News For Sunday Jul 6, 2008 News For Sunday Jul 6, 2008

Health Health

Magic Johnson's wife in public eye on HIV campaign - Added 1 hour ago

Magic Johnson's normally publicity-shy wife Cookie is emerging as a spokeswoman in a campaign urging black women to get tested for HIV. Cookie Johnson is appearing with the former LA Lakers star in a five-year, $60...

Farmers say salmonella scare has hurt tomato sales - Added 1 day ago

Expect fewer slices of red, ripe tomatoes next to the grill this holiday weekend. With a salmonella scare causing many customers to shun what's normally a summertime favorite, tomato farmers nationwide have had to plow...

Scientists: Watermelon yields Viagra-like effects - Added 2 days ago

A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra _ but don't necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks going all night...

Haywire brain chemical linked to sudden baby death - Added 2 days ago

Scientists have new evidence that the brain chemical best known for regulating mood also plays a role in the mystifying killer of seemingly healthy babies _ sudden infant death syndrome. Autopsied brain tissue from...

Filipina with upside-down feet walks for 1st time - Added 2 days ago

A Filipino teenager who came to New York so doctors could perform surgery to untwist her severely clubbed feet took her first unaided steps Wednesday in pink-and-white sneakers _ the first shoes she's ever worn. "I'm...

Scientists: Watermelon yields Viagra-like effects - Added 3 days ago

A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra _ but don't necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks all night long. ...

Filipina with upside-down feet walks for 1st time - Added 3 days ago

A Filipino teenager who came to New York so doctors could perform surgery to untwist her severely clubbed feet took her first unaided steps Wednesday in pink-and-white sneakers _ the first shoes she's ever worn. "I'm...

Kroger expands ground beef recall to 20 states - Added 3 days ago

First it was the tomatoes. Now it's the beef. Fourth of July picnic tables are getting a careful look as familiar hamburgers are feared to be among the tainted ingredients in separate food safety scares. On Wednesday,...

NJ officials warn of lamp oil poisonings - Added 3 days ago

New Jersey officials have issued a health alert saying six people have been sickened by mistaking lamp oil for apple juice, including one person who died. Bruce Ruck of the state Poison Information and Education System...

First floods, now pesky mosquitoes for Midwest - Added 3 days ago

First came the floods _ now the mosquitoes. An explosion of pesky insects are pestering clean-up crews and just about anyone venturing outside in the waterlogged Midwest. In some parts of Iowa there are 20 times the...

FDA panel urges more testing for diabetes drugs - Added 3 days ago

Diabetes drugs should face tougher safety standards that could cost manufacturers millions but protect patients from unforeseen heart risks, a government panel has recommended. Advisers to the Food and Drug...

Skeeter advice: Wear repellent, avoid perfumes - Added 4 days ago

Flooding, heavy rains and summer heat have produced a bumper crop of pesky mosquitoes, particularly in the waterlogged Midwest. Here's how experts recommend avoiding the bugs and treating their bites: _Wear insect...

More than 4,000 Danes may have salmonella - Added 4 days ago

Danish health officials fear more than 4,000 people may be infected with salmonella and are checking everything from refrigerators to credit card receipts to find the source of what may be the worst outbreak in 15...

3-D mammograms, cameras may improve breast exams - Added 5 days ago

Remember peeking through a View-Master? Scientists are using the same concept behind the classic kids' toy to try to see mammograms in 3-D. The goal: A better way to check for breast cancer in women with breasts too...

WHO: New quick TB test rolled out in Africa - Added 6 days ago

A new test to quickly diagnose drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis will be rolled out in four African countries this year, the World Health Organization said Monday. The DNA-based test will cut the time it takes to...

Cleveland Clinic hooks up with Weight Watchers - Added 6 days ago

The Cleveland Clinic, highly regarded for its cardiac care, doesn't hire smokers or allow trans-fats on its menus, and now it's joining with a nationally known weight control program to help its employees shape up and...

Fast food chains ditch trans fats to meet NYC ban - Added 6 days ago

Fast food restaurants have been changing their recipes to adapt to New York City's trans fat ban. Here are some of the menu overhauls at major chains: _Dunkin Donuts: Quit using partially hydrogenated oil months ago in...

