Senate’s “fiscal cliff” bill packed with sweeteners

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate packed an eclectic mix of handouts and takebacks into its last-minute deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” including a measure to repeal part of President Barack Obama‘s signature healthcare overhaul and a string of special interest tax breaks.At the center of the 157-page bill adopted early Tuesday are provisions to raise taxes on the wealthiest households and to make...

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New Year’s Resolutions For Better Health

New Year’s resolutions are typically so singular, self-focused and private. How about making a resolution or two this year that has benefits beyond yourself? Here are some suggestions with lots of links to get you started.You can help stop the spread of disease. Resolve to get up-to-date on your vaccines. While children have a full slate of vaccines, many adults don’t realize they have regular immunization...

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FDA approves Bristol Myers, Pfizer’s anti-clotting drug Eliquis

(Reuters) – U.S. health regulators approved clot prevention drug Eliquis, developed by Bristol Myers-Squibb Co and Pfizer Inc, for treatment in patients with atrial fibrillation, or irregular heartbeats.The drug, also known as apixaban, was approved by European health regulators last month.Eliquis belongs to a new class of medicines designed to replace decades-old warfarin for preventing blood clots...

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Surival Rates Similar for Two Types of Abdominal Aneurysm Repairs

Less-invasive surgery isn’t necessarily better than an open procedure to repair a potentially fatal abdominal aortic aneurysm. That’s the conclusion of researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who found similar survival rates for both types of procedures.The medical community was enthusiastic about a new, less-invasive procedure assumed to be safer and better than traditional...

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Mayo Scientists Link Enzyme to Aggressive Prostate Cancer

Researchers from the Mayo Clinic have directly linked an enzyme to aggressive prostate cancer. They’ve also developed a compound that restricts the ability of the molecule to fuel metastases of this type of cancer.The team from Mayo’s Florida campus identified the first direct relationship between the enzyme known as PRSS3 to prostate cancer, according to Medical News Today. They published their results...

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Link between pot, psychosis goes both ways in kids

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Marijuana (cannabis) use may be linked to the development of psychotic symptoms in teens – but the reverse could also be true: psychosis in adolescents may be linked to later pot use, according to a new Dutch study.“We have focused mainly on temporal order; is it the chicken or the egg? As the study shows, it is a bidirectional relationship,” wrote the study’s lead author...

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Few tests done at toxic sites after superstorm

OLD BRIDGE, N.J. (AP) — For more than a month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said that the recent superstorm didn’t cause significant problems at any of the 247 Superfund toxic waste sites it’s monitoring in New York and New Jersey.But in many cases, no actual tests of soil or water are being conducted, just visual inspections.The EPA conducted a handful of tests right after the storm,...

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Mother loses UK legal fight to stop son’s cancer radiotherapy

LONDON (Reuters) – A mother in Britain, who was so desperate to stop her cancer-stricken son having to undergo conventional medical treatment that she went into hiding with him, lost a court battle on Friday to prevent him receiving radiotherapy.The case of Sally Roberts, 37, a New Zealander living in Brighton, southern England, and the plight of her seven-year-old son has made headlines in Britain.Roberts...

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Apothecarie New York Launches New Obagi Hydrate Moisturizer for All-Day Skin Hydration

The multi-action compound provides speedy relief and rejuvenation, and continues to release active compounds for all-day moisturizing protection from wind, sun and environmental elements. Obagi Hydrate, part of the Obagi Nu-Derm System, rejuvenates and restores skin cells to health and vitality.Brooklyn, NY (PRWEB) December 19, 2012Apothecarie New York, a premiere provider of skin care products from...

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Number of new drugs picks up in Europe and U.S.

LONDON (Reuters) – The number of new medicines approved or pending approval is on the rise on both sides of the Atlantic, painting an encouraging picture for the global drugs industry as it emerges from a wave of patent expiries.European regulators said on Tuesday that they expect an increase in new drug applications to about 54 in 2013. In the United States, a total of 34 new drugs have been approved...

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Inherited colon cancer risk tied to certain foods

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Among people who have a genetic susceptibility to colon cancer, those whose diets are heavy in junk food have an even higher risk, according to a new study.“These patients have this very high risk because of this (genetic) mutation they have, but it might be that they could reduce the number of (tumors) by having a more healthy lifestyle,” said Akke Botma, the lead author...

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Boehner opens door to tax hikes, shifts U.S. fiscal cliff talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner‘s offer to accept a tax rate increase for the wealthiest Americans knocks down a key Republican road block to a deal resolving the year-end “fiscal cliff.”The question now boils down to what President Barack Obama offers in return. Such major questions, still unanswered so close to the end of the year suggest, however, that...

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Mental health scars common after cardiac arrest

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – A quarter of cardiac arrest survivors suffer long-term psychological problems such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, a new review of research estimates.This additional stress on recovering patients is under-diagnosed, researchers say, and doctors have few standard methods for identifying who is at risk.“Anxiety, depression and PTSD are major concerns...

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Doctors Fight Leukemia With HIV

Dec 10, 2012 7:33pmImage credit: Christine Chardo Photography for The Tiny Sparrow FoundationBy Ann Reynolds:In April, Emma Brooke Whitehead’s leukemia seemed unbeatable.Emma, a 6-year-old from Phillipsburg, Pa., had been fighting the disease for nearly two years and doctors at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia said there were no standard treatments left.  So they took a gamble on a new, potentially...

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Booze, smokes on agenda for quirky gov’t group

BELTSVILLE, Md. (AP) — Deep in a secure laboratory just outside Washington sits the federal government‘s heaviest smoker.It is a half-ton hulk of a machine, all brushed aluminum and gasping smoke holes, like a retrofit of equipment used on an Industrial Revolution production line. It can smoke 20 cigarettes at once and conclude which are unsafe because they are counterfeit and which are unsafe merely...

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Boehner says Obama pushing U.S. toward “fiscal cliff”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican House Speaker John Boehner accused President Barack Obama of pushing the country toward the “fiscal cliff” on Friday and of wasting another week without making progress in talks.With three weeks left before a combination of steep tax hikes and deep spending cuts kicks in unless Congress intervenes, Boehner said the administration had adopted a “my way or the highway”...

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Obama, Boehner talk; Geithner prepared to go off “cliff”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republicans in Congress and President Barack Obama consumed much of Wednesday talking up their positions on the “fiscal cliff” and though Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner spoke by phone, neither side offered any new compromises in public.Nor was the phone call, a rarity, followed by any immediate announcement of a face-to-face meeting that has been widely anticipated...

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