People who take vitamin supplements are just as likely as those who don't to develop lung cancer, and vitamin E supplements may actually slightly raise the risk, researchers said on Friday....
Reuters - February 29, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2859864620080229?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
A clinic may have infected a handful of patients with hepatitis C -- but about 40,000 more should be tested for that virus, as well as for HIV, health officials said Wednesday....
CNN.com - February 28, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/28/vegas.hepatitis.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health
Amid indications that more people may have died or been harmed after being given a brand of the blood thinner heparin, federal drug regulators said Thursday that they had found "potential deficiencies" at a Chinese plant that supplied much of the active ingredient for the drug....
The New York Times - February 29, 2008
People with age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of severe vision loss, have double the usual risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke, Australian researchers reported on Thursday....
Reuters - February 27, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL2781004420080228?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
US scientists have managed to rid diabetic mice of the effects of the disease using a cocktail of drugs.
The mice, who had type 1 diabetes, started producing their own insulin after taking a mixture of four drugs....
BBC News - February 27, 2008
Four makers of artificial hips and knees paid doctors more than $800 million in royalties and fees in four years to influence their choice of implants, a U.S. investigator told Congress....
washingtonpost.com - February 28, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/27/AR2008022703256.html?nav=rss_health
A federal advisory panel is recommending that all children get flu shots.
The panel voted Wednesday to expand annual flu shots to virtually all children except infants younger than 6 months and those with serious egg allergies....
USATODAY.com - December 27, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-27-flu-shots_N.htm?csp=34
Widely used anemia drugs sold by Amgen and Johnson & Johnson raise the risk of death among cancer patients by about 10 percent, according to a new analysis of previous clinical trials that is to be published Wednesday....
The New York Times - February 27, 2008
Multiple-drug-resistant tuberculosis cases in parts of the former Soviet Union have reached the highest rates ever recorded and could soar even higher, spreading the bacterial disease elsewhere, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday in releasing findings from the largest global survey of the problem....
The New York Times - February 26, 2008
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is launching a new effort meant to strengthen its oversight of prescription drugs after they win approval, an agency official said on Tuesday....
Reuters - February 26, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2638326120080226?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Antidepressant medications appear to help only very severely depressed people and work no better than placebos in many patients, British researchers said....
Reuters - February 26, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2527622020080226?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
By 2017, total health care spending will double to more than $4 trillion a year, accounting for one of every $5 the nation spends, the federal government projects....
CBS News - February 26, 2008
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/26/health/main3876569.shtml?source=RSSattr=Health_3876569
Age shouldn't be a disqualifying factor for patients who need surgery to replace a major valve in the heart, according to new data....
Reuters - February 24, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSKUA57488620080225?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Exercise is good for mice and humans, but appears to be bad for gallstones, according to the findings of a study conducted with mice....
Reuters - February 25, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSKUA57459520080225?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
The Food and Drug Administration approved Genentech's best-selling drug, Avastin, as a treatment for breast cancer, in a decision that appeared to lower the threshold somewhat for approval of certain cancer drugs....
The New York Times - February 23, 2008
Results of recent experiments provide "definitive evidence" that human embryonic stem cells can be used to generate cells that secrete insulin in response to glucose, like the beta-cells in the pancreas....
Reuters - February 21, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSKIM15269420080221?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Google Inc. will begin storing the medical records of a few thousand people as it tests a long-awaited health service that's likely to raise more concerns about the volume of sensitive information entrusted to the Internet search leader....
CNN.com - February 21, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/02/21/google.records.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health
Strokes have tripled in recent years among middle-aged women in the U.S., an alarming trend doctors blame on the obesity epidemic. Nearly 2% of women ages 35 to 54 reported suffering a stroke in the most recent federal health survey, from 1999 to 2004. Only about half a% did in the previous survey, from 1988 to 1994....
