You are currently browsing Health.

Tax Aid For Hearing Aids? Maybe

Hearing loss is all too common. Some 35 million people have trouble hearing. After high blood pressure and arthritis, it’s third on the list of chronic health issues for seniors. Yet traditional Medicare coverage doesn’t include the cost of hearing aids, and most private health plans follow suit. That leaves it to many people to [...]

Analysis Finds Lung Cancer Screening Worthwhile For Longtime Smokers

Now there’s fresh evidence that CT scans to detect early lung cancer belong on the short list of effective cancer screening technologies — at least for people at high risk. Researchers conclude that spiral CT, which makes 3-D pictures of lungs, could reduce lung cancer deaths by 35 percent at a cost of $19,000 to [...]

Fast Food Chains In Cafeterias Put Hospitals In A Bind

On one side of a wall inside the Truman Medical Center cafeteria in Kansas City, Missouri, the menu features low-calorie, low-fat and low-sodium meals. On the other side of the wall is a McDonald’s, featuring hamburgers and french fries. The pairing is a sore point for hospital CEO John Bluford who, as chair last year [...]

Wider Use Of Breast Cancer Radiation Technique Raises Concern

When Lisa Galloway was trying to decide what kind of radiation treatment to undergo after surgery for early breast cancer, she jumped at the chance to get a newer, quicker approach. Instead of dragging on for weeks, the newer form of radiation, called brachytherapy, only takes five days. “Five days compared to 33 days, I [...]

Study Warns Of Autism Risk For Children Of Obese Mothers

Scientists have found one more reason that pregnancy and obesity can be a bad combination. A new study in the journal Pediatrics suggests that moms who are obese or have diabetes are more likely to have a child with autism or another developmental problem. The finding is “worrisome in light of this rather striking epidemic [...]

Cochlear Implants Redefine What It Means To Be Deaf

There was a time when a child born deaf had few choices. For more than a century, the only option for parents was to send their son or daughter away to a boarding school for the deaf. There, the children and the schools thrived in the shadows, embracing a distinct culture of silent communication. Recent [...]

Spotting Dyslexia May Be Possible Even Before Kids Learn To Read

For people with dyslexia, problems recognizing words can make life difficult. Children usually aren’t diagnosed until elementary school, when it becomes clear they’re struggling with reading. But scientists say it could be possible to diagnose and help kids much earlier by identifying problems with visual attention — long before they learn to read. Scientists have [...]

No Need For The Knife? Antibiotics May Suffice In Some Appendicitis Cases

Acute appendicitis generally means a speedy trip to the hospital for surgery. But British researchers say antibiotics might be a safe and effective alternative in uncomplicated cases. “The general consensus was that the appendix has to be taken out the moment you feel it was inflamed,” Dr. Dileep Lobo, professor of gastrointestinal surgery at the [...]

Cancer Diagnosis Raises Risk Of Death From Heart Attack, Suicide

Finding out that you have cancer greatly increases the risk of death by heart attack or suicide, according to a new study. That risk is especially big in the first week after getting the bad news. The notion that stress can spark a heart attack has long been part of folklore. Only in the past [...]

Panel: To Safeguard Food Imports, It’s Not Just About Inspections

Locavores, a word with you. Local food may be gaining traction in all kinds of ways, but a report out today from the Institute of Medicine serves as a stark reminder of just how globalized our food system truly is. Jim Riviere, chair of the committee that wrote the report, drove this point home at [...]