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WEDNESDAY, Dec. 3, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Members of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel asked the agency on Tuesday to think carefully before repealing a 31-year ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. Their cautious advice doesn't mesh with the positions of gay rights advocates, medical experts and blood banks, which are all pushing for a removal of the ban. The panel members...
December 3, 2014
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 3, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Longer surgery times may increase a patient's risk of dangerous blood clots, a new study suggests. Blood clots are associated with more than 500,000 hospitalizations and 100,000 deaths a year, according to background information in the study. Researchers analyzed data from more than 1.4 million people who had surgery under general anesthesia at 315 U.S. hospitals...
December 3, 2014
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 3, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Blincyto (blinatumomab) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat Philadelphia chromosome-negative precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a rare cancer of the bone marrow. The cancer occurs when the bone marrow makes too many B-cell lymphoblasts, a type of white blood cell. Some 6,000 Americans are projected to contract acute...
December 3, 2014
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 3, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Researchers say they've honed in on the possible genetic cause of a rare condition called gigantism that causes excessive growth in children. "Gigantism is a disease in childhood that characterized by excessive growth, resulting from an excess of growth hormone production" by the pituitary gland, explained Dr. Patricia Vuguin, a pediatric endocrinologist at...
December 3, 2014
Part two of a two-part series - TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - A nationwide trial of an experimental vaccine using school children as virtual guinea pigs would be unthinkable in the United States today. But that's exactly what happened in 1954 when frantic American parents - looking for anything that could beat back the horror of polio - offered up more than 1.8 million children to serve...
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - The Salk polio vaccine trial of 1954 proved a momentous event whose impact is still felt today. On a broad scale, the trial first fundamentally altered the way Americans viewed charities, transforming them from an indulgence catered by a wealthy few into a common cause that could be joined by all. Most of the funding for the trial came from the March of Dimes,...
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - The epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse continues to take a deadly toll in the United States, with fatal overdoses involving drugs such as Oxycontin and Vicodin tripling over a decade, a new report shows. Deaths from another form of opiate, heroin, also nearly tripled between 1999 and 2012, according to the report released Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for...
December 2, 2014
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: - Preventable Hospital Patient Problems Decline: U.S. Report - Preventable problems such as infections, bed sores, and medication errors fell 17 percent at U.S. hospitals from 2010 to 2013, according to a federal government report. The report said the 1.3 million fewer problems during that time saved...
December 2, 2014
(HealthDay News) - When you're scheduled for a procedure at the doctor's office or hospital, make sure you play an active role in preserving your health. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons offers these suggestions for becoming a smarter patient: - Don't be afraid to ask questions or tell your doctor you need more information. Share with your doctor your complete medical history, including...
December 2, 2014
(HealthDay News) - A cast can help a broken bone heal properly, but it requires special care. The American Academy of Family Physicians offers these suggestions: - Prop the injured bone above your heart to reduce swelling. If the injury is to your arm, wiggle your fingers, and if it's to your foot, wiggle your toes. Let your doctor know if you have worsening pain or numbness, which may indicate the...
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Thirty-five hospitals across the United States have been designated as Ebola treatment centers, and more will be designated in the coming weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. These centers have the staff, equipment, training and resources to provide the complex treatment required to care for Ebola patients, while minimizing risk...
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Women diagnosed with breast cancer in their 40s commonly lack well-known risk factors for the disease, according to new research that could fuel debate about preventive screening for this age group. The study of 136 women diagnosed with breast cancer after a mammogram found few had dense breast tissue and a family history of the disease. Both traits are linked...
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Many people ignore potential warning signs of cancer, a new British survey found. The study involved 1,700 people aged 50 and older in the United Kingdom who completed a health questionnaire listing 17 symptoms, including 10 widely publicized possible cancer symptoms. The symptoms included unexplained cough, bleeding, or significant changes in bowel or bladder...
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - U.S. health officials are poised to endorse circumcision as a means of preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday released its first-ever draft guidelines on circumcision that recommend that doctors counsel parents and uncircumcised males on the health benefits of the procedure. The...
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - An experimental vaccine designed to stop breast cancer in its tracks appeared to be safe in a preliminary trial. Fourteen women with breast cancer that had spread were injected with a vaccine that targets a specific protein, known as mammaglobin-A, that is found in high amounts in breast tumors. Although the study was small, the findings suggest that the vaccine...
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Raise a glass of holiday cheer to this: New genetic research suggests that humans and their ape forebearers may have been relishing alcohol for 10 million years. As anyone who's had too much knows, alcohol - called ethanol by scientists - can be a toxic chemical. And humans' ability to tolerate drinking relies on one enzyme, called ADH4, the researchers explained....
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Using antacids to control acid reflux may improve head and neck cancer patients' chances of survival, a new study suggests. The researchers examined the effects that two types of antacids - proton pump inhibitors and histamine 2 blockers - had on head and neck cancer patients. More than two-thirds of the nearly 600 patients in the study took one or both types...
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Lifestyle changes and medicines are equally effective in preventing men and women with prediabetes from progressing to type 2 diabetes, a new analysis finds. Previous research has shown that lifestyle changes, such as a healthier diet and regular exercise, and use of medicines to lower blood sugar levels can delay or prevent the onset of full-blown diabetes...
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - England's King Richard III most likely had blue eyes and blond hair, at least when he was a child, according to genetic tests that also confirm it was his remains found beneath a parking lot in Leicester, England. Richard III - immortalized in the Shakespeare play that bears his name - was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 and was the last English...
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - People having a severe allergic reaction need immediate treatment with the medication epinephrine, newly released guidelines say. But, not all medical personnel are aware of the importance of epinephrine, according to the guideline authors. A severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) caused by food, latex or an insect sting can lead to throat swelling, breathing...
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Many men on hormone therapy for prostate cancer aren't getting bone-strengthening drugs they may need, new Canadian research contends. Hormone therapy, which suppresses male hormones called androgens, helps stop cancer cells from growing. But one consequence of the treatment is weakening of the bones, which can lead to fractures. To reduce this risk, men can...
December 2, 2014
TUESDAY, Dec. 2, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Nearly 40 percent of Americans over the age of 65 - about 16 million people - live with at least one disability, a new federal government report shows. The findings are cause for concern because more than 13 percent of Americans (almost 41 million people) are older than 65, according to the National Institute on Aging report. "With the first Baby Boomers having...
December 2, 2014
Part one of a two-part series - MONDAY, Dec. 1, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Most American parents today can't fathom the horror that summers brought during the first half of the 20th century. Summer meant polio season, and whole communities waited in dread for an outbreak to strike. Ordinary life all but ground to a halt in cities and towns where polio went on its rampage, crippling or killing scores of...
December 1, 2014
MONDAY, Dec. 1, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Paul Alexander's most impressive accomplishment is something most people never think about. He taught himself how to breathe. Alexander, 67, is a victim of the worst that polio had to offer children in the late 1940s and early 1950s. At the age of 6, he was completely paralyzed by the disease, his lungs stopped working, and he was literally thrown into an iron...
December 1, 2014
MONDAY, Dec. 1, 2014 (HealthDay News) - Although soft bedding has been linked to an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), more than half of American parents continue to use such bedding for their sleeping babies, according to a new study. Use of soft bedding among parents declined sharply from 1993 through 2000, but has mostly leveled off since the early 2000s, the study found. The...
December 1, 2014
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