News For Wednesday Aug 20, 2008 News For Wednesday Aug 20, 2008

Health Health

Trace arsenic in water may be linked with diabetes - Added 4 hours 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 15 hours 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 22 hours 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 1 day 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 1 day 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 1 day 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 1 day 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 days 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 4 days 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 4 days 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 4 days 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 5 days 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 5 days 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...

Drugs as good as stents for many heart patients - Added 6 days 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...

Doctors debate when to declare organ donors dead - Added 6 days 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...

After combat, citizen soldiers turning to alcohol - Added 1 week ago

National Guard and Reserve combat troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are more likely to develop drinking problems than active-duty soldiers, a new military study suggests. The authors speculate that inadequate preparation...

VA patients in Pa. fear prostate treatment error - Added 1 week ago

A Philadelphia veterans hospital says it may have given insufficient radiation treatment to more than 100 prostate-cancer patients. The Philadelphia VA Medical Center says it's reviewing records of 114 cancer patients...

Half of overweight adults may be heart-healthy - Added 1 week ago

!!-- hobj:249 -->!!-- hobj:250 -->!!-- AUDIO:249,250 -->You can look great in a swimsuit and still be a heart attack waiting to happen. And you can also be overweight and otherwise healthy. A new study suggests that a...

Balancing brain time-out in concussion recovery - Added 1 week ago

Your brain needs more of a time-out than just missing the next game to recover from a concussion. New research suggests student athletes who are too active _ not just on the field, but at home and school _ may hinder...

Global AIDS prevention gives short shrift to gays - Added 1 week ago

Jorge Saavedra's moment of truth came in the middle of an impassioned speech to 5,000 people about the paltry amount of money being spent to stop the spread of AIDS among gay men. The Mexican federal official paused,...

Rabies from bats suspected in Venezuela deaths - Added 1 week ago

At least 38 Warao Indians have died in remote villages in Venezuela, and medical experts suspect an outbreak of rabies spread by bites from vampire bats. Laboratory investigations have yet to confirm the cause, but the...

FDA: Some cholesterol and heart drugs don't mix - Added 1 week ago

Patients taking some common medications for high cholesterol and irregular heart beats can suffer severe muscle damage because of a problem in the way the drugs interact, the government warned on Friday. The Food and...

Whole Foods recalling possibly contaminated beef - Added 1 week ago

Whole Foods Market is recalling fresh ground beef sold between June 2 through Aug. 6 because the beef might be contaminated with E. coli bacteria. The company has received reports that seven people in Massachusetts and...

Gift cards key to new AIDS prevention strategy - Added 1 week ago

Could the AIDS virus be stopped with gift cards? Desperate for a way to stop the escalating spread of HIV among young gay men, public health officials are looking to novel strategies, such as enlisting local gay opinion...

Report say flu is bigger risk than terror in UK - Added 1 week ago

Pandemic flu, not terrorism, is the most serious risk to the U.K. public, says Britain's first ever national threat assessment, published on Friday. The document, part of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's overhaul of...

States mandate 'culturally competent' health care - Added 1 week ago

When a doctor doesn't look an Asian-American patient in the eye, that might be seen as a sign of respect. But making eye contact is encouraged with black patients, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic...

For unexplained infertility, 2 methods don't help - Added 1 week ago

A new study calls into question the use of two common infertility treatments for couples who have unexplained problems having children. Doctors in Scotland tested a drug that stimulates ovulation and artificial...

Average ER waiting time nears 1 hour, CDC says - Added 1 week ago

The average time that hospital emergency rooms patients wait to see a doctor has grown from about 38 minutes to almost an hour over the past decade, according to new federal statistics released Wednesday. The increase...

Suspected cholera outbreak in Philippines kills 21 - Added 2 weeks ago

A suspected cholera outbreak in a remote southern Philippine township has killed 21 people and sickened at least 50 others, the mayor and the Red Cross said Wednesday. Most of the victims of the outbreak in several...

Prostate test advice for elderly won't stop debate - Added 2 weeks ago

New advice that men over 75 should not be screened for prostate cancer won't quell the long-standing controversy over the usefulness of the blood test for the disease, cancer experts said Tuesday. "It stokes the...

Lens implant offers chance at beating lazy eye - Added 2 weeks ago

Dr. Paul Dougherty delicately slipped a tiny lens inside the right eye of 7-year-old Megan Garvin _ a last-ditch shot at saving her sight in that eye. The California girl last week became one of a small number of U.S....

Immigrants kids even less active than U.S.-born - Added 2 weeks ago

Many immigrant children get even less vigorous exercise than their U.S.-born counterparts, the largest study of its kind suggests. Plenty of earlier evidence shows that U.S. children are pretty inactive. The new study...

