Tamiflu-resistant swine flu cluster reported in NC
5:18
Four North Carolina patients at a single hospital tested positive for a type of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, health officials said Friday. The cases reported at Duke University Medical Center over six weeks...
Guidelines for cancer screening differ by group
4:24
Several doctors groups and advocacy groups set guidelines for cancer screening, and they update that advice periodically as new information emerges. Sometimes they agree, sometimes they don't. Last year, a number of...
Military experiment seeks to predict PTSD
2:50
Two days before shipping off to war, Marine Pfc. Jesse Sheets sat inside a trailer in the Mojave Desert, his gaze fixed on a computer that flashed a rhythmic pulse of contrasting images. Smiling kids embracing a...
Tamiflu-resistant swine flu cluster reported in NC
2:32
Health officials say four people in North Carolina have tested positive for a type of swine flu that's resistant to the drug Tamiflu. It's the first cluster of that many cases seen in the U.S. Health officials said...
Report: 20-somethings can go 2 years between Paps
1:27
First mammograms. Now _ in an apparent coincidence _ Pap smears. New guidelines by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say most women in their 20s can have a Pap smear every two years instead of...
Correction: Plavix story
10:32
In a Nov. 17 story about drug interactions between heartburn medications and the blood thinner Plavix, The Associated Press misidentified Johnson & Johnson's Mylanta as part of the H-2 blocker drug family. Mylanta...
Cost of child vaccines fall, more kids saved
10:23
Babies squirmed and wailed as needles plunged into their chubby thighs at a public health clinic on the outskirts of Hanoi on Friday. Like little ones everywhere, the reaction to the sting was never pretty. Starting...
AP IMPACT: Gripes about swine flu vaccine abound
9:51
When the nation's swine flu vaccination program began in early October, health officials predicted it was going to be "messy." They were right. The program has been plagued with problems and information gaps: _Health...
China to punish those concealing swine flu info
12:44
China's health ministry said it will punish officials who underreport cases of swine flu after a doctor famous for exposing the extent of the 2003 SARS epidemic said he believes the true number of swine flu deaths is...
AP IMPACT: Gripes about swine flu vaccine abound
11:31
When the nation's swine flu vaccination program began in early October, health officials predicted it was going to be "messy." They were right. The program has been plagued with problems and information gaps: _Health...
US survey shows southern counties most obese
9:31
The first county-by-county survey of obesity reflects past studies that show the rate of obesity is highest in the Southeast and Appalachia. High rates of obesity and diabetes were reported in more than 80 percent of...
Experts say radical measures won't stop swine flu
11:25
Health experts say extraordinary measures against swine flu _ most notably quarantines imposed by China, where entire planeloads of passengers were isolated if one traveler had symptoms _ have failed to contain the...
1.5M per day getting swine flu vaccine in China
9:24
China's health minister said Wednesday his country is vaccinating 1.5 million people a day against swine flu, part of a mammoth effort to reach nearly 7 percent of inhabitants of the world's most populous country by...
Task force doctor stands by mammogram advice
8:52
A member of the independent panel whose new mammogram recommendations have led to confusion defended the task force's report, saying Thursday that it was based on the most up-to-date, accurate information available. ...
FDA panel backs Pfizer's enhanced vaccine for kids
7:43
Federal health experts said Wednesday an updated version of Pfizer's best-selling anti-infection vaccine is safe and effective for infants and toddlers, despite company studies that failed to meet certain goals. The...
Sebelius: Women should get mammograms by age 40
7:03
Women should continue getting regular mammograms starting at age 40, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday, moving to douse confusion caused by a task-force recommendation two days...
Michelle Obama visits Va. school, tours garden
1:58
First Lady Michelle Obama received a few gardening tips from students Wednesday as she toured a Virginia elementary school's vegetable garden. Mrs. Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Hollin Meadows...
Study: CT scans rule out heart attacks faster
1:51
A CT scan _ a kind of super X-ray _ provides a faster, cheaper way to diagnose a heart attack when someone goes to the emergency room with chest pains, a new study suggests. About 6 million people each year go to...
Ex-Kiss drummer: Breast cancer not just for women
10:32
Lying in bed one night in 2007, Peter Criss felt something strange: a small lump on his left breast. "I thought, `It's a nodule, I'm a guy, I don't think it's anything more than that,'" he said. "The more I messed with...
Ex-Kiss drummer: Breast cancer not just for women
5:30
Former Kiss drummer Peter Criss is speaking out about his recent bout with breast cancer. The rocker known as "Catman" is encouraging other men to get tested as soon as they suspect something might be wrong. He says...
Study: New device boosts heart failure survival
9:55
For the first time, a miniature heart pump shows the potential to become a widely used, permanent treatment for many older people with severe heart failure. But can we afford it? In a study of 200 patients, the new...
Don't blame fast food: Mummies had heart disease
9:32
You can't blame this one on McDonald's: Researchers have found signs of heart disease in 3,500-year-old mummies. "We think of it as being caused by modern risk factors," such as fast food, smoking and a lack of...
FDA says heartburn drugs can interfere with Plavix
5:23
Federal health officials said Tuesday a popular variety of heartburn medications can interfere with the blood thinner Plavix, a drug taken by millions of Americans to reduce risks of heart attack and stroke. The Food...
New mammogram advice raises questions, concerns
9:24
For many women, getting a mammogram is already one of life's more stressful experiences. Now, women in their 40s have the added anxiety of trying to figure out if they should even be getting one at all. A government...
Going high-tech to track Alzheimer's patients
3:06
Tom Dougherty jokes that he takes "get-lost walks." To his wife, Cleo, it's a constant fear: When will his Alzheimer's get bad enough that she has to end his 4-mile daily strolls? The Irvine, Calif., woman is about to...
