medicine

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When to Dump Your Doc
 When to Dump Your Doc 
Mar 19, 2008 6:30 PM CDT

When to Dump Your Doc

If you leave feeling worse than you did when you arrived, find a new physician

(Newser) - Is it time to break up with your doctor? View your next physical the same way you would a date, then decide. Forbes outlines 10 red flags that might indicate "It's over."
  1. Your personalities just plain clash.
  2. Your doctor doesn't give you enough information about your health and
...

New Aspirin Spares Users Stomachaches

Italian scientists alter key molecule in painkiller

(Newser) - Aspirin is one of the world’s top painkillers, but it has a nasty way of attacking the stomach lining. That could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to a team of Italian researchers who have molecularly altered the drug. The new aspirin “has no side effects,...

Heparin Supply Chain Shaky in China
Heparin
Supply Chain Shaky in China
Feb 28, 2008 2:07 PM CST

Heparin Supply Chain Shaky in China

Troubles could trace back to vulnerable raw materials

(Newser) - With at least four US patients dead and hundreds suffering complications from the blood-thinning drug heparin, the New York Times follows the supply chain back to Chinese slaughterhouses that deal with the pig intestines that provide raw material for the drug. Though companies say the chain is secure, the Times...

Hormone Therapy Skews Diagnosis
Hormone Therapy Skews Diagnosis
Feb 26, 2008 11:55 AM CST

Hormone Therapy Skews Diagnosis

Drugs increase false mammogram results, unnecessary biopsies

(Newser) - Women who use hormone replacement therapy to combat menopause symptoms are more likely to get false mammogram results and have unneeded biopsies, new research shows. The UCLA analysis of an earlier study of more than 16,000 women found that 35% of those on hormones received skewed test results, as...

Docs Shelve Diabetes Study After Deaths

Findings contradict long-held doctrine of lowering blood sugar

(Newser) - Researchers have abruptly tabled a major study measuring the effects of lowering diabetics' blood sugar after a surprising number of deaths among participants. The results come as a shock to the medical community, which has long held that lowering blood sugar through diet and medication is the only way for...

Sex Drug for Women Being Tested
Sex Drug
for Women Being Tested
Jan 2, 2008 7:09 PM CST

Sex Drug for Women Being Tested

Viagra-like treatment aims to boost female libido, drive

(Newser) - The University of Virginia is set to become the latest institution to test a drug designed to boost the sex drive of women, the AP reports. LibiGel is a testosterone-laden ointment the patient rubs into her skin to increase energy and libido. Decreased sex drive is believed to affect one-third...

Mouthwash Could Spot Cancer
Mouthwash Could Spot Cancer
Jan 1, 2008 7:00 AM CST

Mouthwash Could Spot Cancer

'Swish-and-spit' test to spot head and neck cancers

(Newser) - Scientists are working on a mouth rinse that could save lives by detecting head and neck cancers early, Reuters reports. A cheap and easy "swish-and-spit" saliva test could turn up cells containing the altered genes associated with these cancers. Head and neck cancers can often be cured, but early...

UK Doctor Cooks Up Migraine Cure
UK Doctor Cooks Up Migraine Cure
Dec 27, 2007 3:50 PM CST

UK Doctor Cooks Up Migraine Cure

Blot-clot medicine relieves headaches in small early test

(Newser) - A British doctor's hunch about migraines shows early promise in bringing an end to the misery of the painful headaches, the Independent reports. Five patients were treated with a drug used for blood clots, which worked "spectacularly well," says cardiologist John Chambers. Now he's studying group of 280...

Hospitals Seduced by 'Nuclear Arms Race' vs. Cancer

But does prestigious strategy help patients?

(Newser) - More and more hospitals are using nuclear proton accelerators in the fight against cancer, with mixed results, reports the New York Times. Some experts say the massive devices, formerly only found in physics labs, are a vital next-generation tool. Others doubt their effectiveness and worry that hospitals are getting caught...

7 Common Medical Myths
7 Common Medical Myths
Dec 23, 2007 10:49 AM CST

7 Common Medical Myths

Seven quack ideas doctors pass on to patients

(Newser) - Some medical misconceptions are so widespread that even doctors believe them. LiveScience rounds up the seven biggest myths, according to the British Medical Journal:
  1. We only use 10% of our brains
  2. You should drink at least eight glasses of water a day
  3. Fingernails and hair grow after death

Isotope Shortage Delays Medical Tests

Reactor closure causes shortages in US, Canada

(Newser) - Shortages of a radioactive substance are endangering thousands of medical tests in hospitals across the US and Canada, the AP reports. The development is the result of a longer-than-anticipated shutdown of a nuclear reactor in Canada, the main supplier in North America. Technetium-99 is injected into patients to check for...

