Month: June 2013

How does the U.S. compare to other countries when it comes to organ donors?        

AMA classifies obesity as a disease and says sitting is dangerous.        

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Compared to a decade ago, fewer Americans have a cluster of risk factors that together can signal heart troubles and diabetes down the line, according to a new study. But while so-called metabolic syndrome is declining, some of its components – including large waistlines and poor blood sugar control, which carry their own risks – are becoming more common, researchers found. …

BOSTON (Reuters) – Vermont police arrested 33 people on drug charges on Wednesday in a sweep aimed at tackling the state’s growing heroin and cocaine problem, according to the state police. The operation followed a six-month investigation by the police drug task force of rising drugs flows into the Green Mountain State from cities such as New York and Boston. The sweep included house searches and seizures in Springfield and Ludlow. Officials have not said how many drugs, money or material was discovered in the searches. …

By Kerry Grens NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Prostate removal or radiation therapy to treat cancer is tied to two- to four-fold higher than usual risk of later having a hernia repaired, according to a new study. It’s not clear why hernia repairs are more common among these men. There might be tissue damage caused by the cancer treatment, or perhaps doctors are finding hernias that might otherwise go undetected, said Dr. Stephen Pautler, a urologist at St. Joseph’s Health Care in London, Ontario, Canada. “You’re looking for this in this population,” said Pautler, who was not part of the study. …

By Stephanie Simon (Reuters) – Students at all Boston public high schools may soon be able to obtain free condoms at the front office – as long as they sit through a few minutes of counseling about safe sex – under a policy due to be voted on Wednesday by the school board. Condoms are already available in 19 high schools with on-site health centers. The policy, up for a vote by the Boston School Committee, would expand distribution to all 32 high schools in the system. Parents would have the right to exempt their children. Several U.S. …

How does the U.S. compare to other countries when it comes to organ donors?        

ABC News Medical Unit’s Dr. Ana Nobis reports: Sharing a meal with family or friends can be such a pleasure but not when uninvited germs, viruses and parasites crash the party. About one in six Americans get sick each year from eating contaminated food, according…        

By David Morgan and Caroline Humer (Reuters) – New health insurance exchanges being set up by the federal government in more than 30 states under President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare overhaul could miss an October 1 deadline for open enrollment, a government report said on Wednesday. The launch of the exchanges, or marketplaces, which are expected to provide federally subsidized health coverage for 7 million people in 2014 and 22 million by 2016, could determine whether Obama's signature domestic policy achievement succeeds. …

The label is supposed to improve awareness and treatments for the condition, but similar proclamations about alcoholism and other addictions haven’t been so successful.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — If doctors and patients used prescription drugs more wisely, they could save the U.S. health care system at least $213 billion a year, by reducing medication overuse, underuse and other flaws in care that cause complications and longer, more-expensive treatments, researchers conclude.