The AIDS virus has hideouts deep in the immune system that today's drugs can't reach. Now scientists finally have discovered how HIV builds one of those fortresses — and they're exploring whether a drug already used to fight a parasite in developing countries just might hold a key to break in....
USATODAY.com - January 31, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-31-aids-study_N.htm?csp=34
Giving a cheap and widely available drug to pregnant women at high risk of premature delivery cut the risk of cerebral palsy in their babies by nearly half, according to a study presented Thursday....
USATODAY.com - January 31, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-31-magnesium_N.htm?csp=34
The mercury in a vaccine preservative is pumped out of a baby's body too quickly for it to do any damage, researchers reported on Wednesday in a study they say should further absolve shots of causing autism....
Reuters - January 31, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN3050545420080131?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Gum disease -- also referred to as periodontal disease -- and the loss of teeth are nontraditional risk factors that are independently associated with chronic kidney disease, according to the results of a new study....
Reuters - January 30, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSCOL06971020080130?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Doctors and nurses on the go often skip soap and water in favor of an alcohol-based hand gel, thinking the quick-acting goo will kill bacteria on their hands and curb the spread of infection.
It turns out that's not enough....
USATODAY.com - January 29, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-29-hospital-infections_N.htm?csp=34
Cough and cold medicines send about 7,000 children to hospital emergency rooms each year, the U.S. government said Monday in its first national estimate of the problem....
CNN.com - January 28, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/01/28/cold.medicines.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health
One day the flu vaccine may simply be placed under the tongue....
USATODAY.com - January 29, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-29-fluvaccine_N.htm?csp=34
Cutting down on caffeine could help people with the most common form of diabetes better control their blood sugar levels, researchers said on Monday....
Reuters - January 28, 2008
...new work suggests long-ago lead exposure can make an aging person's brain work as if it's five years older than it really is. If that's verified by more research, it means that sharp cuts in environmental lead levels more than 20 years ago didn't stop its widespread effects....
CNN.com - January 28, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/01/28/aging.brain.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health
Taking a significant step toward the creation of synthetic forms of life, researchers reported Thursday that they had manufactured the entire genome of a bacterium by stitching together its chemical components....
The New York Times - January 25, 2008
Birth control pills can protect women against ovarian cancer for 30 years or longer after they stop taking them and have so far prevented 100,000 ovarian cancer deaths worldwide, British researchers said on Thursday....
Reuters - January 24, 2008
Bypass surgery remains the best option for heart patients with more than one clogged artery, according to the first big study to compare bypass with drug-coated stents....
USATODAY.com - January 23, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-23-bypass-study_N.htm?csp=34
Requiring even a small co-payment dramatically reduces the likelihood that women will get regular mammograms to detect breast cancer, researchers reported on Wednesday....
Reuters - January 23, 2008
Vaccines aren't just for kids, but far too few grown-ups are rolling up their sleeves, disappointed federal health officials reported Wednesday....
USATODAY.com - January 23, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-23-adult-vaccines_N.htm?csp=34
Weight loss surgery can be especially helpful to patients with diabetes and can even help them reverse the disease, Australian researchers reported on Tuesday....
Reuters - January 22, 2008
Heart disease deaths in the USA have fallen below the American Heart Association's prevention goal for 2010, and deaths from strokes are nearing their own record low, the AHA said Tuesday....
USATODAY.com - January 23, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-22-heart-disease_N.htm?csp=34
A new study has found that pregnant women who consumed more than 200 milligrams of caffeine a day, equivalent to about two cups of coffee, had twice the risk of miscarriage as the women who consumed no caffeine at all. The findings are published in Monday's Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology....
CNN.com - January 21, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/01/21/hfh.caffeine.miscarriage/index.html?eref=rss_health
E. coli and certain other foodborne illnesses can sometimes trigger serious health problems months or years after patients survived that initial bout....
USATODAY.com - January 22, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-22-food-poisoning_N.htm?csp=34
Scientists have discovered a previously unknown virus and strongly linked it with the most aggressive form of skin cancer, they reported in a scientific journal on Thursday....
The New York Times - January 18, 2008
British researchers have identified the cancer stem cells that spawn tumors in the most common form of childhood leukemia, and said on Thursday it provided a "bull's eye" target for new drugs....
