Selected recent articles regarding consumer health issues and trends. http://becker.wustl.edu/resources/consumer/index2.html http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Tue, 6 May 2008 09:58:32 -0500 Tue, 6 May 2008 09:57:27 -0500 FeedForAll v2.0 (2.0.2.0) http://www.feedforall.com Prices of prescription drugs can vary by $100 or more for the same drug from store to store -- and even within the same chain. So it pays to shop around, a new survey found (HealthDay News). http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=615218 3539307B-E490-4246-8DC3-334E64E46927 Tue, 6 May 2008 09:38:30 -0500 New research shows that only half of American mothers intend to have their teenaged daughters vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) if the girls are under the age of 13, despite government guidelines that suggest the opposite (HealthDay News). http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_64198.html 491B4C77-3B5D-4735-9008-9F2779708299 Tue, 6 May 2008 09:56:08 -0500 Despite the high cost of fuel and long airline security lines, millions of summer travelers will be hitting the nation's roads and airports this summer for vacation. But for the seasonal allergy sufferer, traveling can produce unique obstacles and challenges, particularly in the summer (Reuters Health). http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_64202.html 855E96EC-C2AB-4904-8BAE-725AB53EE819 Tue, 6 May 2008 09:57:27 -0500 Have asthma or think you might? Then May is the month for you to get a handle on this common breathing disease. Free asthma screenings are scheduled to be held at 250 locations across the United States as part of National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month. The American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology sponsors the annual effort, and this year the emphasis is on helping those already diagnosed with asthma to get it under control as best they can (HealthDay New). http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=614979 CCA38A78-A246-4BD3-82F6-41E043EF26EA Fri, 2 May 2008 08:45:20 -0500 The way America produces meat, milk and eggs is unsustainable, creates significant risks to public health from antibiotic resistance and disease, damages the environment and unnecessarily harms animals, a report released Tuesday says (USA Today). http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-04-29-animal-farms_N.htm D0E1D857-9D8F-40A5-99F8-AF299D559471 Fri, 2 May 2008 09:07:22 -0500 Staying healthy and happy is a struggle for about half of Americans, according to a massive survey that attempts to measure the nation's general welfare, much like the Dow Jones Industrial Average portrays the health of the stock market (AP). http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-04-30-health-happiness_N.htm B90DA573-33EC-459F-82F0-BD7898BF5547 Fri, 2 May 2008 09:01:50 -0500 With age comes wisdom, and now new research suggests happiness tags along for the ride. Surveys of Americans taken since 1972 suggest that plenty of older people are quite happy, with more than half of black men and women over the age of 80 saying they're "very happy," with older white men and women following suit (HealthDay News). http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.asp?docID=614733 18EAF422-4A12-438A-9067-59151E95B142 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:44:19 -0500 Common job-related problems such as conflicts with bosses or co-workers are more likely than long hours, night shifts or job insecurity to cause poor sleep (HealthDay News). http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.asp?docID=614666 EED2667E-D6A8-4456-B9A6-A6DEAD163CF2 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:39:12 -0500 Rising food prices may have people with diabetes and their caregivers wondering if they'll be able to afford a healthy diabetes meal plan. But it's a misconception that these plans have to be costly and consist of high-priced, specialty foods, the American Diabetes Association says (HealthDay News). http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.asp?docID=614171 8536F402-2244-459E-88FA-97F3CFC3283C Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:15:50 -0500 Dyslexia affects different parts of children's brains depending on whether they are raised reading English or Chinese. That finding, reported in Monday's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, means that therapists may need to seek different methods of assisting dyslexic children from different cultures (AP). http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-04-08-dyslexia-language-difference_N.htm 3553D3A1-CE80-4CE2-A924-00E0A15887E8 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:16:44 -0500 A little caffeine every day could offer some protection from Alzheimer's disease for people with high cholesterol. Rabbits given the daily caffeine equivalent of one cup of coffee and fed a cholesterol-rich diet for 12 weeks suffered relatively little damage in their blood-brain barrier (BBB), which protects the central nervous system from the rest of the body's circulation, new research found (HealthDay News). http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_63223.html 28A73EC2-7911-487D-B40C-174C4AB67BBC Fri, 11 Apr 2008 08:41:41 -0500 A person who maintains aerobic fitness may delay biological aging by up to 12 years, a new analysis shows. Jogging and other types of aerobic exercise improve the body's oxygen consumption and its use in generating energy (metabolism). However, a steady decline in maximal aerobic power begins in middle age, decreasing about 5 ml/ (kg. min) every decade, according to the information in the analysis (HealthDay News). http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_63235.html ED3A4486-CFBE-4CD1-81A7-52AC8C5F0E19 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 08:41:07 -0500 Birth control options are growing for women 40 and older - a group that once viewed its choices as pretty much limited to tube-tying surgery and condoms. For them, the pill is back. So is the intrauterine device (IUD). The reason is that both are safer. There's even a non-surgical method of tube-tying (Associated Press). http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-04-04-contraception_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip EEA001BD-30A5-4BC3-9E99-442EAB06F432 Fri, 4 Apr 2008 08:18:46 -0500 Although most cancer survivors polled in a recent survey said they had been fearful of undergoing chemotherapy, most also said the treatments were much less trying than they had expected (HealthDay News). http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=614208 50DFC301-A3D3-488D-AB54-F4C6D2772C4A Fri, 4 Apr 2008 08:18:14 -0500 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly twenty percent of American adults smoke cigarettes. Among immigrant communities that rate is generally much higher (KWMU). http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kwmu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1255036 29E0D68C-3EBF-4259-9850-2A4C9F7EEA41 Fri, 4 Apr 2008 08:30:00 -0500 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), today posted new survey information at the Hospital Compare consumer Web site offering consumers more insight about the hospitals in their communities (CMS Office of Public Affairs). http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2008pres/03/20080328a.html 07525BC4-5491-4CB6-8D34-E900FB941EA1 Tue, 1 Apr 2008 08:56:25 -0500 A combination of testosterone and progestin suppresses sperm production faster and more completely than testosterone alone, according to an analysis by an international team of researchers. The scientists said that hormonal contraception may become a safe, effective and reversible form of male birth control (HealthDay News). http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_62773.html C70907BA-EEBA-4E24-89B0-669A32353796 Tue, 1 Apr 2008 08:57:49 -0500 A majority of American doctors now support the concept of national health insurance, which represents a shift in thinking over the past five years, a new survey finds (HealthDay News). http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.asp?docID=613954 66B8BAFA-8BCE-4192-8613-4AE87617C4BD Tue, 1 Apr 2008 08:58:35 -0500