Trace arsenic in water may be linked with diabetes
CHICAGO (AP) -- A new analysis of government data is the first to link low-level arsenic exposure, possibly from drinking water, with Type 2 diabetes, researchers say. The study's limitations make more research necessary. And public water systems were on their way to meeting tougher U.S. arsenic standards as the data were collected....
Stem cell advance may help transfusion supplies
NEW YORK (AP) -- Scientists say they've found an efficient way to make red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells, a possible step toward making transfusion supplies in the laboratory. The promise of a virtually limitless supply is tantalizing because of blood donor shortages and disappointments in creating blood substitutes....
New study backs angioplasty through the wrist
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The best path to a clogged heart may be through the wrist. About a million artery-clearing angioplasties are performed in the United States each year, and the usual route is to thread a tube to the heart through an artery in the groin....
More women are having fewer children, if at all
WASHINGTON (AP) -- More women in their early 40s are childless, and those who are having children are having fewer than ever before, the Census Bureau said Monday....
California fines 18 hospitals for shoddy care
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Eighteen hospitals in California were fined for state health code violations in which patients received shoddy care that in some cases led to deaths....
Study: You can chew gum and get well at same time
CHICAGO (AP) -- Can you chew gum and recover from surgery at the same time? British researchers say it's a great idea for some patients. Chewing gum may speed the return of normal bowel function after colon surgery, a new analysis of five studies suggests. Some patients have trouble moving their bowels after colon surgery but chewing gum may fool the body into good digestion....
Vitamin D's wild days: Who to test, what to take?
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Don't be surprised if your doctor orders a vitamin D test during your next physical. Blood tests to check levels of the so-called sunshine vitamin are on the rise as doctors and patients react to headline-grabbing research that suggests having too little may not only hurt your bones - it might increase your risk of certain cancers or heart disease....
FDA reports deaths with diabetes drug Byetta
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators are working on a stronger label for a widely used diabetes drug marketed by Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. after deaths were reported with the medication despite earlier government warnings....
Researchers: Merck Vioxx study was for marketing
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- A 1999 Merck & Co. study of its since-withdrawn painkiller Vioxx, touted to participating doctors and patients as meant to show whether Vioxx caused fewer stomach problems than another drug, was primarily a stealth marketing strategy, researchers report....
Corbett
