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Dec. 17 - The discomfort from chickenpox has probably long faded from the minds of adults who had what's generally considered a childhood disease. But those memories might come back to anyone who learns that the virus can lay dormant in the body and years later cause a painful case of the shingles. Recalling how miserable they were might prompt some people to get the shingles vaccine, which is a good...
December 17, 2012
Dec. 16 - Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) unit Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. has obtained US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its fibrin human sealant patch, one of Omrix's most interest products and the reason why Johnson and Johnson acquired it for $438 million in 2007. The product, now called Evarrest, is based on Omrix's biological sealant for stopping problematic bleeding during surgery....
December 16, 2012
Going to the doctor can be an uncomfortable and intimidating experience. But imagine if you couldn't communicate with your doctor or nurse to describe your symptoms or explain your medical history. As the nation becomes more diverse, demand for trained, skilled interpreters to help doctors and patients communicate - and avoid potentially deadly misunderstandings - is growing. Health care regulations...
December 14, 2012
Democrats and Republicans agree the solution to the nation's out-of-control health care spending won't be wrapped up with a "fiscal cliff" bargain and short-term spending cuts. "There are a lot of conservatives and a lot of centrists and lot of progressives who believe we need comprehensive reform," said Robert Moffit, Medicare expert for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. "Medicare's...
December 14, 2012
No costly membership. Open 24-7. Doesn't take up any space in your home. And it's good for you. Free outdoor gyms, the latest weapon in fighting the nation's obesity epidemic, are sprouting up in city parks across the country. Clusters of traditional fitness equipment from elliptical machines to leg press and sit-up benches are being installed in city parks, often in poorer neighborhoods that may not...
December 14, 2012
President Obama's health care law isn't out of the legal woods yet. Six months after surviving the Supreme Court on a 5-4 vote, the law still faces lower-court challenges to its insurance-purchasing mandates, tax penalties, Medicare cost controls, benefit packages and more. The cases pose less of a threat to the law than the challenges mounted by 26 states and business groups last spring, but the justices'...
December 14, 2012
Falling TV sets have killed more than 200 children since 2000, but parents remain largely unaware of the danger, reports say. An update today from the Consumer Product Safety Commission shows that 29 people in the USA, most of them kids, were killed by falling TVs in 2011 alone, which makes it one of the worst years on record for such tragedies. And 18,000 people a year, most of them children, are...
December 13, 2012
The nation's twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes are beginning to rob more Americans of their sight, a new study shows. The percentage of American adults who have uncorrectable vision loss spiked 21% in only about six years, rising to nearly 1.7% of the population, according to an analysis that compared the periods of 1999-2002 and 2005-2008. Rates of visual impairment doubled among poor people...
December 12, 2012
Sarah McQuilkin says she knew something was wrong with her adopted daughter when she was 2. Now, at 7, Sarita says, "Mommy, the world will be better off without me." A suicidal child sounds impossible, but for kids with bipolar disorder, it's a grim reality. "One out of five bipolars will commit suicide," says Karen Swartz, a psychiatrist and director of the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center in Baltimore....
December 11, 2012
Four out of five Americans who make it to 100 are women, but you guys are slowly catching up and faring better overall. The 2010 Census found 44,202 of the 53,364 people ages 100 and older are women, according to a report out Monday. The number of centenarians has increased 5.8% since 2000. What helps the women? The New England Centenarian Study suggests women cope better with stress and develop age-related...
December 11, 2012
Americans are living longer, with fewer deaths from heart disease and cancer, but more chronic illnesses, an annual snapshot of the USA's health shows. The 2012 America's Health Rankings highlight troubling levels of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and sedentary behavior. Medical advances are allowing more people to live with those conditions. The bottom line: Americans "are living longer, sicker,"...
December 11, 2012
Early last year, Irma Carabajal LeCroy was a successful Dallas real estate broker who owned two homes, a luxury car, an SUV and a small office building. Today, she is out of work, uses a walker and wheelchair to get around and says she has nothing left to her name. And it's because of what she thought was a minor cosmetic surgery procedure. LeCroy is one of a growing number of women who have had liposuction,...
