A drug developed using nanotechnology and a fungus that contaminated a lab experiment may be broadly effective against a range of cancers, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday.
Reuters - June 30, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2936154720080630?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
A new test to quickly diagnose drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis will be rolled out in four African countries this year, the World Health Organization said Monday.
The DNA-based test will cut the time it takes to detect multi-drug resistant TB from 2-4 months to a matter of hours, the director of WHO's tuberculosis program said in Geneva. . . .
USATODAY.com - June 30, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-06-30-TB-resistant_N.htm?csp=34
Smoking bans are an effective way of preventing heart disease, getting cigarette users to quit and protecting children from second-hand smoke, a World Health Organization (WHO) report issued on Monday said.
The report by scientists at the WHO's International Agency for Cancer Research urged more countries to adopt smoking bans in public and at the workplace, saying there was enough evidence to prove they work, without hurting businesses such as restaurants and bars. . . .
Reuters - June 30, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL291392620080630?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Diagnoses of H.I.V. and AIDS in men who have sex with men rose significantly between 2001 and 2006 while declining in other demographic groups, the federal Centers for Disease Control reported Thursday.
The increase in diagnoses was especially high among males between the ages of 13 and 24, with an annual increase of 12.4 percent, compared to 1.5 percent for men overall. The annual increase was still higher among young African-American men who have sex with men, nearly 15 percent. . . .
The New York Times - June 27, 2008
Routine brain scans in a group of middle-aged people showed that 10 percent of them had suffered a stroke without knowing it, raising their risk for further strokes and memory loss, U.S. researchers said on Thursday. . . .
Reuters - June 26, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2633948620080626?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
A three-year initiative will seek to give HIV tests to everyone in the Bronx from age 18 to 64, the New York City Department of Health announced Thursday. . . .
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/06/26/bronx.hiv.testing/index.html?eref=rss_health
The number of Americans with diabetes has grown to about 24 million people, or roughly 8 percent of the U.S. population, the government said Tuesday.
A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on data from 2007, said the number represents an increase of about 3 million over two years. The CDC estimates another 57 million people have blood sugar abnormalities called pre-diabetes, which puts people at increased risk for the disease. . . .
CNN.com - June 25, 2008
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/06/25/diabetes.rates.ap/index.html?eref=rss_health
A federal advisory panel has endorsed a second vaccine to combat a common and potentially fatal virus that causes diarrhea and vomiting in children.
The new two-dose vaccine for infants, made by GlaxoSmithKline, was licensed by the Food and Drug Administration in April. The vaccine advisory committee agreed Wednesday that it should be added to the recommended vaccines for infants, as well as the three-dose vaccine made by Merck & Co. and approved in 2006. . . .
USATODAY.com - June 25, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-06-25-rotavirus-vaccine_N.htm?csp=34
About 20 percent of the U.S. population delayed or were unable to get access to medical care when they needed it in 2007, up from 14 percent four years earlier, a study released on Thursday found.
About 9.5 million more people went without medical care in 2007, compared with 2003, the nationally representative survey released by the Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonpartisan policy group, found. . . .
Reuters - June 26, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2538627220080626?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
U.S. consumer groups, insurers and privacy advocates together with Google Inc and Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday they have agreed to standards intended to speed adoption of personal electronic health records. . . .
Reuters - June 26, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2546617120080625?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill to prevent a 10 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors that was scheduled to take effect July 1. . . .
The New York Times - June 25, 2008
The World Health Organization issued its first guidelines on Tuesday aimed at reducing complications and deaths from the rising numbers of operations now being performed.
The guidelines are a list of simple safety checks that the health organization said could halve the rate of surgical complications. The list is intended to improve anesthetic safety practices, avoid infections and improve communication among members of surgical teams. . . .
The New York Times - June 25, 2008
High blood pressure, the most commonly diagnosed condition in the United States, is becoming increasingly resistant to drugs that lower it, according to a panel of experts assembled by the American Heart Association.
"It's becoming more difficult to treat and it's requiring more and more medications to do so," said the panel chairman, Dr. David A. Calhoun, a hypertension specialist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. . . .
