News For Friday Aug 8, 2008 News For Friday Aug 8, 2008

Health Health

FDA: Some cholesterol and heart drugs don't mix - Added 16 minutes ago

Patients taking some common medications for high cholesterol and irregular heart beats can suffer severe muscle damage because of a problem in the way the drugs interact, the government warned on Friday. The Food and...

Report say flu is bigger risk than terror in UK - Added 5 hours ago

Pandemic flu, not terrorism, is the most serious risk to the U.K. public, says Britain's first ever national threat assessment, published on Friday. The document, part of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's overhaul of...

States mandate 'culturally competent' health care - Added 10 hours ago

When a doctor doesn't look an Asian-American patient in the eye, that might be seen as a sign of respect. But making eye contact is encouraged with black patients, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic...

For unexplained infertility, 2 methods don't help - Added 17 hours ago

A new study calls into question the use of two common infertility treatments for couples who have unexplained problems having children. Doctors in Scotland tested a drug that stimulates ovulation and artificial...

Average ER waiting time nears 1 hour, CDC says - Added 1 day ago

The average time that hospital emergency rooms patients wait to see a doctor has grown from about 38 minutes to almost an hour over the past decade, according to new federal statistics released Wednesday. The increase...

Suspected cholera outbreak in Philippines kills 21 - Added 2 days ago

A suspected cholera outbreak in a remote southern Philippine township has killed 21 people and sickened at least 50 others, the mayor and the Red Cross said Wednesday. Most of the victims of the outbreak in several...

Prostate test advice for elderly won't stop debate - Added 2 days ago

New advice that men over 75 should not be screened for prostate cancer won't quell the long-standing controversy over the usefulness of the blood test for the disease, cancer experts said Tuesday. "It stokes the...

Lens implant offers chance at beating lazy eye - Added 3 days ago

Dr. Paul Dougherty delicately slipped a tiny lens inside the right eye of 7-year-old Megan Garvin _ a last-ditch shot at saving her sight in that eye. The California girl last week became one of a small number of U.S....

Immigrants kids even less active than U.S.-born - Added 3 days ago

Many immigrant children get even less vigorous exercise than their U.S.-born counterparts, the largest study of its kind suggests. Plenty of earlier evidence shows that U.S. children are pretty inactive. The new study...

Anthrax suspect was a prolific scientific author - Added 3 days ago

Suspected anthrax mailer Bruce Ivins was a prolific contributor to research articles in the arcane field of deadly pathogens, and was named as a co-author in more than 40 studies published in scientific journals since...

In era of pills, fewer shrinks doing talk therapy - Added 3 days ago

Cartoons about the psychiatrist's couch were recently the subject of a museum exhibition. Now, the couch itself may be headed for a museum. A new study finds a significant decline in psychotherapy practiced by U.S....

Abbott faces more litigation over AIDS drug - Added 4 days ago

When Abbott Laboratories Inc. hiked up the price of a popular AIDS drug by 400 percent in 2003, executives prepared for the inevitable public relations hit, but assured themselves the backlash would be brief. Nearly...

12-year-old with HIV to open world AIDS conference - Added 5 days ago

Keren Dunaway was 5 when her parents used drawings to explain to her that they both had the HIV virus _ and so did she. Now the 12-year-old is one of the most prominent AIDS activists in Latin America and a rarity in a...

Mixed results for growth hormone in HIV patients - Added 5 days ago

A hormone better known for illicit use among athletes can help treat troublesome complications from the AIDS virus, but with potentially risky side effects, a small study found. Low-dose injections of human growth...

CDC underestimated new HIV cases by 40 percent - Added 5 days ago

The number of Americans infected by the AIDS virus each year is much higher than the government has been estimating, U.S. health officials reported, acknowledging that their numbers have understated the level of the...

Study: To sleep better, perchance to live longer - Added 6 days ago

Shakespeare once called sleep the "balm of hurt minds." Bodies, too, apparently. People with the severe form of apnea, which interferes with sleep, are several times more likely to die from any cause than are folks...

