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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: medicine

medicine stories: 145 news summaries

61 - 80 of 145 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next >>

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Mouthwash Could Spot Cancer

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

Jan 1, 08 7:00 AM CST
(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... More »

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cancer • medicine • smoking • cancer research

UK Doctor Cooks Up Migraine Cure

Blot-clot medicine relieves headaches
in small early test

Dec 27, 07 3:50 PM CST
(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... More »

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medicine • migraines • doctor • John Chambers • aspirin • headaches • clopidogrel

Hospitals Seduced by 'Nuclear Arms Race' vs. Cancer

But does prestigious strategy help patients?

Dec 26, 07 2:29 PM CST
(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... More »

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cancer • medicine • hospitals • particle accelerator • nuclear • cancer treatment

7 Common Medical Myths

Seven quack ideas doctors pass on to patients

Dec 23, 07 10:49 AM CST
(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
More »

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medicine • health • list • research • doctor

Isotope Shortage Delays Medical Tests

 Reactor closure causes shortages in US, Canada

Dec 8, 07 10:21 AM CST
(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... More »

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cancer • medicine • nuclear reactor • cancer research

Virtual Surgery Coming Soon?

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

Dec 8, 07 6:39 AM CST
(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.... More »

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medicine • surgery • CT scans • MRI • virtual imaging

When Life
Gives You Grapefruits...

Purify their compounds and make super-powerful drugs

Nov 27, 07 4:30 PM CST
(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... More »

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medicine • health • grapefruit

Take 2 and IM Him in the Morning

Brooklyn general practitioner does much of his business in cyberspace

Nov 18, 07 10:43 AM CST
(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,"... More »

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medicine • health care costs • Internet • health care industry • Dr. Jay Parkinson

New Blood Thinner Tops Plavix in Trials

But prasugrel also adds risk of bleeding to death

Nov 5, 07 9:00 AM CST
(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... More »

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medicine • FDA • drugs • heart disease • heart • heart attack • prasugrel • Plavix • blood thinner

Acupuncture Reduces Post-Op Pain: Studies

Patients needed less medication, had
fewer side effects

Oct 17, 07 10:38 AM CDT
(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... More »

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medicine • surgery • alternative treatment • painkiller • acupuncture

Drug-Proof Superbug
Turns Deadly

Antibiotic-resistant staph kills more Americans than AIDS

Oct 16, 07 11:26 PM CDT
(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... More »

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medicine • bacteria • staph infections • superbug • antibiotics • infection • epidemiology • drug resistant • MRSA

Kidney Swap Might Abate Organ Shortage

Incompatible donor-
recipient pairs find matches in strangers

Oct 15, 07 1:28 PM CDT
(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,... More »

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medicine • organ donor • kidney transplant • waiting list

Cancer Drugs Show Promise in Autoimmune Disorders

Meds prevent donor organ rejection in mice

Oct 8, 07 12:50 PM CDT
(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... More »

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cancer • medicine • diabetes • Crohn's disease • heart transplants • Islet cell transplantation

FDA Promises More Generics  

Commits to reviewing applications faster

Oct 5, 07 9:19 AM CDT
(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... More »

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medicine • FDA • generic drugs • prescription • Pharmacy

Antibiotic May Buy Time for Treating Stroke Victims

Patients who receive acne drug in first 23 hours show 'dramatic' improvement

Oct 2, 07 9:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - An antibiotic commonly used to treat acne has shown promise in helping stroke victims recover. Patients who got minocycline within a day of their stroke fared markedly better than those who did not, a discovery that could open the critical window for treating stroke victims from just 3 hours to... More »

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medicine • Parkinson's disease • antibiotics • Lou Gehrig's disease • stroke • minocycline • amyotrophic lateral sclerosis • ALS

Even Fake Acupuncture Best for
Back Pain

Chronic sufferers find relief in treatment

Sep 25, 07 3:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - Acupuncture has a far better success rate than other treatments for patients with chronic lower back pain,  and fake acupuncture is nearly as effective as the real thing, a new study has found. Normal medical treatment produced significant improvement in 24% of people, while 47% of acupuncture patients felt... More »

MORE ABOUT:
medicine • chronic pain • medical treatment • painkiller • acupuncture • medical study

Printer Company Develops Drug-Injection Patch

'Squirting drugs' like 'squirting ink,' says exec

Sep 12, 07 1:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Printer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard is teaming up with an Irish company to develop a skin patch that delivers precisely controlled amounts of drugs with tiny needles. The drug delivery system uses some of the same technology as ink printers, and could inject different drugs at different times. "Squirting ink and... More »

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medicine • drugs • ink • inject • Hewlett-Packard

Schizophrenia Drug Offers
New Hope

Works on different brain chemical than
its predecessors

Sep 3, 07 3:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - The first human trial of a new medication to treat schizophrenia that works fundamentally differently from its predecessors has shown promising results, according to this month's Nature Medicine. The drug targets glutamate rather than dopamine, as do other drugs. Scientists have long known glutamate is involved in schizophrenia. More »

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medicine • schizophrenia • pharmaceutical companies • antipsychotic drugs • dopamine • Eli Lilly • glutamate

Heart Meds May Work Against Alzheimer's

Anti-cholesterol drugs appear to combat
brain disease

Aug 28, 07 7:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - The best medicine for Alzheimer's disease may be a heart drug, researchers say, and the discovery may shed light on the way the devastating disorder acts on the brain. Subjects taking popular statin-based cholesterol meds developed fewer protein deposits in their brains, reports Time, possibly confirming suspicions that Alzheimer’s... More »

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medicine • health • heart disease • brain • statins • neurology • Alzheimer's Disease

Americans Double Use
of Pain Meds

Led by Oxycodone, sales of painkillers soared 90% in 8 years

Aug 20, 07 9:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - Retail sales of five major painkillers rose a whopping 90% from 1997 to 2005, a new AP analysis of DEA statistics shows. The increase is driven by Oxycodone, the chemical used in OxyContin, which has seen sales increase nearly 600%. Causes include an aging population, huge new drug marketing campaigns,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
medicine • OxyContin • patient • Americans • painkiller • Oxycodone

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