News Articles
Perched by a computer monitor wedged between shelves of cough drops and the pharmacy in a bustling Walmart, Mohamed Khader taps out answers to questions such as how often he eats vegetables, whether anyone in his family has diabetes and his age. He tests his eyesight, weighs himself and checks his blood pressure as a middle-aged couple watches at the blue-and-white SoloHealth station advertising "free...
2/19/2013
Want to improve your preschoolers' behavior? Be choosy when it comes to the TV shows they watch - even if you don't reduce the amount of time they spend watching TV. In one of the largest studies yet to examine how TV affects children's development, researchers report that six months after families reduced 3- to 5-year-olds' exposure to aggressive or violent shows and increased enriching and educational...
2/18/2013
Patients at risk for a stroke are now able to have a minimally invasive procedure that is available at only a select group of hospitals nationwide, including two in North Jersey. Physicians at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood are fixing a section of the heart in patients with an abnormal heart rhythm, called atrial fibrillation. Patients with this condition...
2/15/2013
Feb. 15 - The public service announcements are deliberately gross: attractive young people chugging yellowy gobs of fat to make the point that drinking one can of soda a day can add 10 pounds to the body each year. Gov. Neil Abercrombie and the state Department of Health launched a multimedia campaign Thursday to steer teenagers away from soda and other sugary drinks and toward healthier choices such...
2/15/2013
Feb. 15 - Women who are pregnant or attempting to become pregnant should receive a whooping cough vaccination to protect the baby, according to a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Advisory Council on Immunization Practices voted last year to recommend women get a Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) vaccination between the 27th and 36th week of their pregnancy....
2/15/2013
Even moderate alcohol use may substantially raise the risk of dying from cancer, according to a study released Thursday offering the first comprehensive update of alcohol-related cancers deaths in decades. "People don't talk about the issue of alcohol and cancer risk," said Dr. David Nelson, director of the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program at the National Cancer Institute and lead author of the...
2/15/2013
By Stephanie Strom The New York Times Health advocates and public health officials from major cities are asking the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the amount of caloric sweeteners in sodas and other beverages, saying the scientific consensus is that the level of added sugars is unsafe. The group, led by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and including public health departments...
2/14/2013
As many as 11% of U.S. women ages 15-44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used a morning-after pill at least once, according to the first federal report on emergency contraception, out today. That's 5.8 million women - and half say they used it because they feared their birth control method may have failed. The rest say they had unprotected sex. The National Center for Health Statistics analysis...
2/14/2013
Prescription drug prices are taking off again as other health care costs are flat or falling. After dropping during the recession, drug prices have reignited in the past four years, returning to growth rates of a decade ago. In 2012, prescription drug prices rose 3.6%, twice the 1.7% inflation rate, Bureau of Economic Analysis data show. The trend is in sharp contrast to other health costs. Prices...
2/14/2013
AUGUSTA, Maine - Congress must act to address air pollution from out of state that's sickening too many Maine children and seniors, the American Lung Association charged Wednesday at a State House news conference. The association announced a "healthy air agenda" that it described as a "four-point blueprint for cleaning up the air," according to a news release. The announcement followed President Barack...
2/13/2013
Women who took folic acid supplements before and during pregnancy were about 40% less likely to have a baby later diagnosed with autism, a new study says. One in 88 American children have an autism spectrum disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the study done in Norway, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, doctors asked pregnant women...
2/13/2013
When Tiffany Moore, 37, a mother of four in Battlement Mesa, Colo., was diagnosed with high blood pressure late last year, she knew she needed to change how her family lived. At 5-foot-6, she weighed 222 pounds and got winded when she walked for any distance. Her husband, Josh, 40, a truck driver who works long hours, was also too heavy. They were downing more than 64 ounces of soda and other sugary...
2/12/2013
What's in your vitamin supplement? It could be more or less than you think, according to the latest study to show that what's on a supplement label is not necessarily what's in the bottle. Researchers who tested vitamin D pills sold in stores found they contain from 9% to 140% of the doses listed on labels, according to a research letter published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. Though none of the...
