UPI Health Business articles from August 2005

UPI Health Business archives from August 2005

The Age of Autism: What epidemic?
August 1, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED One of the core questions about autism is whether it actually has increased at startling rates or if it is just better recognized than it used to be. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in...

RFID chips promise to revamp medicine.
August 1, 2005... Byline: EVA A. SYLWESTER WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- No longer a science-fiction fantasy, radio frequency identification chips are on the market and available for implantation in the human body. While society begins to weigh the...

Experts press for health IT leadership.
August 1, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Experts said the federal government should take the lead in driving information technology to the nation's healthcare industry, but should not impose strict regulations. "We need to...

Race affects people's fear response.
August 1, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have found that humans show greater persistence of a learned fear toward another race than learned fear of their own race. In a study published in the July 29 issue...

More changes for Medicare possible.
August 1, 2005... Byline: RENEE WILLIAMS WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- The prescription-drug benefit changes to Medicare have garnered much attention recently, but Congress also is examining other ways to change the entitlement program that provides...

U.S. hospital infections pervasive.
August 1, 2005... Byline: NIKO KYRIAKOU WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- State laws requiring hospitals to produce report cards on how well they fight patient infections are becoming increasingly popular, particularly because recent studies have documented the...

The Age of Autism: The epidemic debate.
August 2, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED Monday's column featured a letter from Kendra Pettengill of Roseburg, Ore., who challenged the idea that the huge increase in autism diagnoses over the past decade can be explained by better diagnosis. In fact, she...

Caregiving: Talking about cancer.
August 2, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN Part 1 of 2. Until very recently I had not realized that I did not tell a single soul when my father developed bladder cancer when I was 13 in the early 1970s. I never told a friend or teacher in high school or college....

Doctors face many health IT choices.
August 2, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Part 5 of a continuing series. When doctors get together, one continual topic of discussion is computerized medical records, or Health IT, according to Dr. J. Edward Hill, president of the...

Blood recalls spark concern.
August 2, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Enforcement reports released on a weekly basis by the Food and Drug Administration highlight a slew of blood products recalled because they were potentially contaminated with HIV, malaria...

Palmeiro case a 'wake up call'?
August 2, 2005... Byline: RYAN HOLEYWELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Rafael Palmeiro, the Baltimore Orioles baseball star who swatted his 3,000th career hit last month, has told reporters although he has been suspended for using steroids, he did not use...

Equipment suppliers seek Medicare fairness.
August 2, 2005... Byline: LYDELL C. BRIDGEFORD WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- When Medicare implements a competitive-bidding program in 2007 for homecare devices, there is concern that many small providers will be squeezed out of the market. For this reason,...

Ped Med: Don't let the outdoors bug you.
August 3, 2005... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ Summer's sun-splashed days may entice families outdoors to enjoy a backyard barbecue -- but they also can lure a host of hungry bugs ready to take a bite out of human health. August officially begins the peak...

Eat to Live: Curbing food additives.
August 3, 2005... Byline: JULIA WATSON With U.S. food producers appearing unwilling to make any radical nutritional improvements to their processed foods, American consumers should look to the example of U.K. supermarkets for inspiration, and campaign for...

Scientists clone dog for first time.
August 3, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Korean scientists said Wednesday they had cloned a dog for the first time, adding that species to the growing list of mammals that have been cloned successfully. Cloning a dog had...

Drug industry issues ad guidelines.
August 3, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- The pharmaceutical industry has announced voluntary guidelines for drug advertising, but a consumer group said the guidelines are little more than a ruse and criticized the Food and Drug...

Computer says pandemic could be stopped.
August 3, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A new computer program suggests that rapid containment and fast treatment could prevent an avian-flu outbreak from becoming the world's next pandemic, researchers said Wednesday. But...

The Age of Autism: Gene suspects located.
August 3, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED Genetic interactions that appear to create a risk for autism have been identified by researchers at Duke University. The researchers determined that one so-called GABA-receptor gene -- which plays a critical role in...