The New York Times - June 24, 2008
Tropical diseases that ravage Africa, Asia and Latin America commonly occur among the poor in the USA, leaving thousands of people shattered by debilitating complications including mental retardation, heart disease and epilepsy, an analysis showed Monday.
The diseases, caused by chronic viral, bacterial and parasitic infections, disproportionately strike women and children and are largely overlooked by doctors, says author Peter Hotez of the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, part of Sabin Vaccine Institute. . . .
USATODAY.com - June 23, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-06-23-neglected-diseases_N.htm?csp=34
The elderly fear breaking a hip when they fall, but a U.S. government study indicates that hitting their head can also have deadly consequences: Brain injuries account for half of all deaths from falls.
The study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the first comprehensive national look at the role brain injuries play in fatal elderly falls. It examined 16,000 deaths in 2005 that listed unintentional falls as an underlying cause of death. . . .
USATODAY.com - June 23, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-06-23-senior-falls_N.htm?csp=34
New research linking low vitamin D levels with deaths from heart disease and other causes bolsters mounting evidence about the "sunshine" vitamin's role in good health. . . .
USATODAY.com - June 23, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-06-23-vitamin-d-deaths_N.htm?csp=34
The brains of people with the memory-robbing form of dementia are cluttered with a plaque made up of beta-amyloid, a sticky protein. But there long has been a question whether this is a cause of the disease or a side effect. Also involved are tangles of a protein called tau; some scientists suspect this is the cause.
Now, researchers have caused Alzheimer's symptoms in rats by injecting them with one particular form of beta-amyloid. Injections with other forms of beta-amyloid did not cause illness, which may explain why some people have beta-amyloid plaque in their brains but do not show disease symptoms....
USATODAY.com - June 22, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-06-22-alzheimers-clue_N.htm?csp=34
U.S. drug regulators are close to allowing doctors to electronically prescribe potentially abusive medications like painkillers, rather than requiring written orders, a Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman said on Thursday....
Reuters - June 20, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1938822620080620?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
A new oral drug for multiple sclerosis has produced promising results in clinical trials.
Laquinimod was shown to reduce signs of disease activity in scans, and was well tolerated by patients with the relapsing-remitting form of MS....
BBC News - June 20, 2008
U.S. health regulators remain concerned about the safety of contrast agents used to enhance echocardiogram heart imaging tests, according to Food and Drug Administration documents released on Friday.
The products -- which include Optison, made by General Electric Co's GE Healthcare, and Definity, made by privately-held Lantheus Medical Imaging -- have already been linked to serious heart problems and deaths in some patients....
Reuters - June 20, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSWAT00970820080620?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
For people with high cholesterol, the wait for a cheaper version of Lipitor just got longer. Pfizer announced an agreement Wednesday to head off generic competition for its flagship drug until November 2011 -- up to 20 months later than many analysts had been expecting.
The New York Times - June 19, 2008
A government-sponsored survey of the use of computerized patient records by doctors points to two seemingly contradictory conclusions, and a health care system at odds with itself.
The report, published online on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that doctors who use electronic health records say overwhelmingly that such records have helped improve the quality and timeliness of care. Yet fewer than one in five of the nation's doctors has started using such records....
The New York Times - July 19, 2008
U.S. health leaders this week are crafting a blueprint on how to reverse the worrisome steady increase in babies being delivered prematurely, with one in every eight U.S. infants now born pre-term.
Premature babies -- defined as born before the 37th week of pregnancy instead of the typical pregnancy of roughly 40 weeks -- face an increased risk of numerous medical and developmental problems....
Reuters - June 17, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1735426820080617?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on teas, supplements, creams and other products that falsely claim to cure, treat or prevent cancer even though they are not agency-approved drugs. All are available for sale on the Internet.
The agency has sent 25 warning letters to companies and individuals marketing these products, FDA officials said Tuesday....
USATODAY.com - June 17, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-06-17-fda-cancer-fraud_N.htm?csp=34
Gov. Martin O'Malley unveiled yesterday a proposal to invest $1.1 billion over the next decade to cement Maryland's status as a pre-eminent hub for biotechnology research, including stem-cell studies aimed at finding breakthrough medical advances.
