News For Sunday Sep 7, 2008 News For Sunday Sep 7, 2008

Health Health

FDA posts list of potential problem drugs - Added 20 hours ago

The government on Friday began posting a list of prescription drugs under investigation for potential safety problems in an effort to better inform doctors and patients. The first list is a bare-bones compilation...

FDA posts list of potential problem drugs - Added 1 day ago

The government on Friday began posting a list of prescription drugs under investigation for potential safety problems in an effort to better inform doctors and patients. The first list is a bare-bones compilation...

Gene domino effect behind brain, pancreatic tumors - Added 1 day ago

Scientists have mapped the cascade of genetic changes that turn normal cells in the brain and pancreas into two of the most lethal cancers. The result points to a new approach for fighting tumors and maybe even catching...

Gene domino effect behind brain, pancreatic tumors - Added 2 days ago

Scientists have mapped the cascade of genetic changes that turn normal cells in the brain and pancreas into two of the most lethal cancers. The result points to a new approach for fighting tumors and maybe even catching...

FDA orders stronger warnings for 4 arthritis drugs - Added 2 days ago

The Food and Drug Administration ordered stronger warnings Thursday on four medications widely used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other serious illnesses, saying they can raise the risk of possibly fatal fungal...

Study: New way to spot breast cancer shows promise - Added 3 days ago

A radioactive tracer that "lights up" cancer hiding inside dense breasts showed promise in its first big test against mammograms, revealing more tumors and giving fewer false alarms, doctors reported Wednesday. The...

Study: No link between measles vaccine and autism - Added 3 days ago

New research further debunks any link between measles vaccine and autism, work that comes as the nation is experiencing a surge in measles cases fueled by children left unvaccinated. Years of research with the measles,...

Heart defibrillator shock can signal more trouble - Added 3 days ago

A lifesaving shock from an implanted heart defibrillator provides relief that a crisis was avoided, but new research suggests it can also be a sign that more trouble is ahead. A study found that heart failure patients...

Smoking riskier to women's hearts than men's - Added 3 days ago

Women typically get heart disease much later than men, but not if they smoke, researchers said Tuesday. In fact, women who smoke have heart attacks more than a dozen years earlier than women who don't smoke, Norwegian...

Modest brain test benefit seen with brisk walking - Added 4 days ago

Brisk walking led to slight improvements on mental tests for older people with memory problems in what is billed as the first rigorous test of exercise on the aging brain. The results from the small Australian study...

E. coli outbreak in Oklahoma kills 1, sickens 200 - Added 4 days ago

!!-- pobj:OKTUL105-0825080825 -->An E. coli outbreak linked to a restaurant in northeastern Oklahoma has sickened more than 200 people and killed at least one person, state health officials said Tuesday. The Country...

Teen suicides dip, experts worry rate remains high - Added 4 days ago

The number of teen suicides has fallen slightly but the rate remains disturbingly high, researchers said, possibly fueled by drug warnings that have scared many from using antidepressants. The suicide rate was about...

Pfizer resuming ads for Lipitor after controversy - Added 4 days ago

Television ads for the world's top-selling drug, cholesterol fighter Lipitor, are back, six months after Pfizer Inc. pulled them amid charges its use of a celebrity doctor endorser who's never practiced medicine misled...

Doctors say Vytorin-cancer link can't be ruled out - Added 4 days ago

Results so far from three studies of the cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin are not enough to prove or rule out a possible link to a higher risk of cancer, so the drug should be used with caution until more is known,...

Study: Bypass better than stents in long term - Added 5 days ago

For heart patients with clogged arteries, the choice between bypass surgery or an angioplasty may come down to one question: How many procedures would you like to have? In research presented Monday at the European...

Study links bipolar disorder with older fathers - Added 5 days ago

Children born to older fathers face a greater chance of developing bipolar disorder, according to one of the largest studies linking mental illness with advanced paternal age. Previous research has connected...

