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Public health officials are turning to a surprisingly effective tool in their efforts to track down bouts of salmonella and other food-borne illness outbreaks: the shopper loyalty card. The widely used cards, introduced in 1987, allow epidemiologists to scan food purchases as they try to trace culprits in food illness episodes that seem to have no obvious links. They "provide an accurate picture of...
November 17, 2011
The over-the-river-and-through-the-woods trip to grandmother's house also is prime time to assess Mom and Dad's health before a crisis occurs, aging experts say. Counseling experts already are witnessing a 66% growth in calls this year from adult children seeking advice on complex medical, legal and financial quesions involving aging parents, according to a report Wednesday by the ComPsych Corp. ,...
November 17, 2011
The battle of the cholesterol drugs has been declared a draw. And given the rising cost of health care, the tie goes to the cheaper drug, experts say. In a head-to-head test of two of the leading statins - pills taken to lower cholesterol - high doses of blockbuster drugs Lipitor and Crestor did about equally well, according to a study of 1,385 patients presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the...
November 16, 2011
Antibiotic use varies widely in the USA, with those in Eastern states more likely to use them than those in the West, according to research out today. West Virginia had the highest antibiotic use per capita from 1999 to 2007, the period evaluated by scientists from Extending the Cure, a project of the nonprofit Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy. It is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson...
November 16, 2011
While the bounty of fresh, cheap produce found at grocery stores and farmers' markets in fall may be dwindling by the time the holidays roll around, there are still great deals on healthy food to be had. Hearty beans, antioxidant-rich pumpkin, and nutrient-packed cold-hardy greens top our list of the cheapest healthy foods for the holidays. Basing a week's meals around these ingredients ensures you'll...
November 16, 2011
For 24 years, patients have had a way to lower their "bad cholesterol" with medications. But doctors are still struggling to find a drug that safely raises "good cholesterol," which carries bad cholesterol out of the blood. A preliminary study, presented Tuesday at the American Heart Association meeting in Orlando, shows preliminary evidence that a new class of drugs might help. The drug evacetrapib,...
November 16, 2011
Science is proving that some old adages you may have doubted are actually true, and that some common activities you never imagined could harm you can actually be dangerous. Read on as Dr. Georgia Witkin, a grandmother, a psychologist and an expert on family relationships and stress management, reports on medical discoveries that could make a difference in your life today. LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE...
November 16, 2011
WASHINGTON - Federal health scientists say Pfizer's bestselling vaccine Prevnar is at least as effective as a competing vaccine from Merck at helping prevent potentially deadly infections in adults Prevnar 13 is designed to reduce the risk of infection by pneumococcal disease, which causes ear infections, meningitis and pneumonia. The U.S. government recommends vaccination with Prevnar for all U.S....
November 14, 2011
Tens of thousands of Americans are calling on the government to correct "dramatically underfunded research" for Alzheimer's disease and to improve diagnostic tools and treatments, according to a report released Monday by the Alzheimer's Association. "There really needs to be a transformational change to how we approach the disease," says Harry Johns, president of the Alzheimer's Association. The association...
November 14, 2011
By Tom Kisken, Ventura County Star, Calif. (MCT) Nov. 14 - A federal government panel says boys should be vaccinated for sexually transmitted HPV in addition to girls. A new California law says adolescents can get the inoculations without parental permission. The actions, delivered in October, divide some and inflame more than a few. But Ventura County's public health officer said the recommendations...
November 14, 2011
Nov. 14 - This year's flu shot may hurt a little less. A new shot that injects the vaccine just under the skin rather than deep into the muscle is available for the first time. For needle-phobes, it's especially good news: the needle is a mere 0.06 inches long, about the width of a lower-case letter printed in this newspaper. By comparison, the needle of a traditional flu shot is 1 to 1.5 inches long....
November 14, 2011
Nov. 14 - Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Tulsa has recently begun using a new method of treatment that allows doctors to directly apply radiation to a tumor bed during surgery, saving some patients several weeks of chemotherapy. Michal Long is the second patient to receive the therapy in Tulsa. She has breast cancer, but it was caught early and her doctors believe she will not need any further...
November 14, 2011
The anti-clotting drug Rivaroxaban lowered risk of death, heart attack and stroke in acute coronary syndrome patients, a new study showed. The study presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida, Sunday concluded that patients who took Rivaroxaban had a 16-percent reduced risk of cardiovascular death, stroke or heart attack compared to patients who didn't. "Our findings...
