medicine – News Stories About medicine - Page 3

Sep 11, 2012 6:11 PM CDT

Researchers Inch Toward Baldness Cure

Research centers on vitamin D, but remedies are years away

(Newser) - Treatments like Rogaine work best for those trying to stop further hair loss—but what about people who are already bald? Researchers worldwide are inching closer to treatments that could restore hair growth, the Wall Street Journal reports. The market is huge, with 35 million men suffering from male-pattern baldness...

We Could
Soon Know
Truth About
Elephant Man

We Could Soon Know Truth About Elephant Man

Genome sequencing could reveal his true ailment

(Newser) - It's been more than a century since Joseph Merrick—the so-called Elephant Man—died at age 27, but researchers still can't definitively explain the huge growths on his body. Though he was nicknamed after the parasitic infection Elephantiasis, other scientists believe he may have suffered from the congenital...

Hospitals Should Be More Like ... Cheesecake Factory

Atul Gawande argues for standardized health care

(Newser) - Medicine is plagued with inconsistency—different doctors have different preferred procedures; outcomes and costs are not predictable—and in an extensive New Yorker piece, Atul Gawande offers up a proposed solution: "Create Cheesecake Factories for health care." The doctor and author is serious—so serious that he spent...

Doctors: To Stop Errors,
Stop Over-Treating

sanjay gupta

Aug 1, 2012 1:01 PM CDT

Doctors: To Stop Errors, Stop Over-Treating

Sanjay Gupta reflects on the increasing number of medical mistakes

(Newser) - When it comes to medicine, "more is not always better," writes neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta in the New York Times . Doctors make thousands of mistakes each year—in 1999, as many as 98,000 Americans were dying annually due to medical errors, and that...

Prof Claims 3-D Printers Can Make Medicine

Need Cheap Drugs?
One Man Says You
Can Print Them

Jul 23, 2012 5:42 PM CDT

Need Cheap Drugs? One Man Says You Can Print Them

Lee Cronin wants to revolutionize the drug market with new device

(Newser) - If you're tired of paying out the nose for prescriptions, Lee Cronin of Glasgow University may have a solution: a 3-D printer that makes whatever medicine you need, the Daily Mail reports. His $1,800 prototype is humming along these days, injecting molecules into micro-tubes and causing "chemical...

Drug Resistance
Threatens HIV
Fight in Africa

Jul 23, 2012 9:28 AM CDT

Drug Resistance Threatens HIV Fight in Africa

Eastern areas see 29% increase in resistance per year

(Newser) - HIV is developing a growing resistance to drugs in sub-Saharan Africa, and that has researchers worried, the BBC reports. Scientists found a 29% increase in drug resistance per year in East Africa, while Southern Africa saw a 14% increase, they say (compared to zero change in resistance levels in the...

Aspirin May Help
Prevent Skin Cancer

study says

May 30, 2012 4:25 PM CDT

Aspirin May Help Prevent Skin Cancer

Research shows dropoff of up to 15%

(Newser) - Aspirin and other similar painkillers may ward off skin cancer, according to new research. About 20 years of skin cancer data in Denmark show that people who had taken NSAIDs—nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory painkillers—were 15% less likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma and 13% less likely to have malignant melanoma,...

Expert Panel:
PSA Screening
No Good for Men

May 21, 2012 6:24 PM CDT

Expert Panel: PSA Screening No Good for Men

Prostate cancer test does more harm than good: advisory panel

(Newser) - A federal panel's advice to American men: Forget about that prostate cancer screening, which does more harm than good, ABC News reports. The announcement by the United States Preventive Services Task Force today may have settled a longstanding debate about PSA blood tests, the most common screening for prostate...

S. Korea Busts Smuggled Pills—Made of Baby Flesh

May 7, 2012 10:10 AM CDT

S. Korea Busts Smuggled Pills—Made of Baby Flesh

Some believe substance to be cure-all

(Newser) - South Korean customs authorities have made a highly disturbing find: Thousands of capsules made of powdered baby flesh, believed by some to have healing powers. Smugglers have attempted to get nearly 17,500 such capsules into the country since August, officials say. Made in northeastern China, the pills contain diced...

Look Out, Viagra:
Testosterone Drugs
Gain Popularity

May 2, 2012 5:25 PM CDT

Look Out, Viagra: Testosterone Drugs Gain Popularity

But doctors worry they'll be dangerously overused

(Newser) - New drugs designed in part to save the sex lives of aging men could become the biggest thing since Viagra, reports Bloomberg . The problem is that the testosterone boosters from Eli Lilly and Abbott are becoming so popular that doctors worry men who don't need them for strictly medical...

