Health Information

Reuters - A study in Taiwan has found that smokers are twice as likely to develop active tuberculosis compared to people who have never smoked, prompting calls for policymakers to be tougher on smoking.

AP - Calls to poison control centers about teens abusing attention-deficit drugs soared 76 percent over eight years, sobering evidence about the dangerous consequences of prescription misuse, a study shows.

AFP - More than two dozen pharmaceutical companies are racing against the clock to test, produce and ship more than a billion doses of swine flu vaccines to anxious populations worldwide bracing for a second wave of infection.

Reuters - Calls to poison control centers for U.S. teenagers who have overdosed on attention deficit drugs rose 76 percent over eight years, researchers reported on Monday.

HealthDay - SUNDAY, Aug. 23 (HealthDay News) — Medics and doctors are used
to participating in a flurry of activity when trying to save a person
who’s had a cardiac arrest — inserting IVs, placing a breathing tube,
performing defibrillation to restart the heart.

HealthDay - SUNDAY, Aug. 23 (HealthDay News) — Children who are nervous
about the new school year can relax by practicing “mindfulness” during
anxious moments, researchers say.

AP - An independent senator counted on by Democrats in the health care debate showed signs of wavering Sunday when he urged President Barack Obama to postpone many of his initiatives because of the economic downturn.

Reuters - Warner Chilcott Ltd, a specialty drug maker, is acquiring Procter & Gamble Co’s prescription drug business for about $3 billion, two sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

Reuters - U.S. Democrats may sidestep Republican opposition to a sweeping healthcare overhaul by using Senate rules to pass some reform measures, a leading senator said on Sunday.