NYC keeps the cannoli but drops the trans fats - Added 6 days ago

Making cannoli is serious business in New York. It's a dessert so tempting that even a hit man in the "Godfather" couldn't leave a box behind. But even the most respected chefs of this and other pastries are being...

US checks if tomatoes caused Salmonella outbreak - Added 1 week ago

As salmonella cases continue to climb, the government is checking if tainted tomatoes really are to blame for the record outbreak _ or if the problem is with another ingredient, or a warehouse that is contaminating...

NYC urges docs to do routine HIV testing on adults - Added 1 week ago

Health officials are trying to persuade doctors to offer HIV tests to nearly every patient in a New York City community hit harder than most by AIDS. Under a new program announced Thursday, officials have set an...

CDC: 756 ill from salmonella-tainted tomatoes - Added 1 week ago

The official toll from salmonella-tainted tomatoes continues to rise: The government counted 756 confirmed illnesses Thursday. That's roughly 200 more illnesses than health officials had counted a week ago, in what has...

US advisory panel OK's 2 new combination vaccines - Added 1 week ago

A federal advisory panel on Thursday endorsed two new combination vaccines designed to reduce the number of needle sticks that young children must endure to get the recommended immunizations. The panel gave its nod to...

Reserving Tamiflu for workers in case of pandemic - Added 1 week ago

Fears of bird flu are receding and sales of the anti-flu drug Tamiflu have slumped. Now its maker is offering a deal to U.S. employers: Pay an annual fee and reserve enough to protect every worker if a new super-flu...

US panel endorses 2nd vaccine for kids' virus - Added 1 week ago

A federal advisory panel has endorsed a second vaccine to combat a common and potentially fatal virus that causes diarrhea and vomiting in children. The new two-dose vaccine for infants, made by GlaxoSmithKline, was...

Scientists identify possible Alzheimer's gene - Added 1 week ago

Scientists have identified a gene that may raise the risk of getting the most common kind of Alzheimer's disease by about 45 percent in people who inherit a certain form of it. That form of the gene appears to hamper a...

Health insurance lags most in Southwest, CDC says - Added 1 week ago

The Southwest has the lowest rate of health insurance coverage in the country, with 30 percent of non-elderly adults and 18 percent of children uninsured, according to a new government study. New England _ with a rate...

CDC: About 8 percent of Americans have diabetes - Added 1 week ago

The number of Americans with diabetes has grown to about 24 million people, or roughly 8 percent of the U.S. population, the government said Tuesday. A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on...

Wireless hospitals systems can disrupt med devices - Added 1 week ago

Wireless systems used by many hospitals to keep track of medical equipment can cause potentially deadly breakdowns in lifesaving devices such as breathing and dialysis machines, researchers reported Tuesday in a study...

Brain injuries cause half of seniors' fall deaths - Added 1 week ago

The elderly fear breaking a hip when they fall, but a government study indicates that hitting their head can also have deadly consequences: Brain injuries account for half of all deaths from falls. The study by the...

Brain injuries cause half of seniors' fall deaths - Added 1 week ago

The elderly fear breaking a hip when they fall, but a government study indicates that hitting their head can also have deadly consequences: Brain injuries account for half of all deaths from falls. The study by the...

Lack of sunshine vitamin may cloud survival odds - Added 1 week ago

New research linking low vitamin D levels with deaths from heart disease and other causes bolsters mounting evidence about the "sunshine" vitamin's role in good health. Patients with the lowest blood levels of vitamin...

Salmonella can ride water into tomatoes - Added 1 week ago

Pick a tomato in the blazing sun and plunge it straight into cold water. If that happened on the way to market, it might be contaminated. Too big of a temperature difference can make a tomato literally suck water inside...

Tomato consumer tips - Added 1 week ago

With the outbreak from salmonella-tainted tomatoes in its fifth week, what's the latest consumer advice? _Avoid raw red plum, red Roma or red round tomatoes unless they were grown in specific states or countries that...