Pharma favors allowing cloning research.
August 4, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- A survey of more than 460 pharmaceutical-industry scientists and executives has found 72 percent support allowing the cloning of human cells in the context of embryonic-stem-cell...

Critics say flavored smokes cater to kids.
August 4, 2005... Byline: RYAN HOLEYWELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Legislation pending at both the federal and state levels could ban tobacco companies from selling cigarettes with flavors such as "Winter Mocha Mint," "Twista Lime" and "Cinnzabar," which...

Free programs ensure healthcare for kids.
August 4, 2005... Byline: KATHERINE TORRES WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Efforts have increased in the past few years to enroll U.S. children in health-insurance programs, but a new finding by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation indicates the situation...

Most patients can't recall own diagnosis.
August 4, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers report that most patients are unable to list their medications, diagnoses, treatment plans and common side effects of prescribed medications after they leave the...

Drug switch helps breast-cancer patients.
August 4, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Postmenopausal women with early breast cancer do better when they switch from Tamoxifen to another drug after two years of treatment, a new study found. It is the latest research to suggest...

ER heart-attack guidelines simplified.
August 5, 2005... Byline: ANDREW DAMSTEDT WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Simplified guidelines authored by a University of Cincinnati physician could help physicians treat and prevent heart attacks in patients. Dr. Brian Gibler, chairman of UC's...

Health Wrap: Heading off the Big One.
August 5, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- It is a small world after all -- horrifyingly small, if you think about it in a certain way. Consider: the threat of a global flu pandemic that could kill multi-millions if just one...

Drug may help night-shift workers.
August 5, 2005... Byline: EVA A. SYLWESTER WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Working at night and sleeping during the day is not natural for any human body, but some people have trouble adapting to such arrangements to the point where their distress qualifies as...

Exercise may slow Parkinson's.
August 5, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- No treatment works in the long term against Parkinson's disease, but a scientist at the University of Houston thinks a secret weapon is about to be proven effective: exercise. In...

View from the Top: Medical data theft.
August 5, 2005... Byline: PAUL HENRY Most patients who visit the hospital probably do not spend too much time thinking what happens to information in their medical records after they leave, but in the age of outsourcing and subcontracting, the path of a...

Experts question cause of Chinese outbreak.
August 5, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Chinese officials maintain that a mysterious disease in pigs that has also infected and killed humans is an outbreak of swine flu, but the World Health Organization has recommended that...

Caregiving: 'Leave out the horror stories'.
August 8, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN Lori Hope, cancer survivor and author of "Help Me Live: 20 Things People with Cancer Want You To Know," said one of the things people with cancer want to hear is, "Here, I made some of your favorite soup," not, "You look...

Hypnosis overrides reading ability.
August 8, 2005... Byline: EVA A. SYLWESTER WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- It does not seem possible to forget how to read, but U.S. researchers say they have achieved that effect in some people through hypnosis. The researchers -- at the Sackler Institute...

The Age of Autism: But what about 1930?
August 8, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED Sunday's debate on NBC's "Meet the Press" over vaccines and autism gave welcome exposure to an issue that won't go away quietly. Moderator Tim Russert asked Dr. Harvey Fineberg, president of the Institute of...

Group urges Bush to ease stem cell limits.
August 8, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Tuesday marks the fourth anniversary of President Bush's landmark decision on embryonic-stem-cell research, and an advocacy group wants to capitalize on the occasion. "On Aug. 9,...

Law firm questions defibrillator recall.
August 8, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- A law firm that has filed a case in federal court against Guidant Corp. concerning its recent problems with malfunctioning defibrillators said the company may have known about the problem...

Caregiving: Retreats for rest, relaxation.
August 9, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN No one needs a break, a vacation or simply a retreat from everyday life more than a caregiver, but that can be hard to come by. If a caregiver can get respite care or get other family member to take over caregiving...

The Age of Autism: New in name only?
August 9, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- This week's column about the first autism diagnoses brought a quick response from longtime autism researcher Dr. Darold A. Treffert. Treffert is past president of the Wisconsin Medical...

