THURSDAY, Feb. 5 (HealthDay News) — Last summer, Keith Blessington had just been told that he was eligible for private health insurance to replace his government-funded COBRA coverage when it ran out.
Then, the 55-year-old New Hampshire resident was diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer, and everything changed.
Although the COBRA coverage paid for most of the cost of his initial surgery, by the time he got out of the hospital having had half Read the rest of this entry »

don’t really need them, and kids who eat poorly and are most likely to benefit from nutritional supplements rarely get them, a new study reports.
The results surprised researchers, said lead author Dr. Ulfat Shaikh, a pediatrician at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine who treats children with nutritional problems.
,” she said. “We actually found the opposite.”
The children who used supplements the Read the rest of this entry »

Your infant has been crying – a lot. That’s what babies do. But how do you know if your baby has colic? I asked Dr. Charles Shubin, director of pediatrics at Mercy FamilyCare, a division of Family Health Centers of Baltimore, to provide today’s Consult.
Colic, Shubin explained, is not a defined medical disease but a diagnosis that’s made when doctors and parents have ruled out other reasons for a baby’s discomfort. But here are some of the signs Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Many people who opt for homeopathic therapy for their chronic ills report lasting improvements in their health, a new study finds.
Among patients at more than 100 German and Swiss homeopathic practices, researchers found that many reported long-term improvements in chronic conditions such as headaches, allergies and sleep problems.
However, the findings do not necessarily mean the controversial alternative therapy is Read the rest of this entry »

Human rights organizations, health groups and some foreign governments have united in condemning Senegal for imprisoning nine local
activists.
, tried in two weeks and sentenced to eight years in prison for “unnatural acts” and “belonging to a criminal association.” Their group, AIDES Senegal, gave
and counseling to gay men.
said the men were beaten in detention.
The arrests and harsh sentences came as a surprise Read the rest of this entry »

: Our cameras were rolling as Fort Myers Police stopped a man suspected of driving a stolen car, but the car may not have been stolen – just temporarily ‘traded.’
Fort Myers Police surrounded a white Dodge Neon at Winkler Avenue and Fowler Streets in Fort Myers around 9 a.m. The car had been reported stolen.
The driver told police the car wasn’t stolen, it was loaned to him in exchange for drugs.
Officers say it’s a weekly occurrence – and Read the rest of this entry »

Suddenly flushed, sweating and agitated, Jan Lefler of Roswell re-read the drug information pamphlet Walgreens sent home with her prescription for a new osteoporosis drug.
The pamphlet made no mention of the symptoms as a potential side effect of the drug — although they are. Had she picked up her prescription from Rite Aid instead, that store’s pamphlet would have at least alerted her that the drug could cause “flushing of the Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – According to their parents, pre-school children have somewhat better diets than school-age children, but both groups fall short when it comes to getting recommended amounts of exercise.
Dr. Hollie A. Raynor, of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and co-investigators, assessed parents’ reports of their children’s diet and activity levels. Of 174 boys and girls, about half (49 percent) were preschoolers (2 to 5.9 Read the rest of this entry »

In addition to dealing with the day-to-day aspects of diabetes management that involve blood glucose, nutrition and lifestyle management, men in the United States with diabetes are also grappling with other physical, emotional and sexual health issues according to survey findings released today by the
.
According to the research, only 30% of men surveyed claimed to know “a lot” about their disease and only one quarter (25%) of men with diabetes Read the rest of this entry »

A mother or father who is using methamphetamine and has children can face dire consequences in the criminal-justice and child-welfare systems: drug charges and having children taken into foster care, coupled with drug-abuse treatment.
Families struggling with drug and alcohol abuse remain the biggest factor in child abuse and/or neglect cases, according to Oregon Department of Human Services Children and Families Division.
“The kids didn’t make Read the rest of this entry »