Health News

GOP: Health test recommendations could affect care

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Ky., center, gestures during a health care reform news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. From left are, Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., McConnell, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Ariz. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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AP
AP - Sat Nov 21, 1:17 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Republicans are seizing on this week's recommendations for fewer Pap smears and mammograms to fuel concern about government-rationed medical care — and to try to chip away support by women for President Barack Obama's proposed health care overhaul.

Weight Loss News

  • Obesity in adolescence may increase girls' MS risk Reuters - Fri Nov 20, 11:15 AM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A woman's risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) during her lifetime is doubled if she was obese at age 18, new research shows.

  • A resident is photographed Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 walking around downtown Lexington, Miss., in Holmes County. The first national statistics that look at obesity on the county level show that Mississippi has three counties among the worst in the nation, Humphreys, Jefferson and Holmes. High rates of obesity and diabetes were reported in more than in about 75 percent of counties in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and South Carolina. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
    US survey shows southern counties most obese AP - Thu Nov 19, 9:31 PM ET

    ATLANTA - The first county-by-county survey of obesity reflects past studies that show the rate of obesity is highest in the Southeast and Appalachia. High rates of obesity and diabetes were reported in more than 80 percent of counties in the Appalachian region that includes Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, according to the new research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • Appalachia, Southeast Hit Hardest by Obesity and Diabetes HealthDay - Thu Nov 19, 7:25 PM ET

    THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- While rates of obesity are climbing across America, they are especially high in sections of Appalachia and the Southeast, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports in its first county-by-county survey.

Sexual Health News

  • Spray May Delay Ejaculation HealthDay - Thu Nov 19, 7:25 PM ET

    THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- A spray touted as the first potential treatment for premature ejaculation has proved effective in a second study, according to the company that developed it.

  • Spray can prevent premature ejaculation: study Reuters - Thu Nov 19, 1:18 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A spray that numbs the penis can help prevent premature ejaculation, doctors reported on Thursday, and drug maker Sciele Pharma Inc, a division of Japan's Shionogi, plans to file for U.S. approval next year.

  • Genital Herpes May Never Go Dormant HealthDay - Wed Nov 18, 11:48 PM ET

    WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Herpes, the sexually transmitted disease that causes genital lesions, never truly goes into a dormant state, new research suggests.

Medications/Drugs News

  • Los Angeles gets tough on medical marijuana shops Reuters - Fri Nov 20, 9:29 PM ET

    LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Past the security man and his pit bull and through a haze of eye-watering smoke, two youths load up a pipe next to a row of shiny glass jars with two dozen varieties of marijuana bud displayed like candy.

  • Correction: Plavix story AP - Fri Nov 20, 10:32 AM ET

    WASHINGTON - In a Nov. 17 story about drug interactions between heartburn medications and the blood thinner Plavix, The Associated Press misidentified Johnson & Johnson's Mylanta as part of the H-2 blocker drug family. Mylanta is an antacid.

  • Asthma Combo Seems Less Influenced by Genes HealthDay - Thu Nov 19, 7:25 PM ET

    THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- People's genetic makeup has been shown to affect how they respond to asthma medications, but a new study finds that many people respond well to a particular combination treatment regardless of their genes.

Parenting/Kids News

  • This undated illustration shows the DNA double helix. Beaten or sexually abused children are more likely to show accelerated ageing of cells later in life, a condition linked to higher rates of cancer and heart disease, according to a study released Friday.(AFP/HO/File)
    Child abuse may shorten cell lifeline: study AFP - Fri Nov 20, 2:31 PM ET

    PARIS (AFP) - Beaten or sexually abused children are more likely to show accelerated ageing of cells later in life, a condition linked to higher rates of cancer and heart disease, according to a study released Friday.

  • Cost of child vaccines fall, more kids saved AP - Fri Nov 20, 10:23 AM ET

    HANOI, Vietnam - Babies squirmed and wailed as needles plunged into their chubby thighs at a public health clinic on the outskirts of Hanoi on Friday. Like little ones everywhere, the reaction to the sting was never pretty.

  • U.S. Gets a D on Preterm Birth Rates, Says March of Dimes Time.com - Fri Nov 20, 1:05 AM ET

    Among the many reasons for the high preterm birth rate in the U.S.: lack of insurance, cigarette smoking and elective cesarean-section deliveries that are scheduled too early

Seniors/Aging News

  • Diet, Cognitive Ability May Play Role in Heart Disease HealthDay - Thu Nov 19, 7:25 PM ET

    THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Seniors who eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and who have good cognitive function are much less likely to die from heart disease than those who have poorer cognitive function and eat fewer fruits and vegetables, a new study has found.

  • U.S. House votes to boost Medicare pay to doctors Reuters - Thu Nov 19, 5:28 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to boost Medicare payments to physicians in a move that could help shore up support from doctors for a sweeping Democratic-backed healthcare overhaul.

  • Niacin Adds No Benefit for Statin Patients: Study HealthDay - Wed Nov 18, 11:48 PM ET

    WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Taking the B vitamin niacin offers no additional benefit to seniors with coronary artery disease who are already prescribed cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, U.S. researchers say.

Diseases/Conditions

  • Funeral workers risk cancer from formaldehyde Reuters - Fri Nov 20, 4:58 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Morticians who use formaldehyde to embalm bodies have a higher risk of leukemia, researchers reported on Friday.

  • Guidelines for cancer screening differ by group AP - Fri Nov 20, 4:24 PM ET

    Several doctors groups and advocacy groups set guidelines for cancer screening, and they update that advice periodically as new information emerges. Sometimes they agree, sometimes they don't. Last year, a number of groups got together and issued consensus guidelines for colon cancer.

  • An Afghan man walks in a poppy field in a village outside Balkh province, about 500 km (310 miles) north of Kabul May 6, 2006. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood
    The depressed are more apt to get opioids for pain Reuters - Wed Nov 18, 1:22 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who suffer from depression are much more likely to be prescribed powerful opioid painkillers like morphine and codeine and to stay on the drugs long-term, new research shows.

Most Popular Health News

  • This Sept. 29, 2009 photo shows U.S. Marine Pfc. Jesse Sheets, of Newark, Del., sitting in an eye blink study room with sensors attached to his face while taking psychological tests at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif. The U.S. government is testing hundreds of Marines and soldiers before they ship out, in search of clues that might help predict who is most susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
    Military experiment seeks to predict PTSD AP - Fri Nov 20, 2:50 PM ET

    TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - Two days before shipping off to war, Marine Pfc. Jesse Sheets sat inside a trailer in the Mojave Desert, his gaze fixed on a computer that flashed a rhythmic pulse of contrasting images.

  • Allene Diaz (L), 11, and her mother, Christina, wait in line for the H1N1 vaccine in Haltom City, Texas October 30, 2009. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
    Tamiflu-resistant swine flu cluster reported in NC AP - Fri Nov 20, 5:18 PM ET

    ATLANTA - Four North Carolina patients at a single hospital tested positive for a type of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, health officials said Friday.

  • New guidelines push back age for Pap smears Reuters - Fri Nov 20, 8:46 AM ET

    CHICAGO (Reuters) - Women in the United States should start cervical cancer screening at age 21 and most do not need an annual Pap smear, according to new guidelines issued on Friday that aim to reduce the risk of unnecessary treatment.