Health News

Health News for 04/26/11

April 26, 2011

Blacks With Cancer More Inclined to Exhaust Funds to Prolong Life: Study

White patients with lung or colorectal cancer are less willing than patients of other races or ethnicities to use up their personal financial resources to prolong their life, a new study finds.

Frailty Prevalence May Rise Throughout Adulthood

Rates of physical frailty increase throughout adulthood, not just after age 65, a new study finds.

Antidepressants Work Overall, But Some Symptoms May Persist

Antidepressants may not improve all symptoms of depression, according to a new study.

Girls Less Likely Than Boys to Be on Kidney Transplant List

Girls are much less likely than boys to be placed on a kidney transplant waiting list, a new study finds.

Anxiety's on the Menu for People With Food Allergies

Every time her teenage daughter Jordyn leaves the house, Nancy Geller worries about the food her daughter might choose to eat. Jordyn has a severe peanut allergy, and exposure to even a small amount of a peanut-containing food could cause a life-threatening allergic reaction.

Severely Obese Teens No More Depressed Than Slimmer Peers

Severely obese teens are no more likely to be depressed than their normal weight peers, new research suggests.

Being 'Housebound' Linked to Alzheimer's in Elderly

Seniors who are "housebound" seem to have nearly double the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, a new study suggests.

'Health Literacy' Called Key for Heart Failure Patients

Heart failure patients with low levels of "health literacy" are at increased risk of hospitalization and death, a new study finds.

Don't Blame Memory for Trouble Switching Tasks

Slowing of the brain's processing speed as people age is the prime cause of typical communication problems in older adults, new research indicates.

Health Tip: Taking a Cruise?

Each year, millions of passengers embark from North American ports on cruise vacations.

Health Tip: Eyeing Macular Degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the United States and many European countries. The neovascular or "wet" form of the disease is responsible for 90 percent of cases of severe vision loss.

One in 1,000 Newborns Develops Blood Poisoning: Study

Most cases of bloodstream infections (sepsis) among newborns in the United States are caused by group B streptococci (GBS) and E. coli, a new study finds.

Evidence-Based Heart Attack Care Reduces Deaths: Study

The increased use of evidence-based treatments for heart attacks, such as clot-busting drugs and rapid angioplasty, has led to a decrease in deaths, a new study finds.

Many Kids With Epilepsy Don't Take Meds as Prescribed: Study

Nearly three of every five children diagnosed with epilepsy do not take their antiseizure medicine as prescribed over the first six months of treatment, a new study shows.

Fewer Med Students Training as Primary-Care Doctors: Study

As researchers warn of a serious shortage of primary-care physicians, a new study finds the percentage of medical students who want to go into general internal medicine has dropped sharply over the past two decades.

Health Highlights: April 26, 2011

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Vitamin E, Diabetes Drug May Not Ease Obesity-Linked Liver Trouble in Kids

Neither vitamin E nor the diabetes medication metformin worked any better than a placebo in treating fatty liver disease in children, according to new research.