The funding, which would build on existing tax credits and grant programs, would be used to create a biotechnology center, finance capital projects and make equity investments in start-up companies. O'Malley, a Democrat, said the money could transform Maryland - where the human genome was mapped in 2001 - into a global leader in personalized medicine or the use of genetics to tailor treatments....
baltimoresun.com - June 17, 2008
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.md.bioscience17jun17,0,5855969.story?track=rss
Differences in the way people process genetic information may explain why some get a huge benefit from cholesterol-fighting drugs known as statins, while others get very little, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
Statins are the world's top-selling drugs and are highly effective at cutting the risk of heart attack and stroke....
Reuters - June 16, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1627790420080616?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Older, conventional antipsychotic medications can increase the risk of death in some elderly patients, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned on Monday.
The agency called for the drugs to include a strong "black box" warning about the risk, seen in older patients being treated for dementia-related psychosis....
Reuters - June 16, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSWBT00918520080616?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Some health insurance companies rate doctors on their performance. Now doctors are turning the tables.
The American Medical Association issued its first health insurance report card at the group's annual meeting Monday. The primary focus is on how quickly and accurately doctors get paid....
USATODAY.com - June 16, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-06-16-reportcards_N.htm?csp=34
U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviewers are concerned about life-threatening complications in children taking Amgen Inc's drug Enbrel for psoriasis and other conditions, according to agency documents released on Monday....
Reuters - June 16, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSWAT00966520080616?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Bolstering the performance of the U.S. health care system is one of the biggest challenges facing the country, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday....
Challenges, he said, fall into three major areas: improving access to health care for the 47 million Americans - or about 16 percent of the population - who lack health insurance; bolstering the quality of care; and controlling costs....
CBSNews.com - June 16, 2008
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/16/national/main4183281.shtml?source=RSSattr=Health_4183281
When DMC Pharmacy opens this summer on Route 50 in Chantilly, the shelves will be stocked with allergy remedies, pain relievers, antiseptic ointments and almost everything else sold in any drugstore. But anyone who wants condoms, birth control pills or the Plan B emergency contraceptive will be turned away....
The pharmacy is one of a small but growing number of drugstores around the country that have become the latest front in a conflict pitting patients' rights against those of health-care workers who assert a "right of conscience" to refuse to provide care or products that they find objectionable....
washingtonpost.com - June 16, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/15/AR2008061502180.html?nav=rss_health
Teenagers who attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings after being treated for alcohol abuse tend to fare better in the long run compared with those who don't, a new study suggests...
Reuters Health.com - 6-14-2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTON27596020080612?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Women who smoke are no more likely than men to get lung cancer but, among non-smokers, women appear to have a higher risk than men, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.
Reuters.com - 6-14-2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1325726820080613?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
An analysis of autopsies in 2007 released this week by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined.
NewYorkTimes.com - 6-14-2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/14/us/14florida.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin
People with rheumatoid arthritis have double the risk of suffering heart attacks or strokes and should be considered for treatment with statins and blood pressure drugs, rheumatology experts said on Friday....
Reuters - June 13, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL1236708720080613?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
German researchers say they have found some of the strongest evidence yet linking traffic pollution to childhood allergies.
The risk of developing asthma, hay fever, eczema or other allergies is about 50 percent higher for children living 50 metres (yards) from a busy road than for those living 1,000 meters away, they said in a study released on Friday....
June 13, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL1363160220080613?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Many U.S. hospitals, particularly in the South, have maternity practices that are detrimental to breast-feeding, such as giving free baby formula samples to new mothers, health officials said on Thursday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted its first-ever review of practices by hospitals and specialty birth centers in terms of promoting breast-feeding....
Reuters - June 12, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1225923820080612?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Researchers have been undercounting new cases of HIV infection in the United States, meaning the rate is probably 25 percent higher at 50,000 people per year, the nation's top AIDS doctor said on Tuesday....
Reuters - June 11, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1034857620080611?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
For the first time, U.S. life expectancy has surpassed 78 years, the government reported Wednesday, although the United States continues to lag behind about 30 other countries in estimated life span....
