Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs in the United States. They are asking patients to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for medications that may save their lives or slow the progress of serious diseases. With the new pricing system, insurers abandoned the traditional arrangement that has patients pay a fixed amount, like $10, $20 or...
April 15, 2008
Apr. 15 - What lengths would you go to to keep from getting cancer? For Jean Berry of Maysville, Mo., the answer to that question for years was the colorectal health kits provided annually by Heartland Regional Medical Center. The kits diagnose the health of the colon and rectum by detecting microscopic amounts of blood that could indicate cancerous or possibly precancerous polyps. Mrs. Berry's tests...
April 15, 2008
CHICAGO - A large study offers the strongest evidence yet that a diet the U.S. government recommends for lowering blood pressure can save people from heart attack and stroke. Researchers followed more than 88,000 healthy women for almost 25 years. They examined their food choices and looked at how many had heart attacks and strokes. Those who fared best had eating habits similar to those recommended...
April 15, 2008
OTTAWA, Apr 15, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) - Canada is set to be the first in the world to declare the widely used chemical bisphenol A a dangerous substance because of its estrogen-mimicking ability. The Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper Tuesday said Health Canada will release its report this week, which could lead to an eventual restriction of its use. The chemical is used in disposable water bottles,...
April 14, 2008
In the drive to look youthful - "distinguished" is out - guys are slathering on anti-aging lotions, potions and serums. Prior to 2005, facial anti-agers aimed at men weren't even a blip on the male skin care scene, according to tracker Mintel. But by 2007, crease-fighters accounted for 20% of the estimated $46 million in male skin care sales. "Men in general have shown that they are much more open...
April 14, 2008
A new Web service was launched Monday aimed at making corporate workplaces more healthful and productive and more fun. The idea behind Limeade is to radically transform the health assessment programs that corporations operate in order to reduce health care costs, making those programs easier to use and more engaging. At the same time, it has incorporated new questions about workplace issues and employee...
April 14, 2008
NEW YORK, Apr 15, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) - Healthcare analysts said U.S. health insurers are rapidly adopting a new pricing system that is boosting copays for expensive prescription drugs. The New York Times said the new pricing system, which often charges patients 20 percent to 30 percent of the cost of the drugs, can add up to thousands of dollars each month for some people. The Tier 4 system is incorporated...
April 14, 2008
The teen pregnancy rate in the United States has fallen to historic lows, abortion rates have declined dramatically and more women are having children out of wedlock, a study published Monday said. The teen pregnancy rate dropped 38 percent from 1990 to 2004, with abortion rates down by half and birth rates down by more than a third, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Study said. However,...
April 14, 2008
Exhaust fumes from road traffic and other types of fuel combustion are closely linked to excess deaths due to pneumonia, according to a study released Tuesday. Cross-referencing three sets of data - atmospheric emissions, published causes of death and expected causes of death - in England for the period 1996-2004, George Knox of Birmingham University attributed some 4,000 extra pneumonia deaths each...
April 14, 2008
HOUSTON, Apr 14, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) - A U.S. scientist says he's discovered one month of induced difficult breathing might help asthma sufferers breathe easier in the long run. University of Houston Associate Professor Richard Bond terms his hypothesis "paradoxical pharmacology" - treating patients with medicine that initially worsens their symptoms before eventually improving them. He first applied...
April 14, 2008
SHERMAN OAKS - The number of psychiatric beds in public hospitals has fallen dramatically across California and the nation - with the Golden State now dedicating just 17 beds for mentally ill patients for every 100,000 residents, according to a newly released report. While the ratio in California mirrors the national average, it represents a sharp drop over the past five decades - from 340 beds per...
April 14, 2008
WASHINGTON, Apr 14, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said at least 23 people in 14 states were diagnosed with salmonella poisoning caused by the same contaminated cereals. FDA officials said a strain of salmonella was found in unsweetened Puffed Rice and unsweetened Puffed Wheat cereals produced by Malt-O-Meal Co. That discovery prompted an April 5 nationwide recall. The...
April 14, 2008
SOQUEL, Calif. (AP) - As the state prepares to spray the San Francisco Bay Area with pesticides to fight an invasive moth, local officials are worrying not only about the potential impact on human health, but on local commerce as well. State environmental health experts announced last week that illnesses reported by hundreds of residents after the first round of aerial spraying on California's central...
