Taking a diagnostic blood test while hospitalized is a fairly routine process. Most don't think twice about them. But for heart attack patients, such tests could lead to hospital-acquired anemia.

Recreational activities such as golfing, hiking and swimming might do more than provide for a fun family weekend. They also appear to cut your risk of peripheral arterial disease, the narrowing of leg arteries.

Clot busting drugs reduce stroke disability, yet patients often don't receive the treatment. It appears that graduating neurology residents are becoming more comfortable with using the drug.

Inherited bleeding and clotting disorders are not well understood. Scientists hope that a study to create human platelet cells, which could aid chemotherapy patients in need of platelet transfusions, will provide insight into platelet function.

Strokes can be tough to treat. Scientists have discovered a common genetic thread with plaques that can build up and lead to stroke. It could be a key piece of the puzzle in new treatments.

In the United States, there is only one approved aplastic anemia drug today. Doctors pondered whether a potent medication approved in Europe may better treat anemia.

Doctors usually must wait 48 hours to learn the results of blood tests for the heavy metal manganese. A new lab-on-a-chip sensor will simplify and streamline that test. It can produce results in 10 minutes.

The medication Gleevec ( imatinib ) remains the standard of care for people newly diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia ( CML ). But not all patients respond well to this medicine, and now they have an alternative.

There's the traditional "stroke belt" across the southeastern United States where death from stroke is much higher. But new research suggests there also is a "blood stream infection belt" that very closely mirrors the stroke belt.

Joint replacement surgery might seem fairly routine in today's on-demand health care system. The added risk for blood clots in the lungs following knee operations can add an extra complication.