Health Topics

• Fewer Patients Awake During Operations

  

  Posted 1:59 PM 3/14/2013

  March 14, 2013 -- Being aware of what's going on during an operation under general anesthesia sounds scary. The good news is a new study suggests it happens less often than had been thought.

  Previous research has found that about 1 in 500 patients is aware or awake under general anaesthesia. The new report, from the U.K.'s Royal College of Anaesthetists, finds it is far less common, about 1 case in 15,000.

  Researchers also found that even where (More)
  • Comments (0)

• Are Those Who Multitask Most the Worst at It?

  

  Posted 5:35 PM 1/24/2013

  Jan. 24, 2013 -- Next time you see a driver talking on the cell phone and looking confident, you might want to change lanes.

  People who often talk on cell phones while driving may think they are experts at such multitasking, but they are typically not, says researcher David Strayer, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Utah.

  In this case, Strayer and his colleagues found practice does not make perfect, or even close to it.

  "The (More)
  • Comments (0)

• Americans Sicker Compared to Other Wealthy Nations

  

  Posted 9:00 PM 1/9/2013

  Jan. 9, 2013 -- Americans die younger and have higher rates of many types of diseases and injuries than people in other high-income countries, a new report shows.

  "The health of Americans is far worse than the health of people in other countries despite the fact that we spend more money on health care," says report author Steven H. Woolf, MD, MPH, during a news conference. He is a professor of family medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. (More)
  • Comments (0)

• Q & A: Riding Out the Storm Safely

  

  Posted 1:25 AM 10/30/2012

  Oct. 30, 2012 -- Late Monday, Sandy officially lost her hurricane title, but was still wreaking havoc along the eastern seaboard.

  Hundreds of thousands are without power, and may be for some time to come. Others have evacuated, or will, escaping the torrential rains and winds that have gusted up to 90 miles per hour.

  Here is what those riding out the storm need to know and do to keep themselves and family members safe.

  Q: Once the power is (More)
  • Comments (0)

• Many Cleaning Products Said to Contain Toxins

  

  Posted 2:29 PM 9/10/2012

  Sept. 10, 2012 -- Household cleaning products may contain toxic substances linked to health problems such as asthma, allergic reactions, and cancer, according to a new report by the Environmental Working Group.

  The environmental group rated more than 2,000 household cleaners -- from laundry soaps (More)
  • Comments (0)

• Plague FAQ

  

  Posted 5:17 PM 9/6/2012

  Sept. 6, 2012 -- Each year, a very small number of Americans get plague, the disease that killed millions in the Middle Ages.

  Your odds of getting plague are vanishingly small. But it does happen. That's because plague bacteria have found a permanent home among rodents.

  Are there different kinds of plague?

  Plague is a disease caused by Yersinia (More)
  • Comments (0)

• Gene Mapping for Healthy People No 'Crystal Ball'

  

  Posted 8:52 PM 4/2/2012

  April 2, 2012 (Chicago) -- Mapping a person's whole genome cannot, for the most part, accurately predict the medical problems in a healthy person's future, a new study suggests.

  As the price of full-genome mapping comes down, many healthy people are wondering if it's worth their while to see if they can find any future health problems tucked away in their DNA. According to this study, they may want to save their money.

  This doesn't mean gene mapping (More)
  • Comments (0)

• CDC: Teens Don't Eat Enough Fruits and Veggies

  

  Posted 5:21 PM 11/23/2011

  Nov. 23, 2011 -- Many American teenagers may be eating fewer fruits and vegetables each day than nationwide guidelines recommend for this age group, a CDC report suggests.

  In 2010, about one in four high school students ate fruit less than once a day, and one in three didn't eat vegetables more than once a day.

  Although (More)
  • Comments (0)

• Intentional Poisonings in Clubs, Bars May Be on the Rise

  

  Posted 3:01 AM 11/10/2011

  Nov. 10, 2011 -- There are plenty of lurid tales of people being drugged to be robbed or taken advantage of sexually. Sadly, they're not just stories -- and they may be becoming more common.

  There were 14,270 emergency room visits for intentional drug poisoning in the U.S. during 2009, according to new data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

  Of these emergency room visits, 73% were made by people aged 21 and (More)
  • Comments (0)

• Study: U.S. Pays More, but Health Care Is Worse

  

  Posted 3:02 AM 11/9/2011

  Nov. 9, 2011 -- We not only pay a lot more for health care in the U.S. than in other countries, but a new study suggests the care we get is often slower and more poorly coordinated.

  That's because other industrialized countries do a better job of giving patients easy access to primary care and to "medical homes" responsible for guiding care and complex treatment, according to a study published today by the Commonwealth Fund.

  A medical home is a (More)
  • Comments (0)