The New York Times - June 11, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/health/AP-MED-Life-Expectancy.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
The herb St. John's wort does not improve children's symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to researchers who tested it as a possible alternative to stimulant drugs used to treat this common condition....
Reuters - June 10, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1040074620080610?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Inadequate attention to the spread of tuberculosis is undermining recent gains made against the virus that causes AIDS, United Nations officials said Monday.
Tuberculosis and AIDS are now epidemic in many areas of the world, and the two infectious diseases must be addressed together, said the officials, who spoke from the United Nations' first high-level meeting on the interaction of the two diseases....
The New York Times - June 10, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/health/10tb.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
As researchers ponder growing evidence that blacks have worse outcomes than whites in the treatment of chronic disease, they often theorize that members of minorities suffer disproportionately from poor access to quality care. Now a new study of diabetes patients has found stark racial disparities even among patients treated by the same doctors....
June 10, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/health/10study.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Men with low levels of vitamin D have an elevated risk for a heart attack, researchers said on Monday in the latest study to identify important possible health benefits from the "sunshine vitamin."
In the study, men classified as deficient in vitamin D were about 2 1/2 times more likely to have a heart attack than those with higher levels of the vitamin....
Reuters - June 9, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0947220920080609?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Researchers believe they have found a compound produced by aggressive prostate tumors and said on Monday they hope they can use it to design a urine test to detect the most dangerous tumors....
Reuters - June 9, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0947619920080609?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Researchers who compared two diabetes trials said on Friday they are getting some insight into why patients in one were more likely to die after aggressive treatment, while patients in another were not....
Reuters - June 9, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0640739920080609?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
People with low vitamin D levels may face an increased risk for peripheral artery disease (PAD), a study suggests....
Reuters - June 6, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSCOL66772420080606?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
The number of U.S. adults on cholesterol-lowering medication could rise by one-quarter to one-half if doctors were to routinely scan adults' arteries for plaque buildup, a study suggests....
Reuters - June 6, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSCOL66243620080606?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Brain injured children whose temperature is brought below normal to prevent swelling may be more likely to die or suffer harm, scientists warn....
BBC News - June 5, 2008
Lower levels of heart-healthy HDL cholesterol resulting from a gene mutation is not associated with an increased risk of heart disease involving ischemia -- restriction of blood flow through the coronary arteries, according to a study.
This suggests that low HDL, in and of itself, is not a heart disease risk factor....
Reuters - June 4, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSCOL46897720080605?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Race and place of residence can have a staggering impact on the course and quality of the medical treatment a patient receives, according to new research showing that blacks with diabetes or vascular disease are nearly five times more likely than whites to have a leg amputated and that women in Mississippi are far less likely to have mammograms than those in Maine....
The New York Times - June 5, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/health/research/05disparities.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
A regular tipple cuts the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis by up to half, Swedish research suggests....
BBC News - June 5, 2008
U.S. health officials are investigating whether drugs for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease are linked to cancers in children and young adults, the Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday....
Reuters - June 4, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0431255120080604?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Red wine may be much more potent than was thought in extending human lifespan, researchers say in a new report that is likely to give impetus to the rapidly growing search for longevity drugs....
The New York Times - June 4, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/health/03conflict.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Most medical schools in the United States fail to police adequately the money, gifts and free drug samples that pharmaceutical companies routinely shower on doctors and trainees, according to a ranking by the American Medical Student Association....
The New York Times - June 3, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/health/03conflict.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Some types of antibacterial wipes used by hospital staff to rid surfaces of bacteria could be helping to spread it, claims research....
BBC News - June 3, 2008
Many young children do not get enough vitamin D, an often invisible deficiency that can show up later as broken bones or a weakened immune system prone to disease, researchers said on Monday....
Reuters - June 2, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN0231720220080602?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Surprising research suggests that childhood cancer is most common in the Northeast, results that even caught experts off guard. But some specialists say it could just reflect differences in reporting....
USATODAY.com - June 2, 2008
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-06-02-children-cancer_N.htm?csp=34
Men and women appear to differ in how they metabolize high levels of fructose, a simple sugar commonly used to sweeten drinks and foods....
Reuters - June 2, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSCOL26917620080602?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