Reuters - January 17, 2008
Parents should not give sniffling babies and toddlers over-the-counter cough and cold medicines -- they're too risky for tots so small, the government will declare Thursday....
CNN.com - January 17, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/01/16/cold.medicines.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health
A combination of common and minor variations in five regions of DNA can help predict a man’s risk of getting prostate cancer, researchers are reporting today....
The New York Times - January 16, 2008
Scientists say they have produced embryos that are clones of two men, a potential step toward developing scientifically valuable stem cells....
baltimoresun.com - January 17, 2008
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-clone0117,0,3591695.story?track=rss
Meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring are as safe as the natural versions, the Food and Drug Administration declared Tuesday, clearing the way for such products to enter the food supply without special labeling....
Los Angeles Times - January 16, 2008
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-clone16jan16,1,5765043.story?track=rss
Cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins do not protect against Alzheimer's disease as some previous research has suggested, a study published on Wednesday said....
Reuters - January 16, 2008
New research shows that using a special thermometer to measure the temperature of their soles can give patients enough early warning to avoid one of diabetes' most intractable complications....
The Washington Post - January 15, 2008
Patients seeking urgent care in U.S. emergency rooms are waiting longer than in the 1990s, especially people with heart attacks, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday....
Reuters - January 15, 2008
A long-awaited final report from the Food and Drug Administration concludes that foods from healthy cloned animals and their offspring are as safe as those from ordinary animals, effectively removing the last U.S. regulatory barrier to the marketing of meat and milk from cloned cattle, pigs and goats....
Washington Post - January 15, 2008
A clinical trial of a widely used cholesterol drug has raised questions both about the medicine’s effectiveness and about the behavior of the pharmaceutical companies that conducted the study, cardiologists said Monday.
Merck and Schering-Plough, which make the drug, Zetia, and a pill that contains it, Vytorin, said Monday morning that Zetia had failed to benefit patients in a two-year trial that ended in April 2006....
The New York Times - January 15, 2008
The Supreme Court today upheld the government's authority to restrict access to test drugs, even if the drugs might help dying patients.
The court decided against hearing the appeal of terminally ill patients, who argued that they had a constitutional right to unproven but promising treatments....
The Baltimore Sun - January 14, 2008
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-fda0114,0,2580948.story?track=rss
Medicine’s dream of growing new human hearts and other organs to repair or replace damaged ones received a significant boost Sunday when University of Minnesota researchers reported success in creating a beating rat heart in a laboratory....
The New York Times - January 14, 2008
Statins -- the best-selling class of cholesterol-fighting drugs -- should be considered as standard therapy for all diabetics, apart from children and pregnant women, researchers said on Friday....
Reuters - January 10, 2008
Scientists reported Thursday that for the first time they have made human embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos, a development that the government's top stem cell official said would make the controversial research eligible for federal funding....
Los Angeles Times - January 11, 2008
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sci-stemcells11jan11,1,7350682.story?track=rss
People with dementia survive an average four-and-a-half years after diagnosis, researchers said on Friday in a study they hope might help care-givers plan for patients with Alzheimer's and other, similar illnesses.
Researchers know dementia raises the risk of dying early but the study is the first to estimate how long people are likely to survive with the condition...
Reuters - January 19, 2008
Using a new type of genetic screen, researchers at Harvard Medical School have identified 273 proteins that the AIDS virus needs to survive in human cells, opening up new potential targets for drugs....
The New York Times - January 10, 2008
A rare genetic flaw that occurs spontaneously during development may sharply increase the risk that a child will develop autism, researchers reported Wednesday....
The New York Times - January 10, 2008
Government health officials began cracking down Wednesday on Internet sales of custom-mixed hormones for menopausal women, a market created when doctors deemed prescription estrogen therapy too risky for many patients....
CNN.com - January 9, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/01/09/hormone.therapy.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health
An experimental vaccine appears to protect newborns from meningococcal disease, a major cause of meningitis....
USATODAY.com - January 8, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-08-meningitis-vaccine_N.htm?csp=34
To get an extra 14 years of life, don't smoke, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly and drink alcohol in moderation.
That's the finding of a study that tracked about 20,000 people in the United Kingdom....
