Government advisers are expected to recommend art therapy on the NHS for people with schizophrenia. The National Institute of Clinical and Health Excellence (NICE) will promote use of programmes offering music, art and dance therapy for the first time.
Activities include playing musical instruments and creating collages. An expert panel found the therapy works particularly well in patients with "negative" symptoms such as withdrawal and poor motivation.
Health & Wellness
The year is shaping up to be the worst in Southern California since 2004.
Jack Austin doesn't remember a mosquito biting him. The 72-year-old Duarte resident also doesn't remember the nine days he spent in the hospital in July or much of the 20 days he spent in rehab in August, recovering from West Nile neuroinvasive disease.
Jack Austin doesn't remember a mosquito biting him. The 72-year-old Duarte resident also doesn't remember the nine days he spent in the hospital in July or much of the 20 days he spent in rehab in August, recovering from West Nile neuroinvasive disease.
A bride who moved to India mysteriously died in her husband's arms just 10 days after they wed.
Charlotte Bending, 24, had been treated for a sore throat but collapsed suddenly.
Husband Jeetinder Singh said: "Charlotte had a stomach ache, headache and sore throat so we went to the city to get medicine.
"But when we got back home she said, 'I can't breathe,' and just collapsed."
Charlotte Bending, 24, had been treated for a sore throat but collapsed suddenly.
Husband Jeetinder Singh said: "Charlotte had a stomach ache, headache and sore throat so we went to the city to get medicine.
"But when we got back home she said, 'I can't breathe,' and just collapsed."
A Duchesne County man died of hantavirus, the first confirmed case in Utah since 2004.
Public health authorities say the 28-year-old man died Sept. 3, a day after he checked into a hospital.
People typically get infected while sweeping up rodent droppings without a mask, and the Utah Department of Health attributed the man's death to that activity.
Public health authorities say the 28-year-old man died Sept. 3, a day after he checked into a hospital.
People typically get infected while sweeping up rodent droppings without a mask, and the Utah Department of Health attributed the man's death to that activity.
U.S. hospitals and long-term care facilities annually flush millions of pounds of unused pharmaceuticals down the drain, pumping contaminants into America's drinking water, according to an ongoing Associated Press investigation.
These discarded medications are expired, spoiled, over-prescribed or unneeded. Some are simply unused because patients refuse to take them, can't tolerate them or die with nearly full 90-day supplies of multiple prescriptions on their nightstands.
Few of the country's 5,700 hospitals and 45,000 long-term care homes keep data on the pharmaceutical waste they generate. Based on a small sample, though, the AP was able to project an annual national estimate of at least 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals and contaminated packaging, with no way to separate out the drug volume.
These discarded medications are expired, spoiled, over-prescribed or unneeded. Some are simply unused because patients refuse to take them, can't tolerate them or die with nearly full 90-day supplies of multiple prescriptions on their nightstands.
Few of the country's 5,700 hospitals and 45,000 long-term care homes keep data on the pharmaceutical waste they generate. Based on a small sample, though, the AP was able to project an annual national estimate of at least 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals and contaminated packaging, with no way to separate out the drug volume.
Seeks power over others. Has fantasies of unlimited success. Fears rejection and abandonment.
Psychologists have drawn a new composite sketch of narcissistic personality disorder just as some of the most narcissistic among us are vying for our affection: politicians.
Psychologists have drawn a new composite sketch of narcissistic personality disorder just as some of the most narcissistic among us are vying for our affection: politicians.
Paul Offit is the Philadelphia cream cheese of the autism debate -- he smears so effortlessly. It was on page 149 that I finally had enough of his latest smear-fest, Autism's False Prophets. I put the book down and thought of attorney Joseph Welch's famous rejoinder to Sen. Joe McCarthy at the Army-McCarthy hearings:
"Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty, or your recklessness. ... Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"
Cases of asthma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are rampant among people who experienced the 9/11 terrorist attacks first-hand, according to data from the World Trade Center Health Registry, released on Wednesday by the New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The report, published in the Journal of Urban Health, is based on an analysis of health of 71,437 individuals who experienced the coordinated suicide attacks. Their health will be followed for another 20 years, The Associated Press wrote on its Web site.
The report, published in the Journal of Urban Health, is based on an analysis of health of 71,437 individuals who experienced the coordinated suicide attacks. Their health will be followed for another 20 years, The Associated Press wrote on its Web site.
Patients could soon be swallowing microchips in their tablets. The chips would then report when treatments had been taken and what effect they had on the patient.
Other microchips could also be placed under the skin to deliver drugs ranging from pain medication to chemotherapy. These chips, in the advanced stages of trials, are designed with tiny compartments loaded with multiple drugs and covered with caps. Applying an electrical signal dissolves the caps and releases the medication.
The "smart" delivery systems are being pioneered by Robert Langer, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He said several smart pills that can release drugs for days, months or years were being tested.
Separately, a Silicon Valley company called Proteus Biomedical is developing what it calls the Raisin system of microchipped pills to help to tackle the problems of patients forgetting or refusing to take medicines.
Other microchips could also be placed under the skin to deliver drugs ranging from pain medication to chemotherapy. These chips, in the advanced stages of trials, are designed with tiny compartments loaded with multiple drugs and covered with caps. Applying an electrical signal dissolves the caps and releases the medication.
The "smart" delivery systems are being pioneered by Robert Langer, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He said several smart pills that can release drugs for days, months or years were being tested.
Separately, a Silicon Valley company called Proteus Biomedical is developing what it calls the Raisin system of microchipped pills to help to tackle the problems of patients forgetting or refusing to take medicines.
What's the worst that could happen after eating a slice of pepperoni pizza? A little heartburn, for most people.
But for up to a million women in the U.S., enjoying that piece of pizza has painful consequences. They have a chronic bladder condition that causes pelvic pain. Spicy food -- as well as citrus, caffeine, tomatoes and alcohol-- can cause a flare in their symptoms and intensify the pain. Researchers had long believed the spike in their symptoms was triggered when digesting the foods produced chemicals in the urine that irritated the bladder.
A surprising new discovery from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine reveals the symptoms -- pain and an urgent need to frequently urinate -- are actually being provoked a surprise perpetrator. It's the colon, irritated by the spicy food, that's responsible. The finding provides an explanation for how the body actually "hears" pelvic pain.
But for up to a million women in the U.S., enjoying that piece of pizza has painful consequences. They have a chronic bladder condition that causes pelvic pain. Spicy food -- as well as citrus, caffeine, tomatoes and alcohol-- can cause a flare in their symptoms and intensify the pain. Researchers had long believed the spike in their symptoms was triggered when digesting the foods produced chemicals in the urine that irritated the bladder.
A surprising new discovery from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine reveals the symptoms -- pain and an urgent need to frequently urinate -- are actually being provoked a surprise perpetrator. It's the colon, irritated by the spicy food, that's responsible. The finding provides an explanation for how the body actually "hears" pelvic pain.