2/12/2013
The scramble by hospitals to employ physicians has worked out pretty well for some of the region's surgeons. Across the four largest hospital systems in central Indiana, six physicians received more than $1 million in compensation in 2011 while two others received more than $900,000 and nine others received $700,000 or more, according to the hospitals' most recent reports to the IRS. Those compensation...
2/11/2013
Stress levels for Americans have taken a decidedly downward turn across the USA - except for young adults, whose stress is higher than the national norm, a survey reports today. Those ages 18-33 - the Millennial generation - are plenty stressed, and it's not letting up: 39% say their stress has increased in the past year; 52% say it's kept them awake at night in the past month. And more than any other...
2/7/2013
2013-02-07-Alzheimers-epidemic-by-2050-Numbers-to-triple0_ST_U.xml ^$^A new government-funded report confirms what advocacy groups have been warning for years: The number of people in the USA with Alzheimer's disease will almost triple by 2050, straining the health care system and taxing the health of caregivers. Numbers are projected to rise from about 5 million now to 13.8 million. The disease robs...
2/7/2013
2013-02-06-Study-Calcium-supplements-linked-to-higher-risk-of-heart-attacks-for-men_ST_U.xml ^$^Guys, take note: Popping large amounts of calcium supplements may be harmful to your heart. New research shows that a high intake of calcium from supplements is correlated with an increased risk of death from heart disease, such as heart attacks, for men, but not for women. This does not apply to foods rich...
2/6/2013
2013-02-06-Hospice-care-rises-but-so-do-treatments-in-final-days-of-care_ST_U.xml ^$^Twice as many elderly people died in hospice as in a hospital or nursing home compared with a decade ago, but hospice is often treated as a last resort - and used too late to benefit patients and their families, a study said Tuesday. Researchers examined Medicare records for 840,000 people 66 or older who died in 2000,...
2/6/2013
2013-02-06-Women-Perhaps-you-should-stay-home-on-Wednesdays_ST_U.xml ^$^It's Wednesday, and I'm looking around the office. At the women, mainly. Do I notice anything different? Maybe, but I'm certainly not going to report it here. New research shows that a certain number of women find Wednesdays the most stressful day of the week. And it gets worse. The study says these women look their oldest at 3:30...
2/6/2013
2013-02-05-Too-much-TV-inactivity-linked-with-lower-sperm-counts_ST_U.xml ^$^The price of sloth may include a lower sperm count. Healthy young men who watch a lot of TV or skimp on exercise have lower counts than guys who watch less or move more, a new study finds. The study is small and does not prove cause and effect. But it adds to evidence that modern living may be contributing to possible declines...
2/5/2013
Cancer now kills more people worldwide than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and more than half of deaths are in developing countries. Yet many people, including policymakers, still harbor the misconception that cancer is a concern only for industrialized nations, rather than developing countries. Cancer activists will try to dispel such myths today as they mark World Cancer Day, organized...
2/4/2013
2013-02-04-Researchers-reconsider-cause-of-Mary-Ingalls-blindnessART_ST_U.xml ^$^Fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's semi-autobiographical Little House books have long been familiar with Laura's older sister, Mary, and the explanation that scarlet fever caused her vision loss. But research released today says that diagnosis is not very probable. Instead, Mary's blindness at age 14 was most likely the result...
2/4/2013
Although the flu is beginning to wane, it is sickening and killing seniors at rates "higher than we've ever seen," a CDC flu expert says. As of last week, people older than 65 who died from a laboratory-confirmed case of influenza died at a rate of 116 per 100,000. "We've kept rates since 2005 and we have never seen a rate this high," says Michael Jhung, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease...
2/4/2013
Is it time to start hoarding 5-hour Energy? Health concerns are prompting proposals to restrict the sale of highly caffeinated energy drinks. Chicago Alderman Ed Burke last month introduced an ordinance that would ban the sale of energy drinks containing 180 milligrams of caffeine and two other substances. That would end sales of many 24-ounce energy drinks. A hearing on the proposal has not been scheduled....
2/4/2013
What we're hearing in New Orleans ... the NFL and NFL Players Association are close to an agreement on HGH testing. That's what NFLPA President Domonique Foxworth told USA TODAY Sports, and Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said the same thing to a small group of news reporters. Foxworth said the sides met last week. This is an issue both sides badly want to resolve. But like anything, it's a...
2/1/2013
