Alzheimer's Theory Set for Drug Test
May 01, 2006
A provocative new theory suggests that one root cause of Alzheimer's disease is linked to diabetes — a theory about to be tested in thousands of Alzheimer's patients given the diabetes drug Avandia in hopes of slowing brain decay.

Woman Says She Has Feeling in New Face
Apr 30, 2006
The French woman who received the world's first partial face transplant has complete feeling in the new tissue five months after the operation, she told a Sunday newspaper.

Hospitals Offer Obesity Programs for Kids
Apr 28, 2006
As the waistlines of America's young keep expanding, more hospitals are establishing weight management centers for kids. The programs offer a variety of resources, from nutritional counseling to bariatric surgery for the most extreme cases.

Man With Face Transplant May Need Surgery
Apr 27, 2006
The Chinese surgeon who led a partial face transplant on a farmer said Wednesday his patient might still need one or two more surgeries before his new face will be complete.

Percentage of Uninsured Americans Rising
Apr 26, 2006
The percentage of working-age Americans with moderate to middle incomes who lacked health insurance for at least part of the year rose to 41 percent in 2005, a dramatic increase from the 28 percent in 2001 without coverage, a study released on Wednesday found.

U.S. Records Drastic Decline in Death Rate
Apr 20, 2006
In what appears to be an amazing success for American medicine, preliminary government figures released Wednesday showed that the annual number of deaths in the U.S. dropped by nearly 50,000 in 2004 — the biggest decline in nearly 70 years.

'Closed-Heart Surgery' Is Newest Frontier
Apr 01, 2006
Dr. Samuel Lichtenstein cut a 2-inch hole between an elderly man's ribs. Peering inside, he poked a pencil-sized wire up into the chest, piercing the bottom of the man's heart. Within minutes, Bud Boyer would have a new heart valve — without having his chest cracked open. Call it closed-heart surgery.

Groups Want Warnings Taken Off Drug Ads
Mar 31, 2006
Saying "less is more," a coalition of advertising and public relations groups wants to strip most of the warnings from prescription drug ads aimed at consumers.

Medical Marijuana Issue Returns to Court
Mar 27, 2006
Each time the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on medical marijuana, the justices have come down against allowing the sick and dying to use the drug to ease their symptoms and possibly prolong life.

Bird Flu Spreads to Third African Country
Feb 27, 2006
The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed Monday in birds in a third African country, deepening experts' fears that the disease may be far more widespread than reported on the continent.