Study: Injured uninsured more likely to die in ER
4:00
Uninsured patients with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance, according to a troubling...
Going high-tech to track Alzheimer's patients
3:16
Tom Dougherty jokes that he takes "get-lost walks." To his wife, Cleo, it's a constant fear: When will his Alzheimer's get bad enough that she has to end his 4-mile daily strolls? The Irvine, Calif., woman is about to...
FDA reviews update to Pfizer vaccine for kids
3:03
Federal health officials on Monday questioned whether to approve an updated version of Pfizer's best-selling anti-infection vaccine for children, despite company studies that failed to meet certain goals. The Prevnar...
Sexually spread diseases up, better testing cited
10:23
Sexually spread diseases continue to rise, with reported chlamydia cases setting yet another record in 2008, government health officials said Monday. Last year there were 1.2 million new cases of chlamydia, a sometimes...
Study raises new questions about Merck pill Zetia
8:20
A new study raises fresh concerns about Zetia and its cousin, Vytorin _ drugs still taken by millions of Americans to lower cholesterol, despite questions raised last year about how well they work. In the study, Zetia...
China investigates 2 deaths after flu vaccinations
1:47
Two people in China who received swine flu vaccinations died in the past week but at least one death appears unrelated to the vaccine and the other was being investigated. The country's health ministry reported the...
FDA approves new drug for heavy menstrual bleeding
3:53
Federal health officials have approved a new drug as the first non-hormonal treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding. The Food and Drug Administration says Lysteda tablets reduce bleeding by acting on a protein that...
Pfizer move vexes those who lost Conn. land fight
3:50
Now that drug giant Pfizer Inc. has announced plans to pull out of a Connecticut city that was embroiled in an epic eminent domain fight, residents are questioning why the battle was ever waged. The company said this...
FDA questions safety of alcoholic energy drinks
3:16
The Food and Drug Administration is challenging makers of alcohol-infused energy drinks to prove their beverages are safe, citing complaints that the products can cause risky behavior and injury. The FDA issued a...
WHO: Keep flu in mind when holding mass gatherings
1:35
Organizers of big sporting and cultural events should take steps to prevent the spread of swine flu, especially if local health systems aren't prepared to handle mass gatherings, the World Health Organization said...
CDC's swine flu toll: 4,000 dead, 22 million ill
9:15
Estimates of deaths caused by the swine flu have grown to nearly 4,000 since April, roughly quadrupling previous estimates. But that doesn't mean swine flu suddenly has worsened. Instead, the federal numbers made...
US adult smoking rate rises slightly
6:41
Cigarette smoking rose slightly for the first time in almost 15 years, dashing health officials' hopes that the U.S. smoking rate had moved permanently below 20 percent. A little under 21 percent of U.S. adults said...
US reports largest mumps outbreak in 3 years
6:39
U.S. health officials say the largest U.S. outbreak of mumps in three years is occurring in New York and New Jersey. About 180 cases were identified in those two states from the time an investigation began in August...
WHO: Give at-risk groups anti-flu drugs early
11:20
Doctors should give anti-viral drugs to pregnant women, young children and other at-risk groups as soon as they show clinical symptoms of swine flu to prevent them developing serious complications, the World Health...
Few Americans make end-of-life wishes known
7:30
Lillian Landry always said she wasn't afraid to die. So when death came last week, the 99-year-old was lying peacefully in a hospice with no needles or tubes. Her final days saw her closest friend at her side and...
Review: Reports on Pfizer drug studies misleading
6:54
Analysis of a dozen published studies testing possible new uses for a Pfizer Inc. epilepsy drug found that reporting of the results was often misleading, indicating the medicine worked better than internal company...
CDC now says 4,000 swine flu deaths in US
5:49
Federal health officials now say that 4,000 or more Americans likely have died from swine flu _ about four times the estimate they've been using. The new, higher figure was first reported by The New York Times. It...
WHO says country measures on swine flu can vary
5:35
Countries can choose from stronger measures like school closures that may slow the spread of swine flu in the beginning, but the disease will continue to spread anyway, a World Health Organization spokesman said...
UN says hunger stunts some 200 million children
5:29
Nearly 200 million children in poor countries have stunted growth because of insufficient nutrition, according to a new report published by UNICEF Wednesday before a three-day international summit on the problem of...
Study: Kidney angioplasty brings risks, no benefit
5:00
If you're among the hundreds of thousands of Americans with clogged kidney arteries, you might want to consider trying medicines before rushing into angioplasty to open them up. The pricey procedure is no more effective...
Chemical BPA in workers linked to sex problems
9:36
Male factory workers in China who got very high doses of a chemical that's been widely used in hard plastic bottles had high rates of sexual problems, researchers reported Wednesday. Heavy exposure to BPA, or bisphenol...
US health care sector is a fairly green giant
4:08
Health care, a giant in the U.S. economy, may be a gentle giant when it comes to greenhouse gases. According to the first estimate of the sector's carbon footprint, the health care industry emits less than its share of...
AMA votes to seek repeal of 'don't ask,don't tell'
3:20
The American Medical Association on Tuesday voted to oppose the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and declared that gay marriage bans contribute to health disparities. The nation's largest doctors' group...
Experts: Placebo power behind many natural cures
3:16
EDITOR'S NOTE: Ten years and $2.5 billion in research have found no cures from alternative medicine. Yet these mostly unproven treatments are now mainstream and used by more than a third of all Americans. This is one in...
UK starts study on using human DNA in animals
7:29
British scientists begin a new study on Tuesday to consider how human DNA is used in animal experiments and to determine what the boundaries of such controversial science might be. Though experts have been swapping...