Bat Saliva Drug May Improve Stroke Outcome
Feb 05, 2005
The results of a small study suggest that desmoteplase, an investigational clot-busting drug derived from vampire bat saliva, safely restores blood supply to the brain when administered up to 9 hours after a stroke occurs.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Raises Heart Death Risk - Study
Feb 04, 2005
Rheumatoid arthritis seems to raise the risk of silent heart disease in patients -- even before they know they have the chronic condition, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

Expert Sees Obesity Hitting U.S. Life Expectancy
Feb 03, 2005
Life expectancy in the United States is set to drop within the next 50 years due to obesity, one of the world's top experts on the subject said on Wednesday.

Half of Bankruptcy Due to Medical Bills -- U.S. Study
Feb 02, 2005
Half of all U.S. bankruptcies are caused by soaring medical bills and most people sent into debt by illness are middle-class workers with health insurance, researchers said on Wednesday.

Medicare to Cover Viagra Under New Drug Benefit
Feb 01, 2005
Viagra, the blockbuster impotence drug, will be paid for under Medicare's new prescription drug coverage, officials said on Tuesday.

Study: Smoking Harms Women More Than Men
Jan 31, 2005
Cigarette smoking is more harmful to women than to men, cutting more than a decade off female smokers' life expectancy but much less for their male peers, Dutch government research suggested Monday.

Exercise Can Ease Depression
Jan 30, 2005
Aerobic exercise alone can have a significant impact on mild to moderate depression, says a study by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Medicare Expands Defibrillator Coverage
Jan 28, 2005
About 500,000 Medicare beneficiaries can now receive coverage for expensive defibrillators — if they agree to release details about their cases to a database shared by hospitals, Medicare officials said.

Pregnancy Outcomes Worsening for Diabetic Women
Jan 27, 2005
Women with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for several poor pregnancy outcomes compared with the general population, and with women who have type 1 diabetes, a Danish study shows.

Mental Health Charity Calls for Cannabis Probe
Jan 27, 2005
A British health charity called on Saturday for an investigation into evidence that smoking cannabis may cause psychosis in people at risk of mental illness.