First of its kind study finds safety concerns in frequently distributed free drug samples.
Free prescription drug samples distributed to children may be unsafe, according to a study by physicians from Cambridge Health Alliance and Hasbro Children's Hospital. The national study, the first to look at free drug sample use among children, appears in the October 2008 issue of Pediatrics.
What do sinusitis, most sore throats, bronchitis, runny noses and the regular cold have in common? They are upper respiratory tract infections usually caused by viruses that can′t be cured with antibiotics. Yet, each year, health care providers in the U.S. prescribe tens of millions of antibiotics for viral infections.
The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is advising people not to use any food, drugs, medical devices or cosmetics that have been discarded by stores or pharmacies because of they may have been contaminated or damaged during Hurricane Ike.
DSHS has received reports of some stores throwing away food, drugs, medical devices or cosmetics damaged during the storm. These products may have been exposed to extreme heat, flood water, humidity, or physical damage and could cause illness or injury if eaten or used.
The North Dakota Moving More, Eating Smarter Community Coalitions are celebrating Fruits & Veggies – More Matters Month this September by encouraging all North Dakotans to enjoy the bountiful fall vegetable and fruit harvest in our state.
The Moving More, Eating Smarter Communities Program, formerly known as the 5 + 5 Communities Program, celebrates 10 years in 2008. Goals of the Moving More, Eating Smarter Communities Program are to encourage North Dakotans to move more on most days of the week and to make smart choices from every food group.
China Says New Milk 'Melamine-Free' Amid New Recalls
State-run news media quote officials as saying that tests showed no trace of chemical melamine in samples of liquid milk recently produced by 65 major brands Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:55:00 +0200
India Bans Smoking in Many Public Places
Government effort to stub out vice, which kills estimated one million people every year, goes into effect Thursday Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:30:16 +0200
The Nobel Prize 2008 in Medicine has been awarded to Harald zur Hausen for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer and to two other European researchers Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus.
The Nobel Prize committee has announced the names of the winners of 2008 in Medicine on Monday. Thus Medicine award kicks off Nobel Prize announcements.
This year's Nobel Prize awards discoveries of two viruses causing severe human diseases.
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission yesterday reviewed draft recommendations to Congress requiring public disclosure of financial relationships between physicians and drug and device manufacturers, and physician ownership interests in hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and other entities that bill the Medicare program.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that, beginning October 1, 2008, Medicare will publish most of the edits utilized in its Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE) program to improve the accuracy of claims payments.
“It is always our aim to ensure that CMS pays for appropriate services, at the same time protecting the Medicare Trust funds and the American taxpayer,” said CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems. “This program is going to help us dramatically reduce costly payment errors.”
The cozy relationship between academic research and the pharmaceutical industry was revealed as a prominent Emory University psychiatrist failed to report $2.8 million he received in consulting fees from GlaxoSmithKline. The allegations against Charles B. Nemeroff, MD, were announced in the probe headed by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who is promoting a bill called the “Physician Payment Sunshine Act” that would require pharmaceutical companies and medical devise manufacturers to report payments over $500 that they make to physicians.
A new study shows that the DNA of so-called “good bacteria” that normally live in the intestines may help defend the body against infection.
The findings, available Oct. 2 online in the journal Immunity, are reported by Yasmine Belkaid, Ph.D., and her colleagues in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Health Tip: Sex During Pregnancy
Title: Health Tip: Sex During Pregnancy Category: Health News Created: 10/3/2008 2:00:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2008 Fri, 3 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT
Health Tip: Considering Alternative Medicine?
Title: Health Tip: Considering Alternative Medicine? Category: Health News Created: 10/3/2008 2:00:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2008 Fri, 3 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT
Kids Who Wheeze With Rhinovirus at Higher Asthma Risk
Title: Kids Who Wheeze With Rhinovirus at Higher Asthma Risk Category: Health News Created: 10/3/2008 2:00:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2008 Fri, 3 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT
Health Highlights: Oct. 2, 2008
Title: Health Highlights: Oct. 2, 2008 Category: Health News Created: 10/3/2008 2:00:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2008 Fri, 3 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT
National Scorecard Ranks Palliative Care Across Country
Title: National Scorecard Ranks Palliative Care Across Country Category: Health News Created: 10/3/2008 2:00:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 10/3/2008 Fri, 3 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT
Healthy novels promote healthy weight loss in children
For preteen overweight girls, “pediatrically correct” literature may help normalize BMI.
DukeHealth.org - It’s no secret that reading is beneficial. But can it help kids lose weight? In the first study to look at the impact of literature on obese adolescents, researchers at Duke Children’s Hospital discovered that reading the right type of novel may make [...] Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:04:13 +0000
Overeating behaviors at Chinese food buffets
When dining at Chinese Buffets, overweight Americans serve themselves and eat differently than normal weight individuals. This may lead them to overeat, according to a recent study by Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab, and make it harder to lose weight. Compared to normal weight diners, overweight individuals sat 16 feet closer to the buffet, [...] Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:01:41 +0000
Core exercises for functional strength, injury prevention
Harvard.edu - Many of us would like to firm up our waistlines, a goal that seems more frustrating and elusive the older we get. Working on strengthening a variety of trunk muscles, collectively known as “the core,” can help tone up abdominal muscles and much more, according to the October 2008 issue of Harvard Women’s [...] Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:40:54 +0000
Overeating may increase inflammatory NF-kB in brain to increase appetite, obesity
WISC.edu - For the first time researchers have found a messaging system in the brain - NF-κB, or nuclear factor-kappa B - that directly affects food intake and body weight.
