Elizabeth Cohen
CNNFri, 02 Feb 2007 10:49 UTC
When Jean Horgan complained of heart palpitations, her doctor told her it was just nerves.
"I was told, 'Go home and take tranquilizers. You'll be fine, you're under stress.' "
Much later, another doctor -- one specializing in women's health -- ordered an echocardiogram, an ultrasound test of her heart. The EKG showed Horgan had a heart condition, and she needed medication.
China's military is harvesting organs from unwilling live prison inmates, mostly Falungong practitioners, for transplants on a large scale - including to foreign recipients- according to a study.
The report's authors - Canada's former secretary of state for the Asia Pacific region David Kilgour and human rights lawyer David Matas - implicated dozens of hospitals and jails throughout China in July, after a two-month investigation.
Just who owns a disease?
The Indonesian Government believes it's got ownership over its strain of avian flu and it's upset about a new bird flu vaccine developed by an Australian drug company.
Indonesia's Health Minister, Siti Fadillah Supari has told the ABC that the Indonesian strain of H5N1 is Indonesia's intellectual property, but it's been used by the Australian company, CSL, without Indonesia's permission.
Toni Clarke
ReutersWed, 31 Jan 2007 22:25 UTC
"Smokable" pain drugs promise faster action
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| ©Reuters
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| An undated handout photo shows a inhaler device from Alexza Pharmaceuticals. The Palo Alto, California-based company, is developing drugs which, like nicotine, passes through the lungs and into the bloodstream almost instantly.
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European Union legislators are due to meet with national authorities and consumer groups to discuss a proposed continentwide ban on smoking in restaurants, bars and public spaces.
EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou presented a discussion paper Tuesday calling for the ban.
"Smoke-free policies are very popular with European citizens ...," Kyprianou said. "Every European deserves full protection from tobacco smoke."
Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates
TimeFri, 12 Jan 2007 11:07 UTC
Last spring I took the measure of my life, and decided that my favorite video game, World of Warcraft, had to go.
I was 30, and by most objective standards, was doing pretty well. I lived in an old building in majestic Harlem, with a lovely son and partner, and made a show of wearing a suit and fedora to a job that merely requested jeans and a collar. I had a joint bank account and dental insurance. Yet, on any given day, if you'd asked me about my greatest accomplishment, it invariably began with my second life - the one in which I was a seven-foot blue elf whose hobbies included firing crossbows, trapping wild boars and reenacting the video for Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." In May I quit because I didn't want any illusions about which of my two lives were more important.
A team of US scientists has established that millions of Americans, across all age groups, have some degree of recognized neurological illness.
The study is published in the journal Neurology.
The study team comprises six scientists representing the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland; and the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health and Promotion, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. The study was led by Dr. Deborah Hirtz, of the NIH/NINDS in Bethesda.
A UCLA study suggests that direct to consumer television advertisements of prescription drugs may be influencing Americans to believe they are sicker than they really are and this could lead to taking more medication than they actually need.
The study is published in the current edition of the Annals of Family Medicine.
It was funded by the National Cancer Institute's Centers of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and was led by Assistant Professor of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr Dominick Frosch.
Jennifer Dorian, Andrea Fleischer
ABC NewsTue, 30 Jan 2007 13:16 UTC
Despite indulging in an artery-clogging diet that could make even an Italian grandmother cringe, the 400 or so residents of tiny Stoccareddo, Italy, have virtually no heart disease or diabetes, and often live into their 90s.
At first blush, nothing seems to be unusual about the tiny town, other than the shocks of red hair that are oddly common here. But a little sniffing around reveals not only fresh air and the tantalizing scent of Italian food cooking, but also a tasty medical mystery.
Maryland - Officials say they are working with the health department to make sure the remaining students are vaccinated so they may return to school. "If they stay out of school for too many days, it becomes an issue of truancy," Mowen said. Officials have said they might use the court system to encourage parents to get their children vaccinated. Hanlin said before that option is explored officials are "trying to find out what the road blocks are" to being vaccinated." - Erin Cunningham, The Hagerstown Morning Herald, MD
