Medical Health

World Health Organization officials worried that it could mark the start of a flu pandemic, according to published reports, although several infectious disease experts in the United States said that was unlikely.
Officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that tests showed some of [...]

Senator Arlen Specter said the new agency could be important as Democrats push a health plan that aims to rein in soaring costs and to provide health coverage for an estimated 46 million uninsured Americans.
“I believe that we can live not only longer lives, but healthier lives, by harnessing and applying the [...]

If you’re thinking of quitting smoking, the U.S. Surgeon General offers these tips to help you handle the cravings:

Drink lots of liquids, especially water.
Avoid sugar and fatty foods, and don’t skip meals.
Exercise regularly and moderately.
Get more sleep.
Take deep breaths when cravings hit.
Change your habits. For example, eat breakfast in a different place, or [...]

The U.S. National Library of Medicine says the surgery may be recommended for:

Uterine tumors, such as those caused by uterine fibroids or endometrial cancer.
Cervical or ovarian cancer.
Endometriosis that is quite painful and doesn’t improve with other treatments.
Uncontrolled vaginal bleeding.
A prolapsed uterus.
Complications that occur during childbirth.

The problem right now is that about half of all dialysis patients have their blood filtered three times a week via a plastic tube that creates a shunt — a connection between the patient’s arteries and veins. These plastic tubes fail more often than shunts made from the patient’s own vein, [...]

Previous studies have suggested there’s little benefit in repeating smear tests in women 60 to 65 years old whose previous tests have been normal, and some experts have suggested that the age limit for the screening test should be lowered to 50.
But the new study, published online in [...]

An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a weak area in the main blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. As blood passes through, the weakened area can bulge. Most abdominal aortic aneurysms initially have no symptoms but can be deadly if they rupture. [...]

The study involved patients who had what’s known as an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the deadliest type of heart attack. They were treated initially at a major North Carolina medical center or transferred there from other area hospitals.
Researchers compared data from four time periods spanning from before [...]

People who have limited English proficiency were less likely to have a bystander come to their aid with CPR, faced a greater delay in receiving CPR because dispatchers took longer to recognize the need, and were less likely to survive.
The findings stem from an analysis of data on 906 [...]

The report sounds a warning bell for doctors about an issue that has not been a matter of major concern, said Giovanni Filardo, director of the department of epidemiology at the Baylor University Medical Center Institute for Health Care Research and Improvement. He was to present the findings Friday at an [...]