Health News

New model of female condom could bring wider use: By DAVID CRARY; NEW YORK - Advocates of the female condom are promoting a less costly, more user-friendly version that they hope will vastly expand its role in the global fight against AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. An early version... Full story

Being obese shortens your life: By MARIA CHENG; LONDON - Being obese can take years off your life and in some cases may be as dangerous as smoking, a new study says. British researchers at the University of Oxford analyzed 57 studies mostly in Europe and North America, following... Full story

More evidence links diabetes to Alzheimer's risk: By LAURAN NEERGAARD; WASHINGTON - You've heard that diabetes hurts your heart, your eyes, your kidneys. New research indicates a more ominous link: That diabetes increases the risk of getting Alzheimer's disease and may speed dementia once it strikes. ... Full story

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Fine-tune workout to rule slopes: Milo Bryant - The Gazette; Folks, ski season is coming. And more than a few of you have asked questions about getting in skiing shape. Even when we're in great shape there are things we can do to help improve our ability to ski better and, if you ski as badly as I do,... Full story

U.S. needs czar to coordinate health efforts: America needs a trainer.; By Milo Bryant, The Gazette; America needs a trainer. The country needs somebody qualified to help whip our butts into shape. That somebody would have the power to command, influence and draw resources from various aspects of the government to help us get in better shape. This... Full story

Gradual shift in habits helps avoid fitness-program rebellion: Impatience can kill even the best fitness programs.; By Milo Bryant, The Gazette; Impatience can kill even the best fitness programs. Folks are aware that too many kids in the United States are overweight or obese. We even know how to reverse the situation and how to prevent it. We know that more physical activity helps. We know... Full story

Study: New flu inefficient in attacking people WASHINGTON (AP) -- With swine flu continuing to spread around the world, researchers say they have found the reason it is - so far - more a series of local blazes than a wide-raging wildfire. The new virus, H1N1, has a protein on its surface that is not very efficient at binding with receptors in people's respiratory tracts, researchers at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology report in Friday's edition of the journal Science....
Advocates are back with real health care stories CHICAGO (AP) -- When carpenter Greg Douglas crashed his pickup truck, his toolbox hit him and smashed his ribs and collarbone. After a month in the hospital, the medical bills hit him even harder, totaling $165,000....
Federal probe finds problems with chelation study A federal investigation has found that heart attack survivors enrolled in a study of a controversial alternative medicine treatment were not told enough about potential dangers from the drug being tested, including death....