November 14, 2011
Nov. 14 - Editor's note: This story is a follow-up to a Special Report published in the Oct. 23 edition of The Daily Times looking at health care trends. FARMINGTON - Tough health care regulations, hospitals hiring more doctors and a poor economy make running a private medical practice harder and harder, and many experts see the private practice model facing a serious threat. The question on everyone's...
November 14, 2011
Nov. 14 - Flu season may still be weeks away, but other viruses are keeping local doctor's offices and emergency rooms full. Physicians have been seeing lots of children and adults with coughs, colds and other viral infections this fall. "We have seen an increased rate of patients with colds and coughs since the end of summer," said Ray McAllister, M.D., a family physician with UPMC Hamot's Summit...
November 14, 2011
By Denice Thibodeau, Danville Register & Bee, Va. (MCT) Nov. 11 - The latest efforts to keep unwanted, unused prescription drugs from being misused netted 163 pounds of drugs in Danville and Pittsylvania County and a total of 9,450 pounds statewide. The national drive for unwanted prescription drugs was initiated in 2010 and is scheduled twice a year. Danville and Pittsylvania County held an extra...
November 14, 2011
Nov. 14 - Today is World Diabetes Day, and while most physicians will agree that diabetes is on an epidemic level, it's not just diabetes itself that is worrying area doctors. What is also taking people by surprise is prediabetes. Prediabetes is a condition in which blood glucose is elevated but is not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. According to Dr. Renu Joshi, chief of endocrinology at PinnacleHealth...
November 14, 2011
Nov. 14 - Tulsan Ruth Blythe can't let go of an idea once it hits her. After learning from a Tulsa World story about women at the Tulsa Jail reading books on tape to send to their children, she had to act. "Those mothers are sitting in jail and trying to keep a connection with their children," she said. "We need to help take care of each other." Blythe, wife of a dentist and former manager of a dental...
November 14, 2011
Tami Breazeale, 38, of Hudson, Wis., knows the high price of uncontrolled diabetes. A friend's lower leg was amputated after complications from the disease. So when Breazeale, a special-education teacher with three children, was diagnosed with prediabetes in January, she knew she had to take action. "I want to be healthy for my kids. I also don't want to spend money on diabetes supplies in 10 years...
November 14, 2011
Medical authorities are witnessing explosive growth in the number of newborn babies hooked on prescription painkillers, innocent victims of their mothers' addictions. The trend reflects how deeply rooted abuse of powerful narcotics such as OxyContin and Vicodin has become. Prescription-drug abuse is the nation's fastest-growing drug problem, classified as an epidemic by the Centers for Disease Control...
November 14, 2011
Veterans seeking mental health therapy at nearly a third of the Department of Veterans Affairs' hospitals must wait longer than the VA's goal of seeing patients in 14 days or less, according to a USA TODAY analysis of internal VA data. The findings are in contrast to the VA's assertion that fewer than 5% of patients must wait too long to begin therapy with psychiatrists or psychologists. The USA TODAY...
November 10, 2011
Nov. 09 - A database of doctor discipline and malpractice records blocked by the Obama administration in September was made public again today with new restrictions for anyone who wants to use it. Before downloading the public file of the National Practitioner Data Bank maintained by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, users must agree not to identify individual doctors and to delete...
November 10, 2011
Nov. 10 - A database of doctor discipline and malpractice records blocked by the federal government in September was made public again Wednesday with new restrictions for anyone who wants to use it. Before downloading the public file of the National Practitioner Data Bank maintained by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, users must agree not to identify individual doctors and to...
November 10, 2011
When Marie-Therese Connolly describes suspicious-looking bruises on the elderly, she sounds like a forensic expert on CSI. Bruises on the neck, head, inner thigh, genitalia and soles of the feet are often inflicted and can be telltale signs of elder abuse, one of the most hidden problems in the nation, she says. "If we can help people understand how to tell the difference between an accidental bruise...
November 10, 2011
As questions swirl around the Penn State child sexual abuse case, children's safety advocates urge parents, families, educators and youth organizations to be more alert and proactive. Abuse is far from rare. Experts cite these classic statistics: One in four girls and one in six boys will experience some sort of sexual abuse by age 18 (studies vary widely). Victims come from all socioeconomic groups...
November 10, 2011
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