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Swine flu causes hospitals to tighten restrictions on visitors
Published October 20, 2009
WASHINGTON — Visiting a loved one in the hospital? Better check on new flu limits first.
Day care menus get makeover to fight kids’ obesity
Published October 13, 2009
WASHINGTON — Grilled chicken replaced hot dogs. Strawberries instead of cookies at snack time. No more fruit juice — water or low-fat milk only. This is the new menu at a Delaware day care center, part of a fledgling movement to take the fight against obesity to pudgy preschoolers.
A new health center is born in southwest Alaska
Published October 6, 2009
DILLINGHAM - Dillingham resident Joan Junge has delivered about 250 babies during her career as a nurse practitioner and midwife. Birthing is where the miracles are, she says.
U.S. has no good system to track medical implants
Published October 6, 2009
NEW YORK — Three years ago, the maker of a surgical clip called the Hem-o-lok issued an urgent recall notice warning doctors to stop using the fasteners on living kidney donors. It said the clips could dislodge in their bodies, with “serious, even life-threatening consequences.”
Get a flu shot if you’re pregnant
Published September 29, 2009
WASHINGTON — It’s hard for pregnant women to escape the message: You’re at extra risk from swine flu — it could trigger premature labor, hospitalize you for weeks, even kill you — so be among the first in line for vaccine next month.
Researchers seek to discover flu infection before symptoms show
Published September 22, 2009
WASHINGTON — Coughed on by somebody with the flu? Duke University researchers are developing a test to determine — with a mere drop of blood — who will get sick before the sniffling and fever set in.
Shower heads can harbor harmful bacteria
Published September 15, 2009
WASHINGTON — In what might be the scariest shower news since Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” a study shows showerheads can harbor bacteria that come spraying into your face when you wash.
Army chaplain tends to wounded warriors
Published September 11, 2009
FORT LEWIS, Wash. — For the soldiers of the Warrior Transition Battalion, life has taken an unexpected turn.
Surgery warranty? It's more likely than you might think
Published September 8, 2009
WASHINGTON — If you pay the mechanic $1,000 to fix your transmission and it breaks again next week, the garage should find and fix the problem for free. So if you get an infection following open-heart surgery because the doctor forgot an antibiotic, why are you charged extra to clear up the wound?
Taming the sugar rush can have positive health effects
Published August 25, 2009
A spoonful of sugar? Americans are swallowing 22 teaspoons of sugar each day, and it’s time to cut way back, the American Heart Association says.
Ibuprofen is best for kids with broken arms
Published August 18, 2009
Kids with a broken arm do better on a simple over-the-counter painkiller than on a more powerful prescription combination that includes a narcotic, a surprising study finds.
Health reform reality check
Published August 11, 2009
WASHINGTON — Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said the health care overhaul bill would set up a “death panel.”
States step up tests for sickle cell gene
Published August 4, 2009
WASHINGTON — Thousands of families carry the gene that causes sickle cell disease and don’t know it — even though almost every newborn today is tested for what’s called “sickle cell trait,” and starting this summer more college athletes are getting tested, too.
Pregnant women told to limit western Alaska pike intake
Published July 30, 2009
UNALASKA - State and federal officials are advising pregnant women and young children to limit the amount of northern pike they eat from the Kuskokwim and lower Yukon rivers because the fish contain a toxic form of mercury.
Flu vaccine is good for kids, but few parents follow the example
Published July 28, 2009
WASHINGTON — Most parents like the idea of vaccinating children against swine flu at school, but they’re not so eager to roll up their own sleeves.