Anthrax suspect was a prolific scientific author - Added 2 weeks ago

Suspected anthrax mailer Bruce Ivins was a prolific contributor to research articles in the arcane field of deadly pathogens, and was named as a co-author in more than 40 studies published in scientific journals since...

In era of pills, fewer shrinks doing talk therapy - Added 2 weeks ago

Cartoons about the psychiatrist's couch were recently the subject of a museum exhibition. Now, the couch itself may be headed for a museum. A new study finds a significant decline in psychotherapy practiced by U.S....

Abbott faces more litigation over AIDS drug - Added 2 weeks ago

When Abbott Laboratories Inc. hiked up the price of a popular AIDS drug by 400 percent in 2003, executives prepared for the inevitable public relations hit, but assured themselves the backlash would be brief. Nearly...

12-year-old with HIV to open world AIDS conference - Added 2 weeks ago

Keren Dunaway was 5 when her parents used drawings to explain to her that they both had the HIV virus _ and so did she. Now the 12-year-old is one of the most prominent AIDS activists in Latin America and a rarity in a...

Mixed results for growth hormone in HIV patients - Added 2 weeks ago

A hormone better known for illicit use among athletes can help treat troublesome complications from the AIDS virus, but with potentially risky side effects, a small study found. Low-dose injections of human growth...

CDC underestimated new HIV cases by 40 percent - Added 2 weeks ago

The number of Americans infected by the AIDS virus each year is much higher than the government has been estimating, U.S. health officials reported, acknowledging that their numbers have understated the level of the...

Study: To sleep better, perchance to live longer - Added 2 weeks ago

Shakespeare once called sleep the "balm of hurt minds." Bodies, too, apparently. People with the severe form of apnea, which interferes with sleep, are several times more likely to die from any cause than are folks...

Surgeons: German farmer gets double arm transplant - Added 2 weeks ago

A German farmer who lost both his arms in an accident has been successfully fitted with two new limbs in what is believed to be the first complete double arm transplant, his surgeons said Friday. Reiner Gradinger,...

Drug gives couch potato mice benefits of a workout - Added 2 weeks ago

Here's a couch potato's dream: What if a drug could help you gain some of the benefits of exercise without working up a sweat? Scientists reported Thursday that there is such a drug _ if you happen to be a mouse. ...

Mexico criticizes US salmonella findings - Added 2 weeks ago

Mexican agriculture officials said Thursday that U.S. colleagues hunting for the source of a salmonella outbreak are rushing to a conclusion about finding the strain at a Mexican pepper farm. The salmonella sample that...

AIDS bill sets unclear treatment target - Added 2 weeks ago

The global AIDS bill signed by President Bush on Wednesday sets a goal of treating more than the 2 million-patient target set in 2003, but how much more isn't clear. In signing the bill, President Bush said, "With this...

Cell changes may help Lou Gehrig's research - Added 2 weeks ago

Using a new technique to reprogram cells, scientists are growing neurons from people with Lou Gehrig's disease, a possible first step in understanding how the deadly illness develops. Technically known as amyotrophic...

Missing DNA chunks tied to schizophrenia risk - Added 2 weeks ago

Two huge international studies show that people who lack certain chunks of DNA run a dramatically higher risk of getting schizophrenia, a finding that could help open new doors to understanding and diagnosing the...

Pre-pregnancy diabetes tied to more birth defects - Added 2 weeks ago

Diabetic women who get pregnant are three to four times more likely to have a child with birth defects than other women, according to new government research. The study is the largest of its kind, and provides the most...

Experimental Alzheimer's drug shows early promise - Added 3 weeks ago

For the first time, an experimental drug shows promise for halting the progression of Alzheimer's disease by taking a new approach: breaking up the protein tangles that clog victims' brains. The encouraging results...

Pediatricians nix heart tests before ADHD drugs - Added 3 weeks ago

The nation's largest pediatricians' group says most children getting attention-deficit drugs don't need heart screening with electrocardiogram tests, challenging advice from a leading heart doctors' association. The...

UN: AIDS epidemic stable; fewer deaths, infections - Added 3 weeks ago

Fewer people are dying of AIDS, more patients are on HIV medication and the global AIDS epidemic is stable after peaking in the late 1990s. But the United Nations AIDS agency warned in its yearly report Tuesday that...

Conjoined twin separated from sister in 2001 dies - Added 3 weeks ago

A conjoined twin who was separated from her sister during a grueling, 100-hour operation eight years ago died Tuesday at a hospital in Nepal, a doctor said. Ganga Shrestha, 8, died at the Model Hospital in Katmandu,...