the rapidly evolving field of genetics could transform medical diagnosis and treatment, moving beyond a trial-and-error approach as old as the Hippocratic Oath....
Patients treat serious illness as laughing matter
AP - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2008 1:33 A.M.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The off-color jokes flew around the room. As the anecdotes got bawdier, the laughter intensified. Some recited from memory, others read from notebooks they brought along....
Patient-led drug trials defy medical establishment
AP - WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2008 2:02 P.M.
CLAREMONT, Calif. (AP) -- Until last year, Alan Felzer was an energetic engineering professor who took the stairs to his classes two steps at a time. Now the 64-year-old grandfather sits strapped to a wheelchair, able to move little but his left hand, his voice a near-whisper....
Encouraging dip in rate of new cancers, deaths
AP - WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2008 4:44 A.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The rate of new cancer cases finally may be inching down - cautiously optimistic news but a gain that specialists worry could be derailed by economic turmoil. Death rates from cancer have been dropping slowly for years, thanks to earlier detection and better treatments. But preventing cancer is the ultimate goal, and Tuesday's annual "Report to the Nation" on cancer also shows a small but encouraging change: The rate of new diagnoses among men dropped 1.8 percent a ye...
Study says HIV could be eliminated in a decade
AP - TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2008 4:49 P.M.
LONDON (AP) -- The virus that causes AIDS could theoretically be eliminated in a decade if all people living in countries with high infection rates are regularly tested and treated, according to a new mathematical model....
Germ alert: Steer clear of flatbed chicken trucks
AP - TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2008 2:30 P.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- You've heard about the chicken that crossed the road. But have you heard the one about the chickens traveling down the road? It's no laughing matter. Crates of chickens being trucked along the highway in the back of an open truck can shoot a bunch of nasty bacteria into the cars behind them, researchers have found....
Livers go to sickest, access for blacks improves
AP - TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2008 1:05 P.M.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Blacks waiting for a liver transplant used to be more likely to die compared to whites. Now they have the same chance of getting a life-saving organ under a nationwide system that puts the sickest patients first, a new study found....
Study: Many kids in Katrina trailer park anemic
AP - MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2008 6:20 P.M.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Dozens of infants and toddlers who lived in Louisiana's biggest trailer park for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina were anemic because of poor diets, at a rate more than four times the national average....
Nap without guilt: It boosts sophisticated memory
AP - MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2008 4:26 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Just in time for the holidays, some medical advice most people will like: Take a nap. Interrupting sleep seriously disrupts memory-making, compelling new research suggests. But on the flip side, taking a nap may boost a sophisticated kind of memory that helps us see the big picture and get creative....
FDA: Epilepsy drug may be risky for Asians
AP - MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2008 1:16 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treatment with certain epilepsy drugs may expose some Asian patients to serious skin reactions, federal health officials warned Monday....
To some psychiatric patients, life seems like TV
AP - MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2008 11:48 A.M.
NEW YORK (AP) -- One man showed up at a federal building, asking for release from the reality show he was sure was being made of his life. Another was convinced his every move was secretly being filmed for a TV contest. A third believed everything - the news, his psychiatrists, the drugs they prescribed - was part of a phony, stage-set world with him as the involuntary star, like the 1998 movie "The Truman Show." Researchers have begun documenting what they dub the "Truman syndrome," a ...
New tobacco product alarms some health officials
AP - MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2008 6:49 A.M.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- They're discreet, flavorful and come in cute tin boxes with names like "frost" and "spice." And the folks who created Joe Camel are hoping Camel Snus will become a hit with tobacco lovers tired of being forced outside for a smoke....
Foes of stem cell research now face tough battle
AP - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2008 7:34 A.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- When the Bush presidency ends, opponents of embryonic stem cell research will face a new political reality that many feel powerless to stop....
Pill as good as chemo on lung cancer, but costlier
AP - THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2008 4:51 P.M.
LONDON (AP) -- Some advanced lung cancer patients already treated with chemotherapy might be able to skip some of the bad side effects of another series of chemo by taking a pill instead, a study suggests. An international study showed patients on Iressa, an expensive, newer targeted treatment, survived about as long as those on another course of chemotherapy....
HIV tests not yet as routine as cholesterol checks
AP - THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2008 2:01 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two years after the government urged making HIV tests as common as cholesterol checks, there are small gains but still one in five people infected with the AIDS virus doesn't know it, scientists said Thursday....
Astronauts venture out for spacewalk No. 2
AP - THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2008 10:11 A.M.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Astronauts have ventured back out for another spacewalk to perform more repair work on a jammed joint at the international space station....
Teen lives 4 months with no heart, leaves hospital
AP - THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2008 4:52 A.M.
MIAMI (AP) -- D'Zhana Simmons says she felt like a "fake person" for 118 days when she had no heart beating in her chest. "But I know that I really was here," the 14-year-old said, "and I did live without a heart."...
Study: Banning fast-food TV ads could dent obesity
AP - THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2008 12:29 A.M.
ATLANTA (AP) -- A little less "I'm Lovin' It" could put a significant dent in the problem of childhood obesity, suggests a new study that attempts to measure the effect of TV fast-food ads....
Surgeon who did first US heart transplant dies
AP - WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2008 2:08 P.M.
DETROIT (AP) -- Dr. Adrian Kantrowitz, a cardiac surgeon who performed the nation's first human heart transplant and who also developed lifesaving medical implants, has died. He was 90. Kantrowitz died Friday in Ann Arbor of complications from heart failure, said his wife, Jean Kantrowitz....
Doctors transplant windpipe with stem cells
AP - WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2008 10:58 A.M.
LONDON (AP) -- Doctors have given a woman a new windpipe with tissue grown from her own stem cells, eliminating the need for anti-rejection drugs. "This technique has great promise," said Dr. Eric Genden, who did a similar transplant in 2005 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. That operation used both donor and recipient tissue. Only a handful of windpipe, or trachea, transplants have ever been done....
Panel urges revised warning on facial filler risks
AP - TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2008 2:10 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cosmetic surgery patients who think facial fillers are a magical antidote to aging must be better informed of possible risks, government health advisers said Tuesday....
Ginkgo fails to prevent Alzheimer's in large study
AP - TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2008 2:03 P.M.
CHICAGO (AP) -- The dietary supplement ginkgo, long promoted as an aid to memory, didn't help prevent dementia and Alzheimer's disease in the longest and largest test of the extract in older Americans. "We don't think it has a future as a powerful anti-dementia drug," said Dr. Steven DeKosky of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, who led the federally funded study....
Study puts a total on diabetes cost: $218 billion
AP - TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2008 5:09 A.M.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- As diabetes is rapidly becoming one of the world's most common diseases, its financial cost is mounting, too, to well over $200 billion a year in the U.S. alone....
Doctors hoping for new era of artificial ankles
AP - MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2008 12:38 P.M.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- What was left of Dan Sivia's ankle simply didn't work. He limped through his 30s by sheer force of will, one foot almost completely immobile from repeated broken bones and surgeries. Then a doctor offered his last hope: An ankle replacement. A what? Sivia knew about hip, knee, even shoulder replacements. But ankles?...
Burlington, Vt., is healthiest city, CDC says
AP - MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2008 11:05 A.M.
What's the healthiest city in America? It appears to be Burlington, Vt....