Reported in the October 3, 2008 issue of Cell, the findings (from a study in mice) point to a completely new approach to treating and preventing [...] Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:37:45 +0000
Pancreatic cancer cells killed with nanotech gene therapy
Jefferson.edu - A research team, led by investigators at the Department of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, has achieved a substantial “kill” of pancreatic cancer cells by using nanoparticles to successfully deliver a deadly diphtheria toxin gene. The findings – set to be published [...] Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:06:37 +0000
MALT lymphoma: A low grade type of malignancy that arises in cells in mucosal tissue which are involved in antibody production. These lymphomas occur most often in the stomach but can also arise in the lung, thyroid, salivary glands, eye, skin or soft tissues. MALT stands for mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue.
MALT lymphomas are typically slow growing and are usually diagnosed at an early stage. They may be treated with low doses of radiotherapy or removed by surgery. If they have spread, they are treated with chemotherapy. The outlook is good, even when the disease is quite widespread.
MedTerms (TM) is the Medical Dictionary of MedicineNet.com. We Bring Doctors' Knowledge To You Mon, 6 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT
Nobel prize for viral discoveries
The discovery of HIV and work linking a virus to cervical cancer jointly win the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:57:48 GMT
Pollution linked to appendicitis
Air pollution may increase risk of developing the life-threatening condition appendicitis, research suggests. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:31:18 GMT
Single jab cancer therapy backed
A major study has proved a single dose of chemotherapy is the best way to cure testicular cancer in many patients. Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:00:53 GMT
Contraception myths revealed
Women miss out on the best contraception for them because of false beliefs and fears, a snapshot survey finds. Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:58:50 GMT
Hospital cleaning chemical fears
Hospitals have been warned not to over-dilute cleaning chemicals amid fears that this could boost antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:01:07 GMT
Avian flu isn’t in the news as much lately, but it remains a focus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. David D. Ho, scientific director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, and Rockefeller’s Irene Diamond Professor, along with his colleagues at Taiwan’s Academia Sinica, has developed a DNA based vaccine that shows promise for halting most variations of H5N1 flu. The scientists, rather than using dead virus, have built a vaccine that stimulates immunity against Avian flu in mice.
Study has found that free prescription drug samples pose health risk to children because they are not yet properly checked for safety.
A joint team of researchers from Cambridge Health Alliance and Hasbro Children's Hospital analysed data gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data comes from a survey conducted in 2004 questioning children under 18 about where they get their healthcare from. The children were also asked if they have received free drug samples.
Despite efforts to include more healthy choices at schools, standard offerings from vending machines - including fruit juices - are giving students more calories than they need and possibly contribute to child obesity.
Recent figures from the HEALTHY Study, a nationwide effort led by Temple University to curb obesity and type 2 diabetes in middle school students, found vending machines beverages had added sugars, high calorie 100 percent fruit juices, and snacks over 200 hundred calories.
The data will be presented at The Obesity Society's annual meeting in early October.
Some bacteria may help protect against the development of a type of esophageal cancer, known as adenocarcinoma, according to a new review of the medical literature. These bacteria, which are called Helicobacter pylori, live in the stomachs of humans.
A new analysis finds considerable disparities in survival related to race and socio-economic status among patients with head and neck cancer. Published in the November 15, 2008 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that earlier diagnosis and greater access to treatment could improve outcomes for these cancers among African Americans and the poor.
Mystery illness kills four in South Africa: official
Four people, two of them Zambians, have died in Johannesburg of a mystery flu-like illness, the health department spokesman said Monday. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:20:37 +0200
Study tackles labeling errors
With a long-held commitment to continuously improving the quality and safety of patient care, Mayo Clinic researchers are recommending a new technologically-advanced labeling system aimed at reducing specimen labeling errors in a high-volume gastrointestinal endoscopy center. That conclusion is based on the results of a study they are presenting at the 2008 American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Annual Meeting. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:18:29 +0200
Metabolic syndrome ups colorectal cancer risk
In a large U.S. population-based study presented at the 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, metabolic syndrome patients had a 75 percent higher risk of colorectal cancer compared to those without metabolic syndrome. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:04:50 +0200
3 share Nobel prize for work on AIDS and cancer
(AP) -- Three European scientists shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for separate discoveries of viruses that cause AIDS and cervical cancer, breakthroughs that helped doctors fight the deadly diseases. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:03:04 +0200
A little exercise goes a long way for severely obese
A little exercise goes a long way toward helping severely obese individuals improve their quality of life and complete important daily tasks, according to researchers at the Duke Diet and Fitness Center. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:46:16 +0200
