In a major change, the American Heart Association said Monday that hands-only CPR -- rapid, deep presses on the victim's chest until help arrives -- works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in adults....
USATODAY.com - March 31, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-31-cpr-compression-only_N.htm?csp=34
New data about the controversial cholesterol fighter Vytorin failed to quell concerns that the drug might not be as good as thought at keeping heart disease at bay, leading an expert panel to recommend on Sunday that patients stick with statins....
Reuters - March 31, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN3034235420080331?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Scientists in Japan have designed artificial molecules that when used with rats successfully reversed liver cirrhosis, a serious chronic disease in humans that until now can only be cured by transplants....
Reuters - March 30, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSSHA20775020080330?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Infants born prematurely are much more likely to die during childhood and, if they survive, much less likely to have children of their own in adulthood, according to the largest study of prematurity ever undertaken.
Researchers already knew that premature infants faced many neurological and developmental problems, but the new findings, released today, indicate that the spectrum of problems is even broader than suspected and persist throughout the child's lifetime...
Baltimoresun.com - March 26, 2008
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.babies26mar26,0,4679554.story
U.S. researchers said on Friday they plan to expand the size of a major study to determine the heart benefits of the controversial cholesterol fighter Vytorin, which they said would delay results until 2012.
Vytorin combines the statin Zocor, known generically as simvastatin with another cholesterol medicine, Zetia or ezetimibe, and is marketed by a joint venture of Merck & Co and Schering-Plough Corp....
Reuters - Mar 28, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2834981720080329?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Many hospital patients are dissatisfied with some aspects of their care and might not recommend their hospitals to friends and relatives, the federal government said Friday as it issued ratings for most of the nation's hospitals, based on the first uniform national survey of patients.The survey was meant to provide a constructive way for patients to complain about arrogant doctors, crabby nurses and dirty or noisy hospital rooms. Medical experts said that some of the complaints bore directly on the quality of care.
NewYorkTimes.com - March 29, 2008
But for the first time, independent analyses performed at the request of USA TODAY suggest the meteoric rise of angioplasty during the past three decades has ended. "The rise of angioplasty procedures has leveled off and appears to be on the decline," says Duke University's Eric Peterson, who reviewed results of the analysis by the National Cardiovascular Data Registry. Three major studies published in the past two years indicate that using the procedure to open blocked arteries to treat chest pain, or angina, may be riskier and no more beneficial than medication....
USAToday.com - March 28, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-26-angioplasty-decline_N.htm
People who carry a mutant gene can develop potentially fatal meningitis if they get infected with the drug resistant Beijing strain of tuberculosis, a study in Vietnam has found. Tuberculous meningitis is the most severe form of the disease in which the infection spreads to membranes enveloping the brain and the spinal cord. One in three people who develop TB meningitis dies, even if he or she gets hospital treatment.
Reuters - Mar 28, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSSHA1346520080328?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
U.S. health regulators are probing a possible connection between Merck & Co Inc's blockbuster Singulair asthma drug and suicidal behavior in adults and children, the Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday.The FDA said it is reviewing the issue after receiving reports of mood and behavior changes, suicidal thinking and suicide in patients who took the drug, which is used to treat stuffy nose, sneezing and other allergy symptoms, as well as asthma....
ABCnews.com - March 27, 2008
Looking at drugs yanked off the market, Harvard researchers found a disturbing pattern: Medicines approved right on deadline by the Food and Drug Administration are more likely to cause safety problems later than those cleared with more time to spare....
USATODAY.com - March 26, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-26-fda-approval_N.htm?csp=34
Having a big belly in your 40s can boost your risk of getting Alzheimer's disease or other dementia decades later, a new study suggests.
It's not just about your weight. While previous research has found evidence that obesity in middle age raises the chances of developing dementia later, the new work found a separate risk from storing a lot of fat in the abdomen. Even people who weren't overweight were susceptible....
CNN.com - March 26, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/26/belly.dementia.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health
Being born prematurely can cause health problems that haunt people into adulthood and even affect their own children, a study shows....
USATODAY.com - March 25, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-25-premature-birth_N.htm?csp=34
Researchers must go back to the drawing board before they can develop an effective vaccine against H.I.V., AIDS experts said at a scientific meeting on Tuesday....
The New York Times - March 26, 2008
"Unintentional overdoses remain the most common cause of emergency visits for adverse drug events in children 1 to 4 years old," warns Dr. Daniel Budnitz, from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention....
Reuters - March 25, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSCOL56992120080325?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
U.S. researchers have identified all 1,116 unique proteins found in human saliva glands, a discovery they said on Tuesday could usher in a wave of convenient, spit-based diagnostic tests that could be done without the need for a single drop of blood....