USATODAY.com - February 21, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-21-strokes-study_N.htm?csp=34
In the first report of its kind, U.S. health officials said the nation's states and cities made a strong effort to prepare for a flu pandemic, bioterrorism or other emergency health crises, but big challenges remain....
baltimoresun.com - February 20, 2008
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-emergencies0220,0,6882479.story?track=rss
Many hospitals call it "code blue," a signal given over the intercom when a patient's heart has stopped. When code blue works well, a team speeds to the bedside and revives the patient.
The graveyard shift is the worst time to call code blue, a new study finds. Patients who go into cardiac arrest while in the hospital are more likely to die if it happens after 11 p.m., when staffing may be lower or patients watched less closely....
CNN.com - February 19, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/19/night.code.blue.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health
U.S. cancer deaths rose by more than 5,000 in 2005, a somewhat disappointing reversal of a two-year downward trend, the American Cancer Society said in a report issued Wednesday....
USATODAY.com - February 20, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-20-cancer-deaths_N.htm?csp=34
Many people take glucosamine for arthritis-like symptoms but results of a new study suggest that glucosamine has no clinically meaningful effect on pain, function, or disease progression in patients with arthritis of the hip....
Reuters - February 19, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSKIM95174920080219?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Treatment with zinc supplements can cut the severity and duration of acute or persistent diarrhea in children, a study shows. Further research, however, is needed to determine exactly how zinc produces its anti-diarrheal effects, the researchers note in the in the February issue of Pediatrics....
Reuters - February 19, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSKIM95157320080219?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Uninsured Americans and those in a government health program for the poor are far more likely to have advanced diseases when diagnosed with cancer than those with private coverage, researchers said on Sunday....
Reuters - February 18, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1521748820080218?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
The Agriculture Department has ordered the largest meat recall in its history -- 143 million pounds of beef, a California meatpacker's entire production for the past two years -- because the company did not prevent ailing animals from entering the U.S. food supply, officials said yesterday....
washingtonpost.com - February 18, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/17/AR2008021701530.html?nav=rss_health
The flu season is getting worse, and U.S. health officials say it's partly because the flu vaccine doesn't protect against most of the spreading flu bugs.
The flu shot is a good match for only about 40% of this year's flu viruses, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday....
USATODAY.com - February 15, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-15-flu_N.htm?csp=34
Being obese or even overweight may increase a person's risk of developing up to a dozen different types of cancer, European researchers report in a new study....
USATODAY.com - February 15, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-15-obesity-cancer_N.htm?csp=34
Scientists said on Friday they were a step closer to developing a new class of easy-to-take asthma and allergy drug, capable of tackling the underlying cause of disease rather than just the symptoms....
Reuters - February 14, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL1477146120080215?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Web sites numerous states operate to help consumers easily compare pharmacy prices for prescription drugs often have missing, and sometimes outdated or inaccurate information, a nonpartisan health research group has found.
Associated Press - February 13, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jWEIYrmzQnfo8X1altRbaiXMUCagD8UPO2300
U.S. regulators have never inspected the Chinese plant that makes Baxter International's heparin, regulators disclosed a day after Baxter halted sales of some versions after four patients died and hundreds became ill.
Reuters - February 13, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1338746220080214
At least 82 U.S. youths have died since 1995 engaging in "the choking game" in which they try to experience a fleeting "high" by cutting off the oxygen supply to the brain, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.
Reuters - February 14, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1458780620080214
A new blood test has been developed that Yale researchers say can detect ovarian cancer with 99 per cent accuracy....
CBC News - February 13, 2008
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/02/13/ovariancancer-test.html?ref=rss
The total cost of treating back pain in the United States has risen 65 percent in the past decade, but after all the pricey treatments, many people are still left with an aching back and an increasingly empty wallet, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday....
Reuters - February 12, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1252822420080213?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Older men with early-stage prostate cancer are not taking a big risk if they keep an eye on the disease instead of treating it right away, suggests the largest study to look at this issue since PSA tests became popular....
