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48% of people with diabetes are not using aspirin to reduce risk of heart attack and stroke

Survey results released by the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) found that nearly half (48%) of U.S. adults 40+ with diabetes are not utilizing aspirin therapy to reduce their risk of recurrent heart attack or stroke nor had they reported discussing such therapy with their healthcare provider.

26 Nov 2005

Obese and overweight refused joint operations

A regional health authority in the UK will refuse to treat overweight people needing hip and knee replacements on the National Health Service.

24 Nov 2005

Heart patients, do you tell your doctor you're using alternative medicines?

Doctors, do you ask your patients if they're using alternative medicines?

21 Nov 2005

Family doctor will pick up women's health post at FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has chosen a family doctor to lead its women's health office.

21 Nov 2005

Naturally occurring compounds and diabetes

Following a doctor's advice on how to keep diabetes in check is always the best course of action and researchers are constantly on the lookout for compounds that someday could help physicians better treat the disease.

20 Nov 2005

The Medicare Drug Benefit: A Prescription for Confusion

If many seniors are scratching their heads about the new Medicare prescription drug plan, so are the experts.

20 Nov 2005

Exercise and you'll live longer

According to a new report even moderate levels of physical exercise can prevent heart disease and prolong life, and the degree of benefit increases as the level of physical activity rises.

16 Nov 2005

Cannabis-based medicine given go-ahead to treat MS patients

Sufferers in the UK from multiple sclerosis and possibly rheumatoid arthritis, will welcome the news that they will soon be able to obtain an unlicensed, cannabis-based medicine on prescription to treat their illness.

16 Nov 2005

Fury over delay in Libyan Court ruling on children infected with AIDS

A delay by Libya's Supreme Court in reaching a decision on the appeal of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, condemned to death for infecting more than 400 Libyan children with the AIDS virus, has infuriated the children's parents who hurled stones and bottles at police outside the court.

16 Nov 2005

Genetic makeup helps dictate how physically and mentally healthy you feel

You can blame your parents for your hair that frizzes in high humidity and for your short stature. And now researchers at Saint Louis University School of Public Health say your genetic makeup partly dictates how physically and mentally healthy you feel.

15 Nov 2005

Women warned about contraceptive patch

The makers of a revolutionary contraceptive patch are warning women that they are at a greater risk of blood clots and other serious side-effects because of the higher doses of hormones the patch delivers.

15 Nov 2005

Doctors' surgeries open round the clock

In future patients in the UK will be able to see a GP in the evenings and at weekends.

14 Nov 2005

$230 billion in health care spending nationally is devoted to insurance administration

Billing and insurance paperwork consume at least one out of every five dollars of private insurance health spending in California, according to a new study by health policy researchers.

14 Nov 2005

Speed of PSA increase matters more than PSA level

In the largest study of its kind to date, Mayo Clinic researchers report that prostate specific antigen (PSA) kinetics, both velocity and doubling time, can be used to predict disease progression and likelihood of death after radical prostatectomy surgery, suggesting that this could be used to guide treatment decisions.

14 Nov 2005

Lifelong exercise decreases cellular aging in the brain

In the first study to show that lifelong exercise decreases cellular aging in the brain, scientists from the McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida say that moderately active rats have healthier DNA and more robust brain cells than their less active counterparts. The research was presented at the Society for Neuroscience's 35th annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

13 Nov 2005

Statins reduce the risk of stroke after carotid artery endarterectomy

Carotid artery endarterectomy (CEA) is the most commonly performed operation to prevent stroke in the United States. However, the operation itself carries a small risk of stroke.

13 Nov 2005

Early to bed helps learning ability at school

When children stay up late, they have more academic and attention problems at school, according to a new study from Brown Medical School to be published in the December issue of the journal SLEEP.

13 Nov 2005

BMA calls for urgent meeting with Patricia Hewitt on plans to extend prescribing powers

Mr James Johnson, Chairman of the British Medical Association, has called for an urgent meeting with Patricia Hewitt, Secretary of State for Health, to discuss the government's proposals to extend prescribing powers to nurses and pharmacists.

10 Nov 2005

British mother demands the right to know about teenage abortion

A British mother is presently fighting government guidelines issued last year to reduce teenage pregnancy, abortions and sexually transmitted diseases.

10 Nov 2005

Aspirin and ibuprofen may significantly reduce the risk of esophageal cancer among people with Barrett's esophagus

Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti- inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, may significantly reduce the risk of esophageal cancer among people with Barrett's esophagus, a precancerous condition associated with chronic heartburn that affects an estimated 1 million to 2 million Americans.

8 Nov 2005