Reuters - March 25, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2042565620080325?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Roche Holding AG's fat blocker Xenical helped people with high blood pressure to lower it, while Abbott Laboratories' appetite suppressant Meridia did not, European researchers reported on Monday....
Reuters - March 24, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2421134220080324?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Combination therapy with simvastatin and fenofibrate is better than treatment with either drug alone for treating mixed dyslipidemia in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a report in American Journal of Cardiology....
Reuters - March 24, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTON47264520080324?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
New government research has found "large and growing" disparities in life expectancy for richer and poorer Americans, paralleling the growth of income inequality in the last two decades....
The New York Times - March 22, 2008
SAN DIEGO -- In a highly unusual outbreak of measles here last month, 12 children fell ill; nine of them had not been inoculated against the virus because their parents objected, and the other three were too young to receive vaccines....
The New York Times - March 21, 2008
The two-decade search for an AIDS vaccine is in crisis after two field tests of the most promising contender not only did not protect people from the virus but may actually have put them at increased risk of becoming infected....
washingtonpost.com - March 21, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/20/AR2008032003398.html?nav=rss_health
Federal drug regulators, in announcing Wednesday that the mystery contaminant in heparin was an inexpensive, unapproved ingredient altered to mimic the real thing, moved closer to concluding that Americans might be the latest victims of lethal Chinese drug counterfeiting....
The New York Times - March 20, 2008
One of the first large quality-of-life studies on today's prostate cancer treatments suggests that for some men, it's a matter of picking your poison and facing potential sexual, urinary or other problems.
Of the choices studied -- surgery, standard radiation, hormone therapy or radioactive seeds -- the seeds seemed to carry a lower risk of several of these side effects....
CNN.com - March 19, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/19/prostate.cancer.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health
Old blood may be bad blood, a study says today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic found that heart surgery patients who got transfusions of blood that was more than two weeks old fared worse than those who received newer blood...
USATODAY.com - March 19, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-19-old-blood_N.htm?csp=34
Drugs to treat hypertension and diabetes are substantially less effective in blacks than they are in whites, one of the many mysteries involving the interaction between health and race that the National Institutes of Health hopes to unravel at a new research center....
The New York Times - March 18, 2008
Younger ER patients with heart attack symptoms should be asked if they've recently used cocaine, which can cause similar chest pain, the American Heart Association warns doctors. For these patients, honesty can be a matter of life or death: Some heart attack treatments can be deadly to someone using cocaine....
USATODAY.com - March 18, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-18-cocaine-heart-attacks_N.htm?csp=34
A gene that helps regulate the body's response to stress can make certain people more apt to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than others exposed to similar trauma, researchers said on Tuesday....
Reuters - March 18, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1820688420080318?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Progress in detecting new cases of tuberculosis is slowing, threatening to increase the risks of transmitting drug-resistant strains, the World Health Organization said Monday....
The New York Times - March 18, 2008
About 14 million, or roughly 18%, of the USA's 79 million baby boomers can expect to develop Alzheimer's or some other form of dementia in their lifetime, a newly released report shows....
USATODAY.com - March 17, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-17-alzheimers-stats_N.htm?csp=34
Athletes who take human growth hormone may not be getting the boost they expected.
While growth hormone adds some muscle, it doesn't appear to improve strength or exercise capacity, according to a review of studies that tested the hormone in mostly athletic young men....
MSNBC.com - March 17, 2008
U.S. researchers have discovered a promising new drug for schistosomiasis -- a parasitic worm disease that affects more than 200 million people in 70 countries....
Reuters - March 17, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1647761920080317?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
The government is ratcheting up testing of the blood thinner Heparin and its main ingredient, as new evidence pointed to China as the source of the tainted drug that killed as many as 21 Americans....
baltimoresun.com - March 15, 2008
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.fda15mar15,0,6553521.story?track=rss
Some experts have said special brain-wave monitors were the best way to prevent anesthesia awareness. Now, in a big setback for efforts to prevent it, the first large, independent test of the monitors shows they are no better than older technology....
baltimoresun.com - March 13, 2008
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.awake13mar13,0,4428868.story?track=rss
Breast cancer patients who are overweight have more aggressive disease and are likely to die sooner, U.S. researchers reported on Friday....
Reuters - March 14, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1440124620080314?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
A federal advisory panel, in response to mounting safety concerns, called on Thursday for additional restrictions on the use of anemia drugs by cancer patients....
The New York Times - March 14, 2008
People with more than a high school diploma can expect to live up to seven years longer than their less-educated counterparts, a study from Harvard Medical School and Harvard University suggests.
Additionally, the Boston-based study found that the gap in life expectancy between education groups has been growing in the past two decades....
CBC News - March 12, 2008
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/03/12/education-life-expectancy.html?ref=rss
It may be possible to predict whose lung cancer is likely to come back after surgery has apparently cured it, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday....
Reuters - March 12, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1225803620080313?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Reversing a proposed decision issued in December, the federal government said Wednesday it would continue to cover the use of an increasingly popular procedure to detect heart disease....
The New York Times - March 13, 2008
The U.S. syphilis rate rose for the seventh straight year in 2007, driven by a continued surge in cases among homosexual and bisexual men, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday....
Reuters - March 12, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1220954820080312?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Sales of prescription drugs in the United States grew by just 3.8 percent in 2007, marking the lowest growth rate since 1961, according to data compiled by IMS Health....
Reuters - March 12, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1126005820080312?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
At least one in four teenage girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease, or more than 3 million teens, according to the first study of its kind in this age group....
USATODAY.com - March 11, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-11-std_N.htm?csp=34
Exposure to pesticides, nerve agents and other chemicals may explain the chronic, multi-symptom health problems experienced by up to one-third of Gulf War veterans, U.S. researchers said on Monday....
Reuters - March 11, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1059348220080311?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
An operation for people with advanced pancreatic cancer has been performed by UK doctors for the first time....
BBC News - March 10, 2008
A vast array of pharmaceuticals -- including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones -- have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows....
CNN.com - March 10, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/03/10/pharma.water1/index.html?eref=rss_health
Drug maker Amgen Inc. said Friday it expanded black box warnings about risks of death and tumor growth of its blockbuster anemia drugs.
The warnings approved by the Food and Drug Administration state that the company's drugs increased death and accelerated tumor growth in patients with early stage breast cancer and cervical cancer. Earlier labeling warned of similar risks in other types of cancer....
The New York Times - March 7, 2008
A blood test which enables doctors to rule out tuberculosis (TB) infection in days rather than weeks has been developed by UK researchers....
BBC News - March 7, 2008
Smokers are more likely to kick the habit if they are told how "old" their lungs are, a British study found on Friday.
The concept of lung age -- measured by comparing a smoker's lungs to the age of a healthy person whose lungs function the same -- has helped patients better understand how smoking damages health, researchers had already found....
Reuters - March 6, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL0664046520080307?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Federal health officials said on Thursday the government has not conceded that vaccines cause autism even after a Georgia girl won federal compensation in a case arguing a vaccine led to her brain damage....
Reuters - March 6, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0633320520080306?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
It may be possible to make a safe vaccine against the type of bacteria best known for causing "strep throat" and rheumatic fever, U.S.-based researchers reported on Thursday....
Reuters - March 6, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0621929820080306?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
U.S. health officials said Wednesday they have found a contaminant in a blood-thinning drug produced by Baxter Healthcare Corp. that has been linked to more than a dozen deaths in the United States....
CNN.com - March 5, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/03/05/heparin.contaminant/index.html?eref=rss_health
The American Cancer Society and other health groups are recommending two tests they had not previously endorsed to prevent or detect colorectal cancer, the groups said Wednesday.
The New York TImes - March 6, 2008
In marketing as in medicine, perception can be everything. A higher price can create the impression of higher value, just as a placebo pill can reduce pain.
Now researchers have combined the two effects. A $2.50 placebo, they have found, works better one that costs 10 cents....
The New York Times - March 5, 2008
Menopausal women who took estrogen and progesterone faced a small increased risk of cancer for more than two years after they stopped, according to the latest results of a major federal study that has revealed a series of sobering findings about the once-popular hormone therapy....
washingtonpost.com - March 5, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/04/AR2008030401896.html?nav=rss_health
Flat growths on the colon wall are more common in Americans than previously thought and more likely to be cancerous than the more familiar knobby masses known as polyps, a new study finds....
The New York Times - March 4, 2008
There are no good drugs to treat dementia and doctors just need to try them in a hit-or-miss fashion to try to help patients, according to new guidelines released on Monday....
Reuters - March 3, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0335553820080303?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Prescription-drug ads prompt nearly one-third of Americans to ask their doctors about an advertised medicine, and 82% of those who ask say their physicians recommended a prescription....
USATODAY.com - March 4, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-29-drugs-main_N.htm?csp=34
Faced with the looming loss of patent protection for its top-selling drug, the antidepressant Effexor XR, Wyeth received federal approval on Friday for a successor drug, Pristiq, which the company hopes will also become a blockbuster....
The New York Times - March 1, 2008