April 13, 2008
Apr. 14 - GUILFORD COUNTY - Health officials are celebrating the success of their first Best Birth Outcomes Training Academy for minority pregnant women. The academy, held from October to March, provided intensive training for woman preparing to give birth. Fiftyeight mothers between the ages of 14 and 33 participated in the four sessions. Classes will resume in the fall. Academy teachers will visit...
April 13, 2008
Bob Frick, 60, of Columbus, Ohio, loves to cook, and he loves to eat. His passion for food has served him well: In 1988, he and his wife, Corrine, opened a family restaurant called BC Roosters, which has since grown into a popular chain. But he has paid a high price for his love affair with food: In 1988, he was overweight and had a heart attack, and in 1999 he was obese and had triple bypass surgery....
April 13, 2008
Herschel Walker knows there will be jokes made about him when the content of his book, Breaking Free, becomes known with its release today. Walker, the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, NFL Pro Bowler and Olympian, tells of having dissociative identity disorder (DID), or what is often referred to as multiple personality disorder. Walker knows that conjures immediate thoughts of Sybil and Three Faces of Eve....
April 13, 2008
NEW YORK - Superstar comedians joined forces Sunday night for a cause that was anything but funny. Adam Sandler, Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman, Conan O'Brien, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Will Arnett and Amy Poehler were among celebrities taking part in Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Concert for Autism Education, hosted by The Daily Show's Jon Stewart at the Beacon Theatre. The show was broadcast live...
April 13, 2008
The nation's largest anti-sexual-assault organization will announce today that it is pioneering an Internet-based hotline to counsel abused young people, part of a new trend to reach a generation often more comfortable with texting than talking. The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network has run a telephone hotline for 14 years. But now it hopes to reach a new generation "who would've never picked up...
April 13, 2008
Cox News Service ATLANTA - My father, John Foskett, turns 89 next month, though you'd never know it from his baseline volley. He plays tennis twice a week, competes in senior tournaments and is trimmer today than when he graduated from college in 1947 (six years late because of World War II). Recently, however, my father confided a nagging concern: his memory. He forgets names, or tasks he intended...
April 13, 2008
WASHINGTON - Scientists have pinpointed genetic variations that make people more likely to get hooked on cigarettes and more prone to develop lung cancer - a finding that could someday lead to screening tests and customized treatments for smokers trying to kick the habit. The discovery by three separate teams of scientists makes the strongest case so far for the biological underpinnings of nicotine...
April 13, 2008
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Jennifer Freeman aches to have another baby. But she's worried. What if it doesn't work, what if she miscarries - again? "I just don't trust my body," she said. Who could blame her? The first time Freeman, 27, got pregnant, it was joyous and seemed so easy. She was 23, married for a year to her husband, Chris, an accountant, and living in Olathe, Kan. When tests confirmed the pregnancy...
April 11, 2008
Health workers Friday sought to contain a cholera outbreak that has killed at least 64, including in areas where people were displaced amid recent post-electoral violence, an official said. The workers are targeting 16 districts mainly in the western region, most of which were affected by violence spurred by disputed elections in December. Of at least 1,200 cases across the east African nation in recent...
April 11, 2008
Orthorexia supposedly is an emerging eating disorder marked by extreme devotion to healthy food. People suffering from the addiction - usually those righteous raw foodists, vegetarians and vegans - obsessively check labels, avoid junk food, plan menus and often eat a healthy diet so they can feel "pure." Some even make fun of McDonald's customers. It gets worse. While an anorexic tries to severely...
April 11, 2008
White dermatologists didn't understand her skin, says Nakia Smith, 25, a longtime eczema sufferer. It was not until she visited Philadelphia dermatologist Susan Taylor, who, like Smith, is a woman of color, that the dry, scaly patches on her face and arms cleared up. "I had tried 50 million creams and was even told I'd just have to live with the eczema, but Dr. Taylor suggested things no one else had...
April 10, 2008
Less than a quarter of "priority countries" are on track to reach UN goals for reducing high rates of infant and maternal mortality by 2015, according to a major report released Friday. While some nations - notably China - have made significant progress, far more, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, have either stagnated or lost ground, said the report. The series of studies, published by the British...
April 10, 2008