Virtual Surgery Coming Soon?
Virtual Surgery Coming Soon?
Dec 8, 2007 6:39 AM CST

Virtual Surgery Coming Soon?

3D models of patients' bodies would let surgeons practice first

(Newser) - Within five years, surgeons may be able to create 3D virtual models of patients' bodies in order to practice surgeries ahead of time. While current virtual surgery lags far behind the realism of, say, combat video games, a UCLA assistant math professor believes this could change soon, reports Scientific American....

When Life Gives You Grapefruits...
When Life
Gives You Grapefruits...
Nov 27, 2007 4:30 PM CST

When Life Gives You Grapefruits...

Purify their compounds and make super-powerful drugs

(Newser) - Doctors have known for years that grapefruit juice can boost the effects of some drugs to toxic levels, but they're now purifying the compounds responsible to make weak medicines stronger. Florida researchers have used the extracts to pump up an anti-HIV drug, reports the Wall Street Journal. "This is...

Take 2 and IM Him in the Morning
Take 2 and IM Him in the Morning
Nov 18, 2007 10:43 AM CST

Take 2 and IM Him in the Morning

Brooklyn general practitioner does much of his business in cyberspace

(Newser) - Eschewing traditional practice, a Brooklyn doctor is using the Internet to generate and conduct much of his business, Yahoo News reports. For $500, patients get three yearly examinations from Jay Parkinson, and can email or text him during the business day. "I'm not so much an online doctor,"...

New Blood Thinner Tops Plavix in Trials

But prasugrel also adds risk of bleeding to death

(Newser) - An experimental new blood-thinner looks like real competition for top-selling anti-clotting drug Plavix, after proving more effective at preventing heart attacks, strokes, and heart-related death in a recent trial, the AP reports. But “there is a price to pay” for increased effectiveness, wrote one doctor—the new drug caused...

Acupuncture Reduces Post-Op Pain: Studies

Patients needed less medication, had fewer side effects

(Newser) - Acupuncture before or during surgery can reduce post-operative pain, researchers have found. Patients who received the nontraditional treatment reported less pain after various surgeries, needed less pain medication and suffered fewer side effects from the medication they took, according to 15 clinical studies reviewed by the team. "The use...

Drug-Proof Superbug Turns Deadly
Drug-Proof Superbug
Turns Deadly
Oct 16, 2007 11:26 PM CDT

Drug-Proof Superbug Turns Deadly

Antibiotic-resistant staph kills more Americans than AIDS

(Newser) - An antibiotic-resistant strain of staph kills more Americans each year than HIV, accounting for almost 19,000 deaths annually, the first national stats on the superbug reveal. The super-staph is treatable but can quickly lead to dangerous "flesh-eating" infections. "We really need to be on guard against these...

Kidney Swap Might Abate Organ Shortage

Incompatible donor- recipient pairs find matches in strangers

(Newser) - One woman desperately needs a kidney transplant; her husband wants to donate but is incompatible. Across the country, the same scenario. But the healthy spouses match the unhealthy spouse in the other couple and make a reciprocated donation to a stranger. About 230 such swaps have taken place since 2000,...

Cancer Drugs Show Promise in Autoimmune Disorders

Meds prevent donor organ rejection in mice

(Newser) - A new kind of cancer drug may be useful in treating autoimmune disorders and preventing transplant patients' bodies from rejecting donor tissue, new research reveals. The drugs seem to promote T-cells, which help regulate the body's immune system, Reuters reports. In mice, the drugs reversed inflammatory bowel syndrome and stopped...

FDA Promises More Generics
FDA Promises More Generics  
Oct 5, 2007 9:19 AM CDT

FDA Promises More Generics

Commits to reviewing applications faster

(Newser) - The FDA approved about a third more generic drugs in fiscal 2007 than the year prior, and pledged yesterday to speed its review process to accommodate yet more. Sales of generics, which average about one-third the cost of their brand-name counterparts, are up 22%—and one advocacy group says the...

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