President Obama remains committed to a controversial government health insurance program as the White House prepares for a pivotal week in its drive to revamp the nation's health care system, Vice President Biden said Sunday. Obama will speak about health care to the American Medical Association in Chicago today. It is the latest group to raise concerns about a taxpayer-sponsored insurance program...
June 15, 2009
On June 13, 2000, Christina Bryan was winding down her workday at a golf course in Celina, Ohio. After waiting out a thunderstorm in the clubhouse, and as the sun re-emerged, she headed for the driving range to collect golf bag stands - her final task of the day - when a lightning bolt struck her and sent the then-17-year-old into cardiac arrest. When paramedics arrived on the scene, they performed...
June 15, 2009
CHICAGO - President Obama told wary doctors Monday that the nation's health system is "a ticking time bomb for the federal budget" and said those who call his plan for a taxpayer-funded coverage option a step toward a government takeover of health care "are not telling the truth." Obama told the American Medical Association (AMA) the time is right to overhaul the system and acknowledged how difficult...
June 15, 2009
Stimulants used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder could increase the risk of sudden death in children who have no underlying heart conditions, researchers reported Monday. Such drugs have carried warnings since 2006 about an increased risk of sudden death in children or teens known to have serious heart abnormalities. But this is the first study to link the stimulants to sudden death...
June 15, 2009
PHILADELPHIA, Jun 15, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) - Low-fat diet helps genetically predisposed animals avoid liver cancer, U.S. researchers found. In a study comparing two strains of mice - one susceptible to developing cancer and the other not - researchers found that a high-fat diet predisposed the cancer-susceptible strain to liver cancer. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine...
June 15, 2009
Jun. 15 - Alli Elliot shimmies from side to side as she follows her virtual aerobics instructor. The woman on the screen calling out exercise commands is tough, but perky. "I like that the instructor is always smiling," said Alli, a 13-year-old cheerleader at Arlington Middle School. "When you look at her, it's like she's smiling at you. It makes you want to do it better." The program, on a life-size...
June 15, 2009
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Jun 15, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) - The beneficial effects of pregnancy and childbearing on arthritic conditions may be more long-term than previously thought, Norwegian researchers said. Dr. Marianne Wallenius, of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said nulliparous women - those who have not given birth to children - are diagnosed with chronic arthritides - including...
June 15, 2009
Computer games have been inching their way into the medical world over the last few years, and though your local hospital may not become a mini-arcade, experts say patients can expect to see more gaming in medical settings in the years to come, especially brain games. About 350 medical experts, computer gaming professionals and entrepreneurs gathered last week at the fifth annual Games for Health Conference...
June 15, 2009
Washington (dpa) - While AIDS and malaria have dominated world health attention over the past 10 years, chronic diseases like diabetes and heart ailments have lurked under the radar. But researchers from China, Australia, Canada, Britain and the United States - with India expected to sign on shortly - are working to call more attention to stroke, cancer, respiratory disease and other ailments that...
June 15, 2009
Fit and tanned, National Geographic explorer Dan Buettner has spent recent years traveling the globe, analyzing cultures where people live long, healthy lives, teasing out the secrets behind their enduring well-being. He has christened these longevity hot spots "Blue Zones," and has written a book about them, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest (National...
June 14, 2009
Highway safety advocates say a deadly gap exists in the nation's seat belt laws: Most states don't require adult passengers in the back seat to buckle up. The District of Columbia and 49 states have seat belt laws for adults, but only 21 states and the district require that seat belts be used in all seating positions. Safety advocates such as Barbara Harsha of the Governors Highway Safety Association...
June 14, 2009
Would you like some taxes with that drink? The Senate Finance Committee, looking for ways to pay for health reforms, has been considering the possibility of attaching a federal excise tax for the first time to soda and other drinks sweetened with sugar, high-fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners. Increasing the taxes on alcoholic beverages has also been on the congressional table. It seems unlikely...
June 14, 2009
TEL AVIV, Israel, Jun 5, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) - An Israeli researcher tired of seeing her children sick says if teachers are taught the importance of hand washing, more children wash their hands. Dr. Laura Rosen of Tel Aviv University's School of Public Health said her preliminary study of 40 pre-schools and kindergartens had shown that teachers were often unaware of the direct connection between...
