Health & WellnessS


Evil Rays

Study: CT Scans Raise Cancer Risk

Millions of Americans, especially children, are needlessly getting dangerous radiation from "super X-rays" that raise the risk of cancer and are increasingly used to diagnose medical problems, a new report warns.

Eye 2

Graveyard Shift Work Linked to Cancer

Graveyard Shift Soon to Be Listed As 'Probable' Cause of Cancer, a Link Once Seen As Wacky

Like UV rays and diesel exhaust fumes, working the graveyard shift will soon be listed as a "probable" cause of cancer. It is a surprising step validating a concept once considered wacky. And it is based on research that finds higher rates of breast and prostate cancer among women and men whose work day starts after dark.

Evil Rays

Torture! Colorado parents say children still being traumatized in dentist's chairs

KUSA - It's all caught on tape: children strapped down in dental chairs, parents not allowed to watch and dentists competing for bonuses for doing the most work on their smallest patients.

X

Washington, D.C. has severe HIV epidemic, report finds

Washington, D.C., has the highest rate of AIDS in the United States, and more babies are born with the AIDS virus in Washington than in other U.S. cities, according to a report released on Monday.

©REUTERS/Jason Reed
The setting sun casts an orange glow on passing clouds over the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington September 19, 2006.

Red Flag

Little Milk, Exercise Hurts Kids' Bones

WASHINGTON - Too little milk, sunshine and exercise: It's an anti-bone trifecta. And for some kids, shockingly, it's leading to rickets, the soft-bone scourge of the 19th century.

Cut

Hospital Fined for Wrong-Side Surgery

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Rhode Island Hospital was fined $50,000 and reprimanded by the state Department of Health Monday after its third instance this year of a doctor performing brain surgery in the wrong side of a patient's head.

Magic Wand

Researchers find mirror fools phantom limb pain

Viewing the reflected image of an intact limb in a mirror can fool the mind into thinking that a lost leg or foot still exists, dramatically relieving phantom limb pain, researchers reported on Wednesday.

At least 9 out of 10 amputees report feeling sometimes-severe pain in the missing limb, often the result of a sensation that the arm or leg is stuck in the wrong position. The sensation can be excruciating and pain drugs often do little to help.

But some studies have suggested that using a mirror to trick the mind into thinking the lost limb is still there may help. Doctors do not understand why it works, but it appears to help a confused brain reconcile sensations coming from the severed nerves.

Syringe

Family says shots gave son autism

Yates, 7, loves chewing gum. He'll go through every compartment in a purse looking for it intently. He doesn't give up unless he's distracted with something else.

He loves to flush the toilet, and once he put tennis balls down the toilet so it overflowed and he could watch the water run. He's also shut the bathtub drain and turned the water on.

©Jackson Sun
This portrait of Yates was taken when he was 6 months old.

Syringe

Drug firms accused of biasing doctors' training

Can the pharmaceutical industry be trusted to fund doctors' compulsory education without introducing bias? The issue is dividing Congress, academics and drugs companies. Now, preliminary data have emerged suggesting that industry-sponsored courses skew training material in favour of commercial interests.

Sheeple

Are your products safe? You can't tell

Take a look at your shoes, your shampoo, your carpet, your baby's bottles, even the dental sealants in your mouth. These products contain chemicals that disrupt the natural way hormones work inside of you.

The chemicals known as endocrine disruptors are all over your house, your clothing, your car. The chemicals are even in you.

They promise to make skin softer, clothes smell fresher and food keep longer. The problem is, neither the companies that make these products nor federal regulators are telling you that some of these substances may be dangerous. Many have been found to cause life-threatening illnesses in laboratory animals.