Surgeons: German farmer gets double arm transplant - Added 1 week ago

A German farmer who lost both his arms in an accident has been successfully fitted with two new limbs in what is believed to be the first complete double arm transplant, his surgeons said Friday. Reiner Gradinger,...

Drug gives couch potato mice benefits of a workout - Added 1 week ago

Here's a couch potato's dream: What if a drug could help you gain some of the benefits of exercise without working up a sweat? Scientists reported Thursday that there is such a drug _ if you happen to be a mouse. ...

Mexico criticizes US salmonella findings - Added 1 week ago

Mexican agriculture officials said Thursday that U.S. colleagues hunting for the source of a salmonella outbreak are rushing to a conclusion about finding the strain at a Mexican pepper farm. The salmonella sample that...

AIDS bill sets unclear treatment target - Added 1 week ago

The global AIDS bill signed by President Bush on Wednesday sets a goal of treating more than the 2 million-patient target set in 2003, but how much more isn't clear. In signing the bill, President Bush said, "With this...

Cell changes may help Lou Gehrig's research - Added 1 week ago

Using a new technique to reprogram cells, scientists are growing neurons from people with Lou Gehrig's disease, a possible first step in understanding how the deadly illness develops. Technically known as amyotrophic...

Missing DNA chunks tied to schizophrenia risk - Added 1 week ago

Two huge international studies show that people who lack certain chunks of DNA run a dramatically higher risk of getting schizophrenia, a finding that could help open new doors to understanding and diagnosing the...

Pre-pregnancy diabetes tied to more birth defects - Added 1 week ago

Diabetic women who get pregnant are three to four times more likely to have a child with birth defects than other women, according to new government research. The study is the largest of its kind, and provides the most...

Experimental Alzheimer's drug shows early promise - Added 1 week ago

For the first time, an experimental drug shows promise for halting the progression of Alzheimer's disease by taking a new approach: breaking up the protein tangles that clog victims' brains. The encouraging results...

Pediatricians nix heart tests before ADHD drugs - Added 1 week ago

The nation's largest pediatricians' group says most children getting attention-deficit drugs don't need heart screening with electrocardiogram tests, challenging advice from a leading heart doctors' association. The...

UN: AIDS epidemic stable; fewer deaths, infections - Added 1 week ago

Fewer people are dying of AIDS, more patients are on HIV medication and the global AIDS epidemic is stable after peaking in the late 1990s. But the United Nations AIDS agency warned in its yearly report Tuesday that...

Conjoined twin separated from sister in 2001 dies - Added 1 week ago

A conjoined twin who was separated from her sister during a grueling, 100-hour operation eight years ago died Tuesday at a hospital in Nepal, a doctor said. Ganga Shrestha, 8, died at the Model Hospital in Katmandu,...

Rapid rise seen in fatal medication errors at home - Added 1 week ago

Deaths from medication mistakes at home, like actor Heath Ledger's accidental overdose, rose dramatically during the past two decades, an analysis of U.S. death certificates finds. The authors blame soaring home use of...

Study: 'Pre-dementia' is rising, especially in men - Added 1 week ago

!!-- hobj:259 -->!!-- hobj:258 -->A milder type of mental decline that often precedes Alzheimer's disease is alarmingly more common than has been believed, and in men more than women, doctors reported Monday. Nearly a...

FDA warns against eating lobster liver - Added 1 week ago

The government warned consumers Monday not to eat the soft, green substance found in the body cavity of lobsters, saying it may be contaminated with a toxin. It's still OK to eat the white lobster meat found in the...

Putting the squeeze on produce to kill germs - Added 1 week ago

Could food producers literally squeeze the salmonella out of a jalapeno? Or zap the E. coli from lettuce without it going limp? Headline-grabbing food poisonings from raw foods are prompting new interest in technology...

More fit Alzheimer's had less brain atrophy - Added 1 week ago

Patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease who performed better on a treadmill test had less atrophy in the areas of the brain that control memory, according to a study released Sunday. Magnetic resonance...

More fit Alzheimer's had less brain atrophy - Added 1 week ago

Patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease who performed better on a treadmill test had less atrophy in the areas of the brain that control memory, according to a study released Sunday. Magnetic resonance...