The Baltimore Sun - January 8, 2008
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-habits0108,0,5105974.story?track=rss
National health spending soared above $2 trillion for the first time in 2006 and has nearly doubled in the last decade, amounting to an average of $7,000 a person, the government reported on Monday....
The New York Times - January 8, 2008
Autism cases in California continued to climb even after a mercury-rich vaccine preservative that some people blame for the neurological disorder was removed from routine childhood shots, a new study found...
CNN.com - January 7, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/01/07/autism.cases.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health
Warnings that antidepressants might increase the risk of suicidal behavior in youth curbed rapid growth of these drugs but did not eliminate access to them among young people as some had feared, U.S. researchers said on Monday....
Reuters - January 7, 2008
Maryland faces a shortage of doctors, according to a study released today, in what the president of the Maryland Hospital Association called a "growing silent crisis."...
The Baltimore Sun - January 7, 2008
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-doctors0107,0,5951114.story?track=rss
U.S. health officials issued an alert on Monday to highlight the possibility of severe bone, joint and muscle pain in patients treated with certain osteoporosis medicines.
The prescription drugs are members of the class called bisphosphonates. They include Fosamax from Merck & Co Inc and Actonel, sold by Procter & Gamble and Sanofi-Aventis....
Reuters - January 7, 2008
Breast-feeding helps prevent babies' allergies, but there's no good evidence for avoiding certain foods during pregnancy, using soy formula or delaying introduction of solid foods beyond six months.
That's the word from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is updating earlier suggestions that may have made some parents feel like they weren't doing enough to prevent food allergies, asthma and allergic rashes....
USATODAY.com - January 7, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-07-babies-allergies_N.htm?csp=34
Anemia drugs sold by Amgen Inc. took another hit Thursday when government regulators said two new studies indicated that the drugs may increase the risk of death in some patients.
Based on the studies, the Food and Drug Administration may further restrict the use of the drugs, which already carry the agency's strictest "black box" warning....
Los Angeles Times - January 4, 2008
New research suggests that two months of "androgen deprivation" therapy, which reduces levels of the androgen, a male hormone, can help slow the growth of locally advanced prostate cancer when given before and during radiotherapy. Plus, the short course of androgen deprivation therapy does not increase the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, which had been a concern....
Reuters - January 3, 2008
Treating severe pneumonia in children at home with oral antibiotics works just as well as treating them with intravenous drugs at a hospital as advised by the World Health Organization, scientists said on Thursday....
Reuters - January 3, 2008
A new test that can quickly tell doctors what kind of virus is making patients sick, and may reduce the use of unneeded antibiotics, was approved Thursday by the Food and Drug Administration....
USATODAY.com - January 3, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-03-virus-test_N.htm?csp=34
Insured and wealthy Americans were more likely than the poor to get billions of dollars in free drug samples distributed by pharmaceutical companies to win patient and doctor loyalty, a study released on Wednesday showed....
Reuters - January 3, 2008
U.S. drug companies spend almost twice as much on marketing and promoting medications than on research and development, a new Canadian study says.
"These numbers clearly show how promotion predominates over R&D in the pharmaceutical industry, contrary to the industry's claim," the authors write in this week's peer-reviewed journal Public Library of Science Medicine....
CBC News - January 3, 2008
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/01/03/drugs.html?ref=rss
People who suffer cardiac arrest are more likely to survive if they are in a casino or airport than if they are in a hospital, researchers said today.
Doctors already knew that more than half of those who suffer such attacks in airports and casinos survive. But a new study shows that only a third of victims in hospitals survive -- primarily because patients do not receive life-saving defibrillation within the recommended two minutes....
Los Angeles Times - January 3, 2008
Two Baylor College of Medicine researchers in Houston are working on a cocaine vaccine they hope will become the first-ever medication to treat people hooked on the drug....
ABC News - January 2, 2008
Emergency room doctors are prescribing strong narcotics more often to patients who complain of pain, but minorities are less likely to get them than whites, a new study finds....
CNN.com - January 1, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/01/01/painkillers.race.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health
Researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center report that disrupting sleep damages the body's ability to regulate blood sugar levels, potentially raising the risk of developing type 2 diabetes....
USATODAY.com - December 31, 2007
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-12-31-diabetes-sleep_N.htm?csp=34
