WRAL.com - AP Health News

Study raps Web sites touting stem cell therapies

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:11:44 -0500

Consumers should be wary of Web sites from clinics that offer stem cell treatments, says a study that found a lack of firm medical evidence to back up their claims. The Web sites in the study generally portrayed their therapies as safe, effective and ready for routine use, but published research doesn't support that "overoptimistic" picture, the study authors said.

British conjoined twin dies after surgery

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 10:37:04 -0500

Faith was breathing for Hope. So when the newborn conjoined Williams twins were separated, it turned out that Hope couldn't live without her sister.

Texas time warp? State criticized for mental care

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:28:19 -0500

For more than a century, thousands of mentally disabled Americans were isolated from society, sometimes for life, by being confined to huge state institutions.

Report: Young doctors still too tired for safety

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:05:35 -0500

Doctors-in-training are still too exhausted, says a new report that calls on hospitals to let them have a nap. Regulations that capped the working hours of bleary-eyed young doctors came just five years ago, limiting them to about 80 hours a week.

1 in 5 young adults has personality disorder

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:33:08 -0500

Almost one in five young American adults has a personality disorder that interferes with everyday life, and even more abuse alcohol or drugs, researchers reported Monday in the most extensive study of its kind.

Brain waves are window into autism language woes

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:08:16 -0500

Unique brain wave patterns, spotted for the first time in autistic children, may help explain why they have so much trouble communicating.

Patient photos aid docs reading faceless CT scans

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:30:15 -0500

Imagine sitting in a dark room all day, evaluating CT scans and other medical images on a computer screen but never actually seeing real patients. That's life for many radiologists.

Depression leads to internal fat in 70-somethings

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:53:05 -0500

Older people who are depressed are much more likely to develop a dangerous type of internal body fat - the kind that can lead to diabetes and heart disease - than people who are not depressed, a disturbing new study co-led by a North Carolina researcher has found.

Asthma inhalers to go 'green' on Dec. 31

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:29:05 -0500

Last warning: Asthma inhalers go "green" on Dec. 31, forcing patients still using the old-fashioned kind to make a pricey and even confusing switch. The medicine inside these rescue inhalers - the albuterol that quickly opens airways during an asthma attack - isn't changing. But the chemicals used to puff that drug into your lungs are.

China says 300,000 babies sickened by tainted milk

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 07:46:09 -0500

China has dramatically raised the toll from its tainted milk powder scandal, saying six babies likely died and 300,000 were sickened, figures that back up months of complaints from parents and show the government is beginning to acknowledge the scale of the crisis.