Tracing tomatoes from field to fork _ a new system - Added 1 week ago

When there's an urgent need to trace fruits and vegetables in a crisis like the salmonella outbreak, a lot of the pieces for a rapid-response system already exist. But nobody has quite figured out how to put them...

Booming business helps patients navigate medicine - Added 2 weeks ago

After three surgeries, Judy Sherer still had chronic pain in her left shoulder. She'd lost faith in her doctors, and in despair tried a new health benefit offered by her employer. The service, Health Advocate, is a...

US fentanyl deaths topped 1,000 over 2 years - Added 2 weeks ago

More than 1,000 people died over two years from an illegal version of the painkiller fentanyl, the government reported Thursday in its first national tally of those deaths. The spike of overdoses seems to have ended,...

Officials: Search for HIV vaccine needs overhaul - Added 2 weeks ago

Scientists will have to take "enormous intellectual leaps" to develop an AIDS vaccine in the coming years, say researchers clearly frustrated by the failure of a once-promising shot. The researchers, including a top...

Officials: Search for HIV vaccine needs overhaul - Added 2 weeks ago

Scientists will have to take "enormous intellectual leaps" to develop an AIDS vaccine in the coming years, say researchers clearly frustrated by the failure of a once-promising shot. The researchers, including a top...

A hot (pepper) lead in hunt for salmonella source - Added 2 weeks ago

It was a hot lead for detectives on a cold case. People suddenly were getting salmonella at a Minnesota restaurant more than 1,000 miles from the center of the nation's outbreak. Not my tomatoes, protested the manager....

Pittsburgh cancer center warns of cell phone risks - Added 2 weeks ago

!!-- hobj:320 -->The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff Wednesday: Limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer. The warning from Dr....

Statin study could lead to test for gene variant - Added 2 weeks ago

Scientists may have found a way to test for and possibly avoid the most serious side effect of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, one of the top-selling medicines in the world. In rare cases, statins can cause muscle...

A hot (pepper) lead in hunt for salmonella source - Added 2 weeks ago

It was a hot lead for detectives on a cold case. People suddenly were getting salmonella at a Minnesota restaurant more than 1,000 miles from the center of the nation's outbreak. Not my tomatoes, protested the manager....

ADHD increasingly common in older kids, CDC says - Added 2 weeks ago

More older children are being diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder while the rate is holding steady for children under 12, according to a government report released Wednesday. Some experts called the...

Foreign-born TB cases need better control, US says - Added 2 weeks ago

Tuberculosis cases continue to fall in the United States, but some immigrants have disturbingly high rates of the disease, according to a study released Tuesday that called for more aggressive action. TB rates were...

Women on antidepressants may benefit from Viagra - Added 2 weeks ago

Viagra's effect in women has been disappointing, but a new small study finds those on antidepressants may benefit from taking the little blue pills. The research involving 98 premenopausal women found Viagra helped with...

FDA finds salmonella strain in jalapeno pepper - Added 2 weeks ago

Government inspectors finally have a big clue in the nationwide salmonella outbreak: They found the same bacteria strain on a single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper handled in Texas _ and issued a stronger warning for...

MISSING TITLE - Added 2 weeks ago

Forecasters say hurricane warning issued for parts of Texas, Mexico coasts. ...

Quest: Repairing more hearts with implanted pumps - Added 2 weeks ago

When it comes to hearts, Taneal Wilson won the lottery. A small pump implanted to keep the 31-year-old alive long enough for a heart transplant somehow helped Wilson's ravaged heart completely recover instead. Only a...

Health officials tout computer prescribing - Added 2 weeks ago

Those hard-to-read scribbled prescriptions from doctors could soon become a rarity. Beginning Jan. 1, the federal government will boost Medicare's payments to doctors that send prescriptions electronically to a pharmacy...

Mass. woman diagnosed with rare brain disease - Added 2 weeks ago

An elderly woman has been diagnosed with a rare brain disorder, state health officials said Monday. There are about 300 U.S. cases each year of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a fast-progressing illness that usually affects...