Health News

Nursing Homes: Closed for Business
Many elderly individuals rely on nursing homes to take care of them as they grow less independent. However, those in urban and largely minority neighborhoods are slowly losing access to those nursing homes.
A Little Privacy, Please
McGill University of Montreal has found that patients in private room intensive care are less likely to develop infections than those in multi-bed intensive care units.
You'll Shoot Your Eye Out, Kid
Popular bottle rocket fireworks are responsible for serious eye damage and even loss of vision in children, according to a study at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Acne Just Got Uglier
P. acnes, the bug that causes pimples, might also cause infection from contaminated skin, according to new research.
Crunching the Numbers
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of the Actuary has released a report outlining national health care expenditures.
A Gentler Approach to Dementia
A study by the Institute of Aging Research suggests that treating the symptoms and stress associated with advanced dementia may be more efficient than aggressive treatment for the illness.
Must Be Something in the Water
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have announced new standards and guidelines for fluoride in drinking water.
Not All Drugs are Created Equal
Comparing two drugs used to treat heart failure -- candesartan and losartan -- researchers found that candesartan was linked to a lower risk of death at 1-year and 5-year follow-ups.
Bad Medicine
The question of whether autism can be caused by vaccination with the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine can be put to bed once again, and the answer is still 'no.' In 1998, the British medical journal The Lancet published a paper by Dr. Andrew Wakefield and his colleagues titled “Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children”. It looked at a population of twelve children who had simultaneously developed a bowel disorder, nine of whom also had symptoms of autism, and suggested that both sets of symptoms occurred after the ...
Lacking Quality Evidence
Health care professionals base much of their work on practice guidelines issued by experts. New research shows that this might be problematic.