Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

NEWS ABOUT: medicine

Stories 81 - 100 | << Prev   Next >>

Switch to grid view »

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... More »

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,"... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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... More »

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,... More »

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... More »

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... More »

Antibiotic May Buy Time for Treating Stroke Victims

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

(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 »

Even Fake Acupuncture Best for Back Pain

Chronic sufferers find relief in treatment

(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 »

Printer Company Develops Drug-Injection Patch

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

(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 »

Schizophrenia Drug Offers New Hope

Works on different brain chemical than its predecessors

(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 »

Heart Meds May Work Against Alzheimer's

Anti-cholesterol drugs appear to combat brain disease

(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 »

Americans Double Use of Pain Meds

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

(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 »

New Procedure Gives Hope to Diabetics

UK treatment ends insulin dependency for type 1 sufferers

(Newser) - Car crashes, comas, sudden stabbings, divorces – all are being indirectly diminished as Britain spearheads a new procedure to help sufferers of type 1 diabetes. Victims of the growing disorder are often subject to fits and blackouts as they scramble for insulin, but a new operation is offering hope: already... More »

10 Ways to Cut Medical Costs

Hospital and med bills don't have to cost an arm and a leg. Lower your blood pressure with these tips from MSNBC .

(Newser) - Avoid financial injury by following these ten tips from MSNBC:
  1. Shop for tests. Different labs may vary widely in costs.
  2. Negotiate. Hospitals may waive or reduce a co-pay fee if the patient can prove that it's a hardship.
  3. Question the necessity of follow-up appointments, X-rays or MRIs.
More »

Go Easy on Pregnancy Weight Gain, Say Docs

Review of current guidelines in the works

(Newser) - The current guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy may be contributing to the nation's obesity epidemic, some doctors say, and radical changes in the recommendations are under consideration. Docs say a revision is long overdue, the AP reports. "Most of us think overall the weight gain recommendations are too... More »

Generics Curb Rise in Drug Costs

Cheap alternatives to brand-name meds appear as patents expire

(Newser) - Scores of prescription drugs are getting cheaper, as name-brand patents expire and open the door to generic imitators. That's bad news for pharmaceutical companies, the Times reports, but it means that an aging population ever more reliant on drugs will be paying as much as 80 percent less for them. More »

Grocery Chain Offers Free Rx Meds

Publix pharmacies will dispense 7 antibiotics at no cost

(Newser) - Pharmacies in Publix supermarkets across five Southern states will distribute seven antibiotics free to patients with prescriptions, the chain said today. The CEO allows that one goal is to drive customer traffic, but it's also an example of the private sector assisting access to affordable health care, the AP reports.... More »

Maybe Your Ailments Are All in Your Web

'Cyberchondriacs' surf around to round out docs' advice

(Newser) - More and more people are turning to websites to complement doctor visits, Ars Technica reports. About three-quarters of adults seek out medical info online, a fraction that's held for nearly a decade even as the number of wired adults has soared. That translates to 160 million of what Harris Interactive... More »

Stories 81 - 100 | << Prev   Next >>
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne