Latest science news in Health & Medicine
Speedier Precise Cancer Radiotherapy Now Available
RapidArc is the next-generation of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) offering radiation delivery up to eight times faster than conventional IMRT. The first US patient to be given the new therapy...
Death toll in China disease outbreak hits 34: state media
The number of Chinese children confirmed dead from hand, foot and mouth disease has risen to 34 with nearly 25,000 people infected but the outbreak's spread may be slowing, state...
Patients With Chronic Illness Benefit From Telehealth Intervention
Telehealth, using telecommunication technology to deliver health care, is increasingly being used to improve the delivery and availability of health care services to patients. Patients who received a telehealth intervention...
Too Much Or Too Little Weight Gain Poses Risks To Pregnant Mothers, Babies
Women who gain more or less than recommended amounts of weight during pregnancy are likely to increase the risk of problems for both themselves and their child, according to a...
Ultrasound before CT in appendicitis diagnosis: Study
Medical personnel should use ultrasound rather than CT scans in patients with suspected acute appendicitis, a new study suggests.
Canadian teen makes sticky molecule in bid to diagnose, prevent flu
A Canadian high school student has won a national science competition for her new molecule that binds to flu viruses, which may eventually be used to diagnose or prevent flu...
Caution urged for kids' anti-obesity drugs
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 8 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists are urging caution in giving children anti-obesity drugs, saying the medications might interfere with neural development.
Chantix recommended to quit smoking despite safety concerns
(AP) -- The federal government's new advice to doctors for helping smokers quit recommends the drug Chantix, which has recently been linked with depression and suicidal behavior. The new...
Mothers' High Normal Blood Sugar Levels Place Infants At Risk For Birth Problems
Pregnant women with blood sugar levels in the higher range of normal -- but not high enough to be considered diabetes -- are more likely than women with lower blood...
Lack Of Motivation In Schizophrenia Linked To Brain Chemical Imbalance
A study of patients with psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia suggests an alternative explanation for why many sufferers lack motivation. In addition to the hallucinations that often characterize schizophrenia, patients...
Gene Location That Gives Rise To Neuroblastoma, An Aggressive Childhood Cancer, Identified
Using advanced gene-hunting technology, researchers have identified a chromosome region that is the source of genetic events that give rise to neuroblastoma, an often fatal childhood cancer. The investigators found...
For Physician Assistant, Empathy Goes Two Ways
John C. Welton, 60, who atrophied from the chest down after contracting polio as a boy, sees to dying patients at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
Even the Insured Feel Strain of Health Costs
For millions of people with employer health insurance, premiums and co-payments have increased quickly while coverage has become less extensive.
For the Elderly, Being Heard About Life’s End
“Slow medicine,” which encourages less aggressive care at the end of life, is increasingly available in nursing homes.
Quick Benefit to Smoking Halt, With a Caveat, Study Finds
A study showed major health benefits within five years for women who stop smoking, but also that it takes decades to correct respiratory damage and shed the added risk of...
State Watch for 2 Percent of Doctors
More than 2 percent of all doctors practicing in New York last year landed on the state medical board’s watch list because of problems including substance abuse or their professional...
VIDEO: Bionic Eye Unveiled
Doctors in Australia believe the bionic eye they've created is safer than similar devices developed in other countries.
Meningitis vaccine boosts immune response
HONOLULU, May 8 (UPI) -- Swiss-based Novartis says clinical trials show its new Menveo vaccine is effective in preventing four types of meningitis.
Obituary: Harvey Picker
Obituary: Key player in hospital equipment and healthcare advances
C. difficile linked to dozens of deaths at Ontario hospital
Hospitals in Ontario will be ordered to report any outbreaks of C. difficile after a Burlington hospital reported that dozens of people died following an outbreak of the bacteria.
Undergrad has sweet success with invention of artificial Golgi
An undergraduate student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has learned very quickly that a spoonful of sugar really does help the medicine go down. In fact, with his invention, the sugar...
For the record
Pregnancy and diabetes: A May 5 Health article on diabetes and pregnancy referred to the American Dietetic Assn.'s recommendation that doctors counsel diabetic women before pregnancy. The reference should...
Project seeks to raise diabetes awareness
PRINCETON, N.J., May 7 (UPI) -- A coalition of U.S. advocacy and business organizations has announced a project to increase awareness of diabetes risk factors.
Opinion: The case of the vanishing GP
Our GPs are vanishing from inner cities and rural areas, placing an undue burden on hospital emergency departments, argues Barbara Reynolds-Hutchinson.
Calgary health centre receives $250,000 donation
Calgarians Jeanne Keith-Ferris and Don Ferris have donated $250,000 to the Centre for Digestive Motility, the health centre announced Tuesday.
Medical schools swap pigs for plastic
Doctors used to try out their surgical skills on animals before being allowed to work on patients. Now just a handful of US medical schools still have animal labs. Meredith...
Ignoring hypertensive disease a travesty
Hypertensive disease kills large numbers in developing countries, but efforts to tackle it are lacking, say Stephen MacMahon and colleagues.
Updates to the Science Shelf, Spring 2008 edition
I won't have time to post the latest newsletter for the Science Shelf Book Review Archive or mail it to subscribers for a few days, but here's a link. Read on...