Health Information

AP - Government health officials are urging people not to panic over estimates of 90,000 people dying from swine flu this fall. “Everything we’ve seen in the U.S. and everything we’ve seen around the world suggests we won’t see that kind of number if the virus doesn’t change,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reuters - The chief executives of the biggest U.S. health insurance companies were called to testify about industry practices before a congressional hearing examining coverage, costs and claim denials.

Reuters - Scientific advisers to President Barack Obama may have asked the government to speed up the availability of swine flu vaccines, but they are unlikely to be ready before October, the new head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

Reuters - New ultra-sensitive blood tests can rapidly detect when heart muscle is dying from a heart attack, even from the moment the patient arrives in the emergency room, according to two studies on Wednesday.

Reuters - Younger Americans are being exposed to worrisome amounts of radiation from medical scans that increase their risk of cancer, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

HealthDay - TUESDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) — For every excess pound piled on
the body, the brain gets a little bit smaller.

HealthDay - TUESDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) — Injecting a therapeutic molecule
into muscle appears to jump-start the production of a crucial protein
that’s missing in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, British
researchers report.

HealthDay - WEDNESDAY, Aug. 26 (HealthDay News) — Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the last
surviving brother in a unique American political dynasty and one of the
most influential senators in history, died late Tuesday night at his
summer home on Cape Cod after a 15-month battle with brain cancer. He was
77.

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) — Labor is induced in about 20 percent of U.S.
pregnant women, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
says.

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) — A hip fracture can be a very serious injury.
People who break a hip are up to 18 percent more likely to die within a
year that other people their age, the American Academy of Orthopaedic
Surgeons says.