June 14, 2009
A child is the second Utahn to die after testing positive for H1N1 swine flu. The Salt Lake Valley Health Department reported the death Thursday. The child, between the ages of 5 and 18, died this week and had a "pretty severe underlying chronic condition" and respiratory problems, according to Dagmar Vitek, the department's medical director. Those illnesses would have put him or her at a higher risk...
June 14, 2009
Duke Homestead, the family home of Washington Duke, father to American Tobacco Company and Duke University, will focus on different kinds of plants Saturday. The state historic site will hold its annual Herb, Garden and Craft Festival featuring green education, vendors, tours and children's activities. Vendors will sell herbs like lavender and rosemary. A bake sale will include ingredients from Duke...
June 14, 2009
MILWAUKEE, Jun 9, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) - Multiple strategies and multiple attempts may be necessary for young adults to quit smoking, despite efforts to quit after college, U.S. researchers said. Joyce M. Wolburg at Marquette University suggests an extended trial and error period is necessary, since most college students who smoke began smoking in high school. Despite efforts to prevent teens from...
June 14, 2009
NEW YORK, Jun 8, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) - People who sleep less than five hours or more than nine hours per night are at greater risk for diabetes, U.S. researchers found. Lead author Girardin Jean-Louis of the State University of New York's Downstate Medical Center said the findings suggest both patients who have excessive or insufficient sleep time have increased risk for developing diabetes. The...
June 14, 2009
After Julie Murdock, 30, of Tigard, Ore., lost her job in the mortgage business in September, she could have hibernated in her apartment, eating junk food all day and undermining her weight-loss efforts while she searched for a job on the Internet. "I could have gotten really upset and been a victim of the situation, but I've fought to not let that happen," she says. Instead, Murdock decided to "use...
June 14, 2009
The more overweight children and teenagers are, the more frequent and disabling their headaches, according to the first national study to look at possible links between obesity and headaches in kids. A great payoff of slimming down is that heavy kids tend to gain some relief from headaches, says Andrew Hershey, a pediatric neurologist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, who led the study...
June 14, 2009
BOSTON, Jun 14, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) - A Vermont woman maimed in an attack with lye by her ex-husband says her vision recovered suddenly last month after surgeries seemed to have failed. Carmen Tarleton, 39, told The Boston Globe her sight returned when she yawned May 7, more than a week after Dr. Samir Melki, an eye surgeon in Boston, operated on her right eye. Soon after, she saw the face of one...
June 14, 2009
MONTREAL, Jun 14, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) - A Montreal man in his 40s has become the fifth person to die of the H1N1 flu in Canada, a provincial health official says. Quebec Public Health Director Alain Poirier said the man, who already had another ailment, died Saturday after contracting the strain commonly referred to as swine flu, The (Montreal) Gazette and Canwest News Service reported. "He had an...
June 14, 2009
French officials on Sunday confirmed seven cases of swine flu in a group of children from the same school in an outbreak that did not appear to have been brought in from abroad. The cases from the outbreak led to 13 children, all aged around 11, being hospitalised in the southwest of the country with suspected A(H1N1) infections. So far seven of the students, all from Quint-Fonsegrives, close to Toulouse,...
June 14, 2009
ATLANTA, Jun 11, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) - State and local governments should consider taking precautions to prevent waterborne illness associated with splash parks, U.S. health officials advise. A report in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report said that splash parks are increasingly popular recreational water venues where waterborne illness outbreaks...
June 14, 2009
ATLANTA, Jun 11, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) - State and local governments should consider taking precautions to prevent waterborne illness associated with splash parks, U.S. health officials advise. A report in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report said that splash parks are increasingly popular recreational water venues where waterborne illness outbreaks...
June 14, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., Jun 12, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) - Children whose parents didn't permit them to drink underage were significantly less likely to drink heavily in college, U.S. researchers found. Caitlin Abar, a graduate student at Pennsylvania State University's Prevention Research and Methodology Centers, suggested parents practice a zero-tolerance alcohol policy at home and said there is no scientific...
June 13, 2009