Report compares costs of animal disease outbreak - Added 2 weeks ago

!!-- AUDIO:226,225,224 -->The government acknowledged that an outbreak of one of the most contagious animal diseases from any of five locations being considered for a new high-security laboratory _ an event it...

Study: Moving virus research could be costly - Added 2 weeks ago

An outbreak of one of the most contagious animal diseases from any of five locations the White House is considering for a new high-security research laboratory would be more devastating to the U.S. economy than from the...

Bio-defense research not for all, not Hollywood - Added 2 weeks ago

Actor Kevin Spacey's character dies of a deadly virus in the movie "Outbreak" after he stretches his air hose too far and it rips a hole in his protective biohazard suit. That's just Hollywood. "It's not at all like...

Doctors say Woods should recover from injuries - Added 2 weeks ago

Doctors who treat the kinds of knee and leg injuries that ended Tiger Woods' victorious season have one word for his U.S. Open victory _ remarkable. "The fact that he had surgery two months ago and seemed to visibly be...

Study: Treating herpes doesn't prevent HIV - Added 2 weeks ago

Doctors have long suspected that people with herpes are more likely to catch HIV. So they thought that by treating herpes, they could also cut a person's HIV risk. But a new study that tested this strategy found the...

Study: Treating herpes doesn't prevent HIV - Added 2 weeks ago

Doctors have long suspected that people with herpes are more likely to catch HIV. So they thought that by treating herpes, they could also cut a person's HIV risk. But a new study that tested this strategy found the...

FDA sued for failure to act on risky painkiller - Added 2 weeks ago

A prescription painkiller sold under such names as Darvon and Darvocet is too risky to stay on the market, a consumer advocacy group argued Thursday in suing the Food and Drug Administration. Public Citizen petitioned...

Product Recalls: "Hip Charm" key chains - Added 2 weeks ago

The following recall has been announced: _ About 39,000 "Hip Charm" key chains, made in China and distributed by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., because the key chain's charms can have high levels of lead, which is toxic if...

Man with deadly skin cancer saved by new treatment - Added 2 weeks ago

An Oregon man, given less than a year to live, had a complete remission of advanced deadly skin cancer after an experimental treatment that revved up his immune system to fight the tumors. The 52-year-old patient's...

FDA OKs breathing device used by Christopher Reeve - Added 2 weeks ago

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved a medical device tested about five years ago on actor Christopher Reeve to help him breathe without a ventilator. The implantable device, called NeuRx DPS RA/4...

Even best efforts can't prevent all heart attacks - Added 2 weeks ago

Tim Russert was a good patient, taking medications for his heart disease and exercising, his doctor said. He had no chest pains and he passed an exercise stress test weeks ago. Yet at 58, he suffered a heart attack and...

US expects food inspectors in China by year end - Added 2 weeks ago

The United States expects to have food and drug inspectors placed in three Chinese cities by the end of this year, Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said Tuesday. However, the head of the Chinese...

AMA takes no action on tobacco bill challenge - Added 2 weeks ago

Is menthol a flavor that should be banned from cigarettes? That's a tricky question, according to the American Medical Association whose members on Tuesday found themselves opposing some government health heavyweights. ...

FDA warns about fraudulent cancer treatments - Added 2 weeks ago

The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on teas, supplements, creams and other products that falsely claim to cure, treat or prevent cancer even though they are not agency-approved drugs. All are available for...

FDA: Part of Mexico cleared in salmonella probe - Added 2 weeks ago

One part of Mexico _ Baja California _ has been cleared of suspicion in the outbreak of salmonella-tainted tomatoes, which U.S. officials said Monday now has sickened 277 people. That's 49 more than had been counted...

AMA issues first report card on health insurers - Added 2 weeks ago

Some health insurance companies rate doctors on their performance. Now doctors are turning the tables. The American Medical Association issued its first health insurance report card at the group's annual meeting...

FDA: Part of Mexico cleared in salmonella probe - Added 2 weeks ago

One part of Mexico _ Baja California _ has been cleared of suspicion in the outbreak of salmonella-tainted tomatoes, which U.S. officials said Monday now has sickened 277 people. That's 49 more than had been counted...