medicine

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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...

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...

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...

Schizophrenia Drug Offers New Hope
Schizophrenia Drug Offers
New Hope
Sep 3, 2007 3:58 AM CDT

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.

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...

Americans Double Use of Pain Meds
Americans Double Use
of Pain Meds
Aug 20, 2007 9:40 AM CDT

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,...

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...

10 Ways to Cut Medical Costs
10 Ways to Cut Medical Costs
Aug 17, 2007 5:38 PM CDT

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.

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...

Generics Curb Rise in Drug Costs
Generics Curb Rise in Drug Costs
Aug 8, 2007 6:37 PM CDT

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.

Grocery Chain Offers Free Rx Meds
Grocery Chain Offers Free
Rx Meds
Aug 6, 2007 3:17 PM CDT

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....

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...

Skipping Meds Can Be Deadly
Skipping Meds Can Be Deadly
Jul 31, 2007 5:31 AM CDT

Skipping Meds Can Be Deadly

Half of patients undermine health by skipping doses, quitting medication

(Newser) - Half of all patients with chronic illnesses don't take their medication as prescribed, says a new report, undermining their health and hastening their death. Patients with illnesses like heart disease and asthma often skip doses, misunderstand prescriptions or drop medication as soon as they feel better. The result is  more...

8 Yanks Graduate From Cuban Med School

Free tuition, humanitarian approach drew minority students

(Newser) - Cuba's Latin American School of Medicine graduated its first batch of American students this week, helping raise the eight-year-old school's profile. There are 90 more already enrolled in the free program, which comes with an exemption to the ban on travel to Cuba for Americans. Students are selected by the...

Drug Recall Hurts Poor HIV Patients
Drug Recall Hurts Poor HIV Patients
Jul 23, 2007 5:00 PM CDT

Drug Recall Hurts Poor HIV Patients

In many countries, no life-saving meds

(Newser) - In the wake of a drug recall by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, tens of thousands of AIDS patients in the developing world no longer have access to lifesaving medicine. Last month, Roche announced a recall of the drug Viracept, after finding a hazardous chemical in some batches. But in...

Americans Pop Happy Pills in Record Numbers

Antidepressants are most-prescribed drug in the US

(Newser) - Antidepressants are America's most prescribed drugs, according to a new CDC report, clocking in more scripts than meds for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or asthma. Prescriptions for antidepressants rose 48% between 1995 and 2002, accounting for 118 million of the 2.4 billion drugs prescribed in 2005.

Chinese Make Dino Soup
Chinese Make Dino Soup
Jul 4, 2007 7:48 AM CDT

Chinese Make Dino Soup

(Newser) - Chinese villagers in Henan province dug up a ton of fossilized dinosaur bones, using them to make traditional medicines, including soup and poultices. The villagers, not entirely inaccurately, believed that they were ‘dragon bones’ from flying dragons. Once they learned of their value to paleontologists, the villagers donated the...

Staph Infection Rate Stuns Experts
Staph Infection Rate Stuns Experts
Jun 25, 2007 4:39 PM CDT

Staph Infection Rate Stuns Experts

Eye-opening numbers on antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs' dwarf previous estimates

(Newser) - Over a million hospital patients contract a dangerous, drug-resistant staph infection every year, a rate 10 times more than previously thought. Tens of thousands infected with antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" may die from what officials call one of the nation's most serious public-health threats, today's Chicago Tribune reports.

New Studies Give Hope to Parkinson's Patients

Gene therapy, drug could halt disease

(Newser) - Two new experimental treatments for Parkinson's could stop the progress of the devastating disease and allay its symptoms, researchers say. A new study shows gene therapy was successful in boosting production of an enzyme that calms overactive neurons, reducing the jittery effects of the brain disorder.

Amazon Tribe Broods Over Poached Blood

Brazil Indians livid after discovering DNA samples sold in the US

(Newser) - An Amazon tribe is bilious after scientists took blood samples in exchange for medicine they never got, the Times reports. Doctors collected DNA from the Karitiana Indians in the late '70s and again in 1996, and then sold it to researchers for $85 a pop. But now the once remote...

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