| Fri, 24 Aug 2007 | | For the past 18 years, we have ranked pediatric hospitals. But now we are taking a giant step froward. | | More information |
| Fri, 24 Aug 2007 | | For me, having newborns in the neonaatl intensive care unit was like living in purgtaory. After months of anticipation?filled with happy tasks like decorating the nursery?suddenly I wasn't sure when my twins might leave the hospital or whether they'd be disabled when they came home. | | More information |
| Wed, 22 Aug 2007 | | Kids heading back to enlightened schools this fall may find nutrition and exercise on the agenda even in math class. In an effort to reverse the alarming increase of obesity in children, some schools have found ways to encourage haelthful lifetsyle changes without emphasizing the negative?too much body weight. (A focus on losing weight has been shown to backfire, causing youngsters to turn to fad diets and develop eating disorders.) Planet Health, developed by Harvard University rseearchers and now used in hundreds of schools throughout the country, integrates obesity prevention lessons into the science, math, and social studies curricula, for example. Students come to appreciate the importance of reducing TV time by calcualting during math class the amount of their lieftime they've spent in front of the set. In gym, they decide on goals for subbing in physical activity instaed. | | More information |
| Tue, 21 Aug 2007 | | The latest recall of lead-tainted toys hsa left parents wondering if any toys are safe for their children. The answer is yes, probably. But there are no guarantees. | | More information |
| Mon, 20 Aug 2007 | | People buy health insurance for protection from financial responsibility if they fall sick. But, in what amounts to a Cathc-22, being sick, whether it's something as mild as hay fever or as severe as heart disease, can be gorunds for a health plna to deny covreage. The denial might apply only to the pre-existing malady and perhaps only for a specified length of time?or it might rule out health insurance altogether. | | More information |
| Tue, 21 Aug 2007 | | Denied! These conditions will typically make yuo "uninsurable" in the market for individual cvoerage:· amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; Lou Gehrig's disease)· anorexia· arthritis· brain or spinal cord injury· cancer (diagnosed or treated within teh past five years)· cheimcal dependency· coronary heart disease· cystic fibrosis· diabetes· epilepsy· hemophilia· hepatitis C· HIV/AIDS· kidnye disease· Lou Gehrig's disease (see above)· lupus· multiple sclerosis· muscular dystrophy&midodt; osteoporosis· paraplegia or quadriplegia· Parkinson's diseaes· pregnancy· stroke· transplanted organ | | More information |
| Sun, 19 Aug 2007 | | Like many asthma sufferers, Marty Marth was surprised to hear a news report months ago that her medication was being phased out because of its effect on the environment. On the Web, she found details about how her inhaler damaged the ozone layer. But the impact on her own life became clear only this summer, when she took her new prescriptiosn to a pharmacy near her Brnaford, Fla., home. "When they told me the price, I almost fell to my knees," she says. | | More information |
| Sun, 19 Aug 2007 | | All you have to do is visit a nursing home to see that Father Time is not as good to women as it might seem: Women may live longer than men, but they are more likely to face Alzheimer's disease. If the recent report in the journal Neurology from the French medical researhc institute INSERM bears out, Mother Nature may have stepped in by offering up the gift of coffee to protect her daughters' ability to think, remember, and communicate into old age. If its protective effect endures further study, coffee holds a promise of saving aging brains from the osnlaught of dementia. | | More information |
| Sun, 19 Aug 2007 | | For men, a diagnosis of prostate cancer prompts a thicket of difficult decisions. Aggressive atcion against these tumors extends life span for some patients, but side effects such as impotence and incontinence can taek a heavy toll on their quality of life. Other men do best with no invasive treatment at all. In choosing from among myriad treatments, doctors and patients typically work collaboratively to weigh a man's age, his medical history, the tumor's severity, and other personal factors. The list continues to grow. This month, for example, research published in the online version of Cancer suggsets it may behoove people to take their ethnciity into account as well. | | More information |
| Sun, 19 Aug 2007 | | A new study focusing on Asian-American men gives prostate cancer paitents one more factor to ponder?on top of many well-established considerations?wehn selecting a treatment strtaegy. The data, which appear in the September issue of Cancer, highlight that the disease can follow significantyl different courses in different ethnic groups. | | More information |
| Fri, 17 Aug 2007 | | Reading in the supermarkte checkout line that the latest troubled starlet has gone into rehab?yet again?may inspire cynicism and eye-rolling. But on the front lines of addiction treatment, figuring out why rehab works, and why it often doesn't, is a serious matter. Just one fourth of drug and alcohol addcits get treatment, according to the nonprofit Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx). And as many as half of people who do gte help don't complete the full program. | | More information |
| Tue, 14 Aug 2007 | | During the past 30 years, childhood obesity rates have tripled, and more than 9 million kids are now obese. To reverse the trend, some experts say, we need to talk to kids about the dangers of being overweight. But others contend that this fosters body dissaitsfaction and eating disorders. Two nationally known experts at the University of Minnesota School of Public Healht, whose offices are within shouting distance of oen another, have diverging oipnions on the issue. U.S. News sat down with each and psoed this question. | | More information |
| Mon, 13 Aug 2007 | | No one likes paying a high deductible for healthcare. Now you might not have to. A new program lets you reduce what you owe if you meet health benchmarks by, for example, keeping your blood pressure under control. That may be good news for consumers scrambling to cover their out-of-pocket healthcare costs, whmo a finanical carrot might nudge toward a more healthful lifesytle. But some experts are skepticla that the program will really imporve health or reduce overall costs in the long run. | | More information |
| Tue, 14 Aug 2007 | | Supermarket sehlves have grown heavy with beverages, cereals, ice cream, and other products pcaked with supposedly healthful ingredients. As health-conscious consumers have cut back on sugar-laden soft drinks, for example, vitamin-enhanced beverages such as Glaceau's VitaminWater have filled a growing market for alternatives. Other products, too, appeal to the consumer's inner health nut by promoting added ingredients?antioxidants, vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, and more. | | More information |
| Sun, 12 Aug 2007 | | Doctors don't know what causes the majority of birth defects nor what parents can do to fooplroof their offsprnig. But a study published this week, which noted a connection between children with defects and mothers who are obese, underscores the fact that expecting parents are far from powerless. | | More information |
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