Meds a good "first step" for treating alcoholism 
October 26th, 2012
By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK | Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:16am EDT NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Two drugs commonly used to treat alcoholism may be appropriate for people in different stages of recovery, a new analysis confirms – likely because they work differently in the brain. The drugs, acamprosate (marketed as Campral) and naltrexone (ReVia), are both non-addictive themselves and don’t make users sick when mixed with alcohol. So they’re a good first option for people struggling with alcohol dependence who are motivated to stop drinking but would like to avoid an inpatient program, researchers said
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Extra weight tied to higher risk of hospitalization: study
October 22nd, 2012
Sun Oct 21, 2012 8:27pm EDT (Reuters) – Regardless of lifestyle and other health-related factors, heavier people were more likely than lean ones to be hospitalized for a variety of conditions, according to an Australian study. What’s more, this was the case not just for obese people but also for those who were merely overweight as well, the researchers wrote in the International Journal of Obesity. Among middle-aged adults, researchers found that every extra body mass index (BMI) point – equal to about 2.7 to 3.2 kilograms (six or seven lbs) – was tied to a four percent higher chance of being admitted to the hospital over a two-year period.
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Extra pounds tied to higher risk of hospitalization
October 19th, 2012
By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK | Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:44pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Regardless of lifestyle and other health-related factors, heavier people were more likely than lean ones to be hospitalized for a variety of conditions in a new study from Australia. That was the case not just for obese people, but for the merely overweight as well.
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Pediatricians call for strict gun laws to protect kids
October 18th, 2012
By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK | Thu Oct 18, 2012 3:44pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Pediatricians Thursday called for the strictest possible regulation of gun sales, as well as more education for parents on the dangers of having a gun at home, to prevent deaths of kids and teens. In a policy statement published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers representing the American Academy of Pediatrics said the number of gun-related deaths in youth has dropped nationally since the mid-1990s, but is still many times higher than rates in other wealthy countries.
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Family whooping cough shots may protect babies
October 18th, 2012
By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK | Thu Oct 18, 2012 1:17pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Vaccinating moms and older siblings against whooping cough may prevent infants from coming down with the infection, a new study suggests.
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Analysis links psoriasis, diabetes
October 17th, 2012
By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK | Wed Oct 17, 2012 3:36pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – A new review of more than two dozen studies adds support to the link between the chronic skin disease psoriasis and diabetes. In studies from the United States, Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere, participants with psoriasis had anywhere from an equal risk to an almost four-fold higher risk of developing diabetes than those without the skin condition
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Dry eye common after eyelid lifts
October 17th, 2012
By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK | Wed Oct 17, 2012 10:40am EDT NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – More than one-quarter of people who’ve had an eyelid lift report symptoms of dry eye such as excessive watering and irritation, a new study suggests.
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Girls may not have riskier sex after HPV vaccination
October 15th, 2012
By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK | Mon Oct 15, 2012 12:07am EDT NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Girls who had been vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) weren’t more likely to get other sexually transmitted infections or to become pregnant, in a new study from Georgia. That goes against worries on the part of some that getting the vaccine – which is supposed to ultimately help prevent cervical cancer – would encourage girls to become sexually active or engage in riskier sex than they otherwise would. “Some parents have expressed it as a concern,” said Saad Omer, an infectious diseases and vaccine researcher from Emory University in Atlanta who worked on the study.
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Drug shortage led to spike in kids’ infections
October 11th, 2012
By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK | Thu Oct 11, 2012 4:43pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – When there was a shortage of a drug used to prevent IV-related infections in kids, the frequency of those infections increased almost ten-fold at one Michigan hospital, a new study shows. Known as ethanol lock therapy, the preventive drug is given to kids with bowel problems who require an IV feeding line because their intestines don’t absorb enough nutrients. Those children are at higher risk of infection to begin with because their gut bacteria don’t have as much practice killing off germs, researchers said
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Therapy, exercise aid in chemo-related menopause
October 11th, 2012
By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK | Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:30pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Younger women who are thrust into menopause because of breast cancer treatment may get some relief from talk therapy and regular exercise, a new study from the Netherlands suggests. Symptoms including hot flashes and vaginal dryness often come on gradually for women who go through natural menopause, as the body’s production of hormones slowly dwindles
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