Health & Medical
Apr 4th, 2012
In a step that threatens to more inflame concerns about the rationing of medical care, the nation's leading association of cancer physicians issued a list on Wednesday of five common tests and treatments that doctors should stop offering to cancer patients. The list came out from a two-year effort, similar to a project other medical specialties are undertaking, to identify procedures that do not help patients live longer or better or that may even be unsafe, yet are routinely prescribed.
Almost 30 percent of health-care spending goes to procedures, tests, and hospital stays that do not recover a patient's health, according to a 2008 analys
Apr 2nd, 2012
Latest research highlights a dramatic rise in the rates of melanoma, a potentially fatal form of skin cancer, among young adults, with young women being hit the hardest.
The study showed that the incidence of melanoma increased eightfold among young women and fourfold among young men from 1970 through 2009. The results come from a population-based study conducted by Mayo Clinic researchers using records from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a decades-long database of all patient care in Olmsted County, Minn. The researchers looked for first-time diagnoses of melanoma in patients within age of 18 to 39 from 1970 to 2009.
Dermatologist
Apr 1st, 2012
The Food and Drug Administration has rejected a petition filed from environmentalists that would have banned the plastic-hardening chemical bisphenol-A from all food and drink packaging such as plastic bottles and canned food.
The agency said on Friday that petitioners did not present compelling scientific evidence to justify new restrictions on the much-debated chemical, commonly known as BPA, though federal scientists continue to study the issue.
The Natural Resources Defense Council's petition was the latest step by public safety advocates to prod authoritiess into taking action against the chemical, which is found in everything from
Mar 24th, 2012
A new study suggests that obesity rates continue to increase in California schools, but exercise and nutrition plans may have a sound effect on student health.
Kids entered fifth grade more fat every year, but they did not increase more weight and their overall fitness improved as they moved to higher grades.
We accomplished an important first step and that is to slow obesity, said Dr. William Bommer, a cardiologist at the University of California, Davis, who worked on the study. He added that they were not able to reverse it.
The researchers, whose report is published in the American Heart Journal, recorded the fitness gains after C
Mar 22nd, 2012
The Army has initiated a system-wide review to guarantee its mental healthcare facilities are not involving in the "unacceptable" practice of considering treatment costs in making a diagnosis, Army Secretary John McHugh told a U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday.
Lieutenant General Patricia Horoho, who is the Army surgeon general, started the review in response to the discovery that hundreds of soldiers being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder had their diagnoses upturned after being seen by psychiatrists at the Madigan Army Medical Center in Washington state.
The medical center is located at Joint Base Lewis McChord, the home base
Mar 20th, 2012
A worldwide health coalition on Monday revealed plans for the first clinical tests of a new treatment regimen for tuberculosis, including for patients with resistance to existing multidrug programs.
The TB coalition, which is funded by several governments and foundations, said the new drug mixture suggests pledge in the fight against TB, which kills an estimated 1.4 million people each year, mostly in Africa. Health experts said the new program could be mainly helpful for an estimated 650,000 people around the world who suffer from multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), a number expected to rise, and could shorten treatment times.
Mel Spigelm
Mar 19th, 2012
These are questions already being discussed: Did the soldier supposed of killing Afghan villagers have post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD? And did the people who sent him back to war after he was upset properly determine he was mentally fit to return?
It's way too soon to psychologically scrutinize the state of mind of the 38-year-old longtime soldier accused in the killings. However, more than a few mental health experts said PTSD is a reasonable thing to consider.
The soldier's lawyer said his client a day before the killings last weekend had seen a fellow soldier's leg blown off, and had suffered a head injury and lost part of a
Mar 15th, 2012
Health representatives launched a $54 million advertising campaign on Thursday describing the health risks of smoking in gruesome detail, offering the latest salvo in the government's campaign to deglamorize cigarette smoking. The 12-week advertising blitz, called Tips From Former Smokers, is a step to offset the estimated $10.5 billion a year spent by tobacco companies to market and promote cigarettes in the United States.
Dr. Thomas Frieden, who is director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a telephone interview that this is in fact a David versus Goliath fight. He told that the tobacco industry has spen
Mar 13th, 2012
Daily use of a processed red meat can boost a person's risk of dying young by up to 20 percent, said a long-running US study of more than 120,000 people released on Monday. Although the research by Harvard University experts offers more evidence that eating red meat increases the risk of heart disease and cancer, it also counsels that replacing fish and poultry may lower early death risk.
Frank Hu, who is a senior author of the study in the Archives of Internal Medicine said that this study provides clear evidence that regular consumption of red meat, especially processed meat, contributes substantially to premature death. Researchers glea
Mar 10th, 2012
Coca-Cola and Pepsi announced on Friday that they have reduced levels of a chemical in caramel coloring to comply with a California law, but insisted the drinks pose no health risks and recipes will not change. The act allows the companies to avoid having to label products with a cancer caution due to what the health-conscious west coast state has ruled are high levels of 4-methylimidazole, shown to cause cancer in lab rodents.
Both companies said their admired and highly secretive soda recipes will not be altered but that caramel suppliers have been asked to reduce 4-MEI levels in California, a change that will eventually spread across th