Watch out for drug names that look, sound alike - Added 5 days ago

Take the generic drug clonidine for high blood pressure? Double-check that you didn't leave the drugstore with Klonopin for seizures, or the gout medicine colchicine. Mixing up drug names because they look or sound...

Tips to avoid drug errors due to confusing names - Added 5 days ago

Tips to avoid medication errors, including mix-ups of drugs whose names look or sound alike: _Ask your doctor what drug is being prescribed, at what dose, and for written instructions for use. _Ask your doctor to...

Study: Bypass better than stents in long term - Added 5 days ago

For heart patients with clogged arteries, the choice between bypass surgery or an angioplasty may come down to one question: How many procedures would you like to have? In research presented Monday at the European...

Fish oil appears to help against heart failure - Added 6 days ago

Fish oil supplements may work slightly better than a popular cholesterol-reducing drug to help patients with chronic heart failure, according to new research released Sunday. Chronic heart failure is a condition that...

CDC: Salmonella outbreak appears to be over - Added 1 week ago

The government said Thursday that the salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 1,440 people appears to be over, but its ultimate source may never be known, partly because of shortcomings in the nation's food safety...

Tracking Alzheimer's-linked protein in live brains - Added 1 week ago

Scientists for the first time have peered into people's brains to directly measure the ebb and flow of a substance notorious for its role in Alzheimer's disease. The delicate research was performed not with Alzheimer's...

Study: 12 percent of Indian deaths due to alcohol - Added 1 week ago

Almost 12 percent of the deaths among American Indians and Alaska Natives are alcohol-related _ more than three times the percentage in the general population, a new federal report says. The report released Thursday by...

Correction: Hot Dogs-Cancer story - Added 1 week ago

In an Aug. 26 story about a new TV ad linking hot dogs with cancer, The Associated Press, relying on figures provided by a nutrition adviser to the American Institute for Cancer Research, erroneously reported average...

Cells change identity in promising breakthrough - Added 1 week ago

Talk about an extreme makeover: Scientists have transformed one type of cell into another in living mice, a big step toward the goal of growing replacement tissues to treat a variety of diseases. The cell identity...

In NYC, new HIV infections 3 times national rate - Added 1 week ago

New data show New York City residents are contracting the virus that causes AIDS at three times the national rate. The city health department said Wednesday that almost 4,800 New Yorkers were infected with HIV in 2006....

Study outcome won't sway company on eye drug - Added 1 week ago

What does a company do when there's anecdotal evidence that two of its drugs are equally effective in treating a leading cause of blindness in the elderly, one costing patients $60 per treatment and the other $2,000? ...

FDA OKs blood test for heart transplant rejection - Added 1 week ago

Government regulators on Wednesday cleared the way for broader use of a blood test that can spare heart transplant patients the ordeal of repeated biopsies to check if their bodies are rejecting the new organ. The Food...

New attack ad on TV, but this one targets hot dogs - Added 1 week ago

A new TV commercial shows kids eating hot dogs in a school cafeteria and one little boy's haunting lament: "I was dumbfounded when the doctor told me I have late-stage colon cancer." It's a startling revelation in an...

Study links preterm births, simmering infections - Added 1 week ago

Infections may play a bigger role in premature birth than doctors have thought, says a new study that found almost one in seven women in preterm labor harbored bacteria or fungi in their amniotic fluid. It's a small...

How to clear confusion from food allergy warnings - Added 1 week ago

It's one of the biggest frustrations of life with food allergies: That hodgepodge of warnings that a food might accidentally contain the wrong ingredient. The warnings are voluntary _ meaning there's no way to know if...

Face transplant patient can smile, blink again - Added 2 weeks ago

Transplanting faces may seem like science fiction, but doctors say the experimental surgeries could one day become routine. Two of the world's three teams that have done partial face transplants reported Friday that...

Jump in US measles cases linked to vaccine fears - Added 2 weeks ago

Measles cases in the U.S. are at the highest level in more than a decade, with nearly half of those involving children whose parents rejected vaccination, health officials reported Thursday. Worried doctors are...