WHO: Prepare for 'End of Medicine as We Know It'

Mar 16, 2012 9:30 AM CDT

WHO: Prepare for 'End of Medicine as We Know It'

Antibiotic-resistant microbes pose increasing threat, says director

(Newser) - More and more microbes are evolving to resist antibiotics—and that means that all we thought we knew about medicine may soon change, says the head of the World Health Organization. "A post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it. Things as common...

Feds Back
Weight-Loss
Pill Qnexa

Feb 23, 2012 8:01 AM CST

Feds Back Weight-Loss Pill Qnexa

Step toward first FDA-approved diet drug in years

(Newser) - A federal panel's decision has brought us a step closer to the first FDA-approved prescription weight-loss drug in more than 10 years. Qnexa was earlier rejected by the FDA over possible safety risks, but the non-FDA panel found, by a vote of 20-2, that the drug's benefits outweigh...

Critical Cancer Drug
Running Out

'people are panicking'

Feb 11, 2012 2:29 PM CST

Critical Cancer Drug Running Out

Childhood leukemia victims run low on methotrexate

(Newser) - Bad news for Americans with childhood leukemia: A critical medicine used to treat the disease is so hard to find that hundreds or thousands of kids could die, the New York Times reports. Methotrexate, typically used to treat leukemia in children aged 2 to 5, fell into short supply after...

Doctor Who?
MDs Fend Off
Rising PhDs

Oct 2, 2011 7:56 AM CDT

Doctor Who? MDs Fend Off Rising PhDs

A doctorate does not a doctor make, say many MDs

(Newser) - As more and more nurses, pharmacists, and physical therapists are earning PhD degrees, a battle is raging over which health care professionals can use the prestigious title "doctor," reports the New York Times . Nurses especially are pursuing doctorates, eager to increase their pay and promotional opportunities—last year,...

US Sees Dangerous Shortage of Cancer Drugs

Aug 20, 2011 9:51 AM CDT

US Sees Dangerous Shortage of Cancer Drugs

Lawmakers, health officials trying to find solutions: New York Times

(Newser) - The New York Times today raises the alarm about serious shortages of drugs needed to treat common forms of cancer and other diseases. A record 180 such drugs have been deemed to be in short supply this year, and lawmakers, doctors' groups, and the drug industry itself are looking for...

Viagra Gum?
Drug Makers
Get Busy as
Generics Near

Apr 14, 2011 2:57 PM CDT

Viagra Gum? Drug Makers Get Busy as Generics Near

Makers of erectile dysfunction drugs try to find new niches

(Newser) - Viagra’s chemical patent expires next year, likely opening the playing field to cheaper generic versions of the pill—and in a $5 billion industry, the makers of the erectile dysfunction drug are racing to stay ahead of the competition. Pfizer recently began selling a chewable form of Viagra in...

FDA Takes Over
3 Tylenol Plants

Mar 11, 2011 6:31 AM CST

FDA Takes Over 3 Tylenol Plants

Johnson & Johnson division under scrutiny for manufacturing practices

(Newser) - After multiple drug recalls and an FDA safety probe, federal authorities are taking control of three Tylenol plants, CNNMoney reports. The plants, run by Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil division, are in trouble for dodging federal manufacturing rules; now, the company has agreed to let the FDA supervise the three—...

Pessimism Can Block
Medicine's Effects

study says

Feb 17, 2011 9:44 AM CST

Pessimism Can Block Medicine's Effects

Study subjects' pain fluctuates based on belief in treatment

(Newser) - Patients who think their medicine won’t work may find that is indeed the case—just because they thought as much, a study finds. Researchers attached subjects to IV drips and applied heat to their legs, asking them to rate the pain the heat caused them on a scale from...

Millions on Antidepressants
... Without Right Diagnosis

study says

Feb 7, 2011 7:55 AM CST

Millions on Antidepressants ... Without Right Diagnosis

Patients may face side effects without benefits: researchers

(Newser) - More than a quarter of Americans on antidepressants haven’t been diagnosed with depression, anxiety order, or any other condition that the drugs are intended to treat, a study finds. That means millions could face side effects without getting the drugs’ benefits, a researcher tells Reuters . In surveys of more...

Surgeons Try Freezing Patients

Inducing hypothermia causes body to shut down

(Newser) - Surgeons are about to begin human testing on a bold new technique for treating trauma patients in which they intentionally induce extreme hypothermia, the Daily Telegraph reports. By injecting cold saline solution into the patient’s blood, they can all but shut down the body, reducing brain and organ damage...