December 11, 2012
When Jennifer Leon Hill walked down the aisle in October, she didn't feel clumsy, didn't limp and didn't use her cane for support. Sure, the excitement of her wedding helped. But so have the lifestyle changes she has made since her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis, and the medication she has been taking for it. Three years ago, when Hill, 42, of Chandler, Ariz., was diagnosed with MS, there were only...
December 10, 2012
Victims of teen dating violence are at increased risk of mood and behavior problems as young adults and at increased risk for future violent relationships, a new study suggests. Roughly 30% of both boys and girls say they have been the victim in an aggressive heterosexual dating relationship, found researchers who analyzed data from a nationally representative survey of 5,681 teens ages 12 to 18. This...
December 10, 2012
Breast cancer patients who double the length of time that they take a common medication can sharply reduce their risk of death, according to a new study that's predicted to influence medical practice. The study involved an estrogen-blocking pill called tamoxifen, a standard hormonal therapy for the roughly two-thirds of breast cancer patients whose tumors are sensitive to estrogen. Taking tamoxifen...
December 6, 2012
It is usually after the mail arrives that Della Saavedra comes undone. That's when she sits in her living room in this Los Angeles suburb and sorts through the latest letters from her health plan, each rejecting her appeal to stay with her trusted oncologist at City of Hope, a cancer center. Saavedra, 53, a former cafeteria worker who suffers from bone marrow cancer, has been insured through Medicaid,...
December 6, 2012
Most teens with mental disorders are not taking psychiatric medications, according to a large study that counters a widespread perception. Just 14% of U.S. teens with any mental disorder take medications designed to alter emotions or behavior, the study shows. In most cases, the medications are those considered appropriate for their conditions, says the report published online Monday in the Archives...
December 4, 2012
Britain's Prince William and his wife, Catherine, are expecting their first child, but her severe morning sickness was attracting the most questions Monday. The Duchess of Cambridge has been hospitalized for severe vomiting, called hyperemesis gravidarum, according to St. James's Palace. Though the condition doesn't typically endanger mother or child, "it is pretty miserable," says Kecia Gaither, director...
December 4, 2012
K2, Spice and other synthetic drugs that mimic a marijuana high sent 11,406 people - mostly teenagers and young adults - to the emergency room in 2010, according to the first report on the substances from the federal government's Drug Abuse Warning Network. The report, the first to analyze the impact of the popular herbal incense, found that children ages 12 to 17 accounted for a third of the emergency...
December 4, 2012
This year's flu season is starting earlier and hitting harder than it has in almost a decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. "This is at least a month earlier than we would generally see the beginning of the uptick," CDC Director Thomas Frieden said Monday. Worse, the flu strains circulating in the United States this year, especially the N3N2 version, tend to cause more severe...
December 4, 2012
After watching youth football players do drills this fall aimed at reducing their risks of concussions, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told them to speak up if their "head or ankle or anything else" didn't feel right. "There's nothing wrong with ... raising your hand and saying, 'I don't feel good,'" Goodell told kids in Virginia. What if you're an NFL player? Beyond wanting to tough it out and play,...
December 3, 2012
John Mackey and Ollie Matson, Pro Football Hall of Famers, are among 33 deceased NFL players diagnosed in a new study with a brain disease linked to concussions. But the study also reports early-stage cases of some who played only high school football. The authors say that sounds an alarm that must be heard at the youth level of football and other sports with head impacts. "I think that's a very worrisome...
December 3, 2012
Since passage of President Obama's health care law in 2010, 5.8 million Medicare patients have saved $5 billion through prescription-drug discounts, and the government can now predict lower health care costs based on increased use of these cheaper drugs. The savings are a continuation of the law's attempt to close the "doughnut hole" - prescription-drug coverage expenses that kick in once Medicare...
December 3, 2012
Asperger's is out, but binge eating and hoarding are in as official mental disorders in the latest version of the diagnostic bible published by the American Psychiatric Association, following a weekend vote by its board. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - whose latest edition is nicknamed DSM-5 - is often called the "bible" because it's used to identify and classify mental...
December 3, 2012
The Pentagon has created a brain bank in the Washington suburbs to research the damage that can occur during military service, particularly in combat from exposure to blast waves. Only one brain sample has been collected so far as officials embark on a lengthy process of determining how best to educate troops about brain donation and their families about consenting to the process after a loved one...
November 29, 2012
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