Face transplant patient can smile, blink again - Added 2 weeks ago

Transplanting faces may seem like science fiction, but doctors say the experimental surgeries could one day become routine. Two of the world's three teams that have done partial face transplants reported Friday that...

FDA: Irradiating spinach, lettuce OK to kill germs - Added 2 weeks ago

Consumers worried about salad safety may soon be able to buy fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce zapped with just enough radiation to kill E. coli and a few other germs. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday will...

FDA investigates possible Vytorin link to cancer - Added 2 weeks ago

Federal drug safety regulators said Thursday they are investigating whether the cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin can increase patients' risk of developing cancer. However, the Food and Drug Administration said...

Cervical cancer shots less cost-effective with age - Added 2 weeks ago

An expensive vaccine aimed at preventing cervical cancer makes sense for young teens when it comes to cost-effectiveness, but not for women in their 20s, contends a new report. The vaccine against the HPV virus was...

Trace arsenic in water may be linked with diabetes - Added 2 weeks ago

A new analysis of government data is the first to link low-level arsenic exposure, possibly from drinking water, with Type 2 diabetes, researchers say. The study's limitations make more research necessary. And public...

Stem cell advance may help transfusion supplies - Added 2 weeks ago

Scientists say they've found an efficient way to make red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells, a possible step toward making transfusion supplies in the laboratory. The promise of a virtually limitless supply is...

New study backs angioplasty through the wrist - Added 2 weeks ago

The best path to a clogged heart may be through the wrist. About a million artery-clearing angioplasties are performed in the United States each year, and the usual route is to thread a tube to the heart through an...

Many think God's intervention can revive the dying - Added 2 weeks ago

When it comes to saving lives, God trumps doctors for many Americans. An eye-opening survey reveals widespread belief that divine intervention can revive dying patients. And, researchers said, doctors "need to be...

Vitamin D's wild days: Who to test, what to take? - Added 2 weeks ago

Don't be surprised if your doctor orders a vitamin D test during your next physical. Blood tests to check levels of the so-called sunshine vitamin are on the rise as doctors and patients react to headline-grabbing...

Study: You can chew gum and get well at same time - Added 2 weeks ago

Can you chew gum and recover from surgery at the same time? British researchers say it's a great idea for some patients. Chewing gum may speed the return of normal bowel function after colon surgery, a new analysis of...

Blood protects against long-gone killer 1918 flu - Added 2 weeks ago

Nearly a century after history's most lethal flu faded away, survivors' bloodstreams still carry super-potent protection against the 1918 virus, demonstrating the remarkable durability of the human immune system. ...

Blood protects against long-gone killer 1918 flu - Added 2 weeks ago

Nearly a century after history's most lethal flu faded away, survivors' bloodstreams still carry super-potent protection against the 1918 virus, demonstrating the remarkable durability of the human immune system. ...

Blood transfusions give Argentine patients HIV - Added 3 weeks ago

Two intensive-care patients contracted HIV after receiving blood transfusions at public hospitals in the Argentine province of Cordoba, a newspaper reported Friday. An unidentified donor gave blood at a Cordoba city...

1st US drug for Huntington's disease wins approval - Added 3 weeks ago

Federal regulators on Friday cleared the first treatment approved in the United States for Huntington's, a rare inherited disease that causes uncontrolled movements, deterioration of mental abilities and, ultimately,...

Salmonella outbreak winds down; questions remain - Added 3 weeks ago

The nationwide salmonella outbreak is finally winding down but federal health officials can't yet say how the few tainted Mexican peppers they've found could explain such widespread illness. The outbreak isn't...

Doctors debate when to declare organ donors dead - Added 3 weeks ago

A report on three heart transplants involving babies is focusing attention on a touchy issue in the organ donation field: When and how can someone be declared dead? For decades, organs have typically been removed only...

Drugs as good as stents for many heart patients - Added 3 weeks ago

People with chronic chest pain who are not in big danger of a heart attack now may have even less reason to rush into an artery-opening angioplasty: There's more evidence drugs should be tried first and often are just...