One out of every eight Americans has hearing loss in both ears, according to a new study — and as many as one in five are hard of hearing on at least one side.
Researchers found that hearing problems were more common in men than in women and in whites than in blacks. As expected, they also increased with age.
The prevalence of hearing loss “was pretty shocking,” said Dr. Frank Lin, from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, who worked on the study.
“There’s a common Read More »
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 16 (HealthDay News) — Jakafi (ruxolitinib) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the first drug to treat myelofibrosis, a rare disease of the bone marrow, the agency said Wednesday.
In cases of myelofibrosis, healthy bone marrow is replaced by scar tissue, causing blood cells to be made in the liver, spleen and other organs. Symptoms often include an enlarged spleen, anemia, a decrease in white blood cells and platelets, fatigue, abdominal discomfort, Read More »
Patients who had a CT scan to check for build-up in the arteries around the heart had more surgeries, and more costly medical care, than those who had their hearts checked with basic stress tests, in a new study.
While researchers couldn’t tell if those extra costly procedures were really called for, they said the findings suggest that doctors may detect small changes in the arteries on CT scans that lead them to do more invasive, potentially unnecessary, surgeries.
So-called CT angiography Read More »
Say you’ve had a heart attack and your insurer offered you free medicines to help prevent another one. Doctors did that in a major study and were stunned to find that only about half of patients took them.
Those who did suffered fewer heart-related problems and saved $500 on average for health care over roughly a year. And it didn’t cost the insurer more; in fact, costs were trending lower because of fewer hospitalizations.
“People don’t get as sick, and it’s people getting sick that Read More »
Confirming widespread beliefs by doctors and parents alike, the color of phlegm coughed up by people is indeed a good indicator of whether that person has a bacterial infection, an international group of researchers found.
Green or yellow “sputum,” as clinicians call it, more often than not reflects a bacterial infection, whereas clear, white or rust colored phlegm most likely does not, according to the new study.
The results could help doctors determine whether or not a patient would Read More »
FRIDAY, Nov. 11 (HealthDay News) — Vaccination has greatly reduced the incidence of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) among young children in the United States over the past 20 years, a new study finds.
That strain of flu was once the most common cause of bacterial meningitis. The Hib vaccine was introduced in the mid-1980s.
But the researchers also found that other strains of H. influenzae continue to threatren the youngest and oldest people in the United States, Read More »
Men who pass a screening process and donate to sperm banks in Sweden score better on personality measures, such as responsibility, confidence and self-acceptance, than other men in their peer group, a new study concludes.
The results are reassuring for a country that, by law, allows children to track down the sperm donors who contributed to their conception.
The personality characteristics of the Swedish sperm donors “show that they will be able to handle it if in the future somebody Read More »
(HealthDay News) — The annual seasonal flu vaccine is available as a shot and a nasal spray, but the nasal spray isn’t recommended for everyone.
The American Academy of Family Physicians says these people should not get the nasal spray version of the flu vaccine:
Children under age 2, or adults aged 50 and older. Anyone with a chronic health condition or a weak immune system. Anyone taking aspirin therapy. Women who are pregnant. Anyone with Guillain-Barre syndrome, diabetes, Read More »
Russia will impose a ban on imports of live pigs from Germany from November 15 for safety reasons after a case in which elevated levels of poisonous dioxin were found in a feed ingredient, health watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said on Wednesday.
“We are worried about the absence of coordination between the (German) federal and local veterinary services,” Alexei Alexeyenko, a spokesman for the watchdog said, explaining the ban.
“As a result we do not have sufficient guarantees that pigs are Read More »
A government-backed expert panel joined in the fight against skin cancer on Tuesday with a proposal urging doctors to counsel fair-skinned youths about sun protection.
“The definition of fair skin is it doesn’t tan very well, so stop trying!” said Dr. Virginia Moyer, head of the Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). “All you are doing is damaging your skin.”
The new proposal, posted in draft form on the USPSTF’s website, is the latest attempt to shield Americans against the cancer-promoting Read More »