USATODAY.com - February 13, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-13-prostate-cancer_N.htm?csp=34
Patches containing the prescription painkiller fentanyl were recalled Tuesday, because of a flaw that could cause patients or caregivers to overdose on the potent drug inside....
ABC News - February 12, 2008
Autopsies of adults who died young of unnatural causes show many already had clogged arteries, U.S. and Canadian researchers said on Monday in a study that suggests heart disease may be on the upswing....
Reuters - February 12, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1111015120080212?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Surprising new research suggests that even people who develop heart disease or diabetes late in life have a decent shot at reaching the century mark....
USATODAY.com - February 11, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-11-living-longer_N.htm?csp=34
Scientists have identified a potential new cause of autism in children, by examining what happens in the womb before a baby is born.
Researchers at the Sacramento, California-based UC Davis MIND Institute and Center for Children's Environmental Health have found that in mothers of children with autism, antibodies in their blood bind with the brain cells of the fetus, possibly interfering with brain development and resulting in latent autism....
CBC News - February 12, 2008
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/02/12/antibody-study.html?ref=rss
Government regulators told doctors Monday to switch from using a blood thinner made by Baxter International, following hundreds of reports of allergic reactions....
USATODAY.com - Februrary 11, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-11-heparin_N.htm?csp=34
Government scientists have discovered a new way that H.I.V. attacks human cells, an advance that could provide fresh avenues for the development of additional therapies to stop AIDS, they reported on Sunday....
The New York Times - February 11, 2008
The popular anti-wrinkle drug Botox and acompetitor Myobloc have been linked to some deaths and other severe side effects suggestive of botulism, the government warned doctors Friday....
CNN.com - February 8, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/08/botox.warning.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health
Gov. Martin O'Malley announced yesterday that he is allocating $3.4 million to the University of Maryland School of Nursing to help alleviate a growing shortage of nurses in the state.
The school will use the money mostly to hire more faculty, but also to expand classroom space and buy equipment....
baltimoresun.com - February 8, 2008
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-bz.nurses08feb08,0,5836239.story?track=rss
Tobacco use killed 100 million people worldwide in the 20th century and could kill one billion people in the 21st unless governments act now to dramatically reduce it, the World Health Organization said in a report Thursday....
USATODAY.com - February 7, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-07-un-tobacco_N.htm?csp=34
...a scientific review suggests that acupuncture might improve the odds of conceiving if done right before or after embryos are placed in the womb....
USATODAY.com - February 7, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-07-acupuncture-fertility_N.htm?csp=34
Diet and lifestyle play a far smaller role than genetic factors in determining whether a child becomes overweight, according to a British study of twins published on Thursday.
Reuters - February 7, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL0793070220080207
Smokers are four times more likely to feel tired when they wake up and they spend less time in deep sleep than nonsmokers do, a new study finds.
washingtonpost.com - February 5, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/05/AR2008020501619.html
For the first time, health officials report that the AIDS virus can be spread by a mother pre-chewing her infant's food, a practice mainly seen in poor, developing countries....
nytimes.com - February 6, 2008
Brain scans of people in chronic pain show a state of constant activity in areas that should be at rest, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday, a finding that could help explain why pain patients have higher rates of depression, anxiety and other disorders....
Rueters - February 6, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0521570320080206?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Aggressively driving blood sugar levels as low as possible in high-risk diabetes patients appears to increase the risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke, according to major government study that stunned and disappointed experts....
washingtonpost.com - February 6, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/06/AR2008020601787.html?nav=rss_health
Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn't save money, researchers reported yesterday.
It costs more to care for healthy people who live years longer, according to a Dutch study that counters the common perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of dollars....
baltimoresun.com - February 5, 2008
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.story05feb05,0,4148359.story?track=rss
Pfizer Inc's anti-smoking drug Chantix appears increasingly likely to be linked to serious psychiatric behavior, including suicide, U.S. regulators said on Friday....
Reuters - February 1, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0145002720080202?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