Mich. doctor shortage reflects U.S. trend.
August 9, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- The Michigan State Medical Society said a new analysis indicates the state could be facing a shortage of approximately 6,000 physicians in the near future, a problem that also is growing...

The Driving Doctor: Take time to observe.
August 9, 2005... Byline: PHIL BERARDELLI Part of becoming a better and safer driver means achieving a deeper sense of the impact of unsafe driving -- how it appears to others and the effect it has on those by the roadside. This is something you cannot...

Ped Med: Safe fun in the sea and sun.
August 10, 2005... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ Whether vacationing on land or sea, in the field or on a boat, an ounce of prevention can be worth no less than a child's life. To minimize risk of injury for the 30 million under-age summertime athletes, Dr....

Eat to Live: Meeting a culture with food.
August 10, 2005... Byline: JULIA WATSON As nations, particularly in Europe, struggle with conflicting views on the consequences of their immigration policies, it might be worth remembering some of the many positive results of the movement of foreigners into...

Chinese government fights obesity.
August 10, 2005... Byline: ANNE PESSALA WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- One unintended consequence of China's economic growth is its rising rate of obesity, particularly in children, and the government is searching for a solution. Thirty percent of the...

HHS 'czar' to jumpstart health IT.
August 10, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Part 6 of an occasional series. One of the main reasons healthcare has lagged behind all other U.S. industries in becoming computerized is because of the way it is organized -- it is a...

Pfizer files with FDA for Sutent approval.
August 10, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Pfizer Inc. said Wednesday it has filed for approval with the Food and Drug Administration for its drug Sutent as a treatment for gastrointestinal cancer and advanced renal cancer. ...

The Driving Doctor: Unworry? Unhurry.
August 11, 2005... Byline: PHIL BERARDELLI Nearly 50 years ago, a sociologist named C. Northcote Parkinson proposed a theory of human behavior he called Parkinson's Law: "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." In his...

Alzhemier's vaccine shows promise in mice.
August 11, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers said Thursday they have developed a vaccine given via the nose that appears to reverse the course of Alzheimer's disease in mouse models, and they want to test it in...

New device could help treat aneurysms.
August 12, 2005... Byline: RYAN HOLEYWELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Six engineering students at Stanford University have developed what could be a revolutionary new way to treat a cerebral aneurysm, an often fatal affliction that affects up to 8 percent...

Health Wrap: Wins and losses.
August 12, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED A potentially huge breakthrough in fighting AIDS tops the consumer-health beat this week -- but so do lung-cancer deaths and diagnoses that remind us how tough our opponents can be. The words "AIDS" and "cure"...

HHS lauds KFC, Pizza Hut smoking ban.
August 12, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- The secretary of health and human services praised the announcement by Pizza Hut and KFC that they would ban smoking in all of their restaurants nationally, saying it would help with...

FDA tightens Accutane requirements.
August 12, 2005... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it has approved a strengthened distribution program, to be implemented by manufacturers of the acne drug Accutane, that is intended to...

The Age of Autism: Case 1 revisited.
August 15, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED The first person ever diagnosed with autism lived in a small town in Mississippi. He still does. "Donald T." is now 71, and after a "miraculous response" to medical treatment at age 12, he appears to have recovered...

Docs, hospitals, struggle with IT costs.
August 15, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Part 7 of a continuing series. The cost savings of adopting health IT and electronic medical records has been estimated at 7.5 percent of the $1.3 trillion the United States pays each year...

Caregiving: A caregiver's best friend.
August 16, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN "Have two dogs visit and see me in the morning," a patient was told eight years ago by his doctor as he was recovering in the hospital after prostate surgery. "I was surprised when I found out the dogs were actually...

Experienced MDs best at angioplasty.
August 16, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- If you're scheduled for angioplasty, you might want to check how many procedures your doctor has done -- and find another one if it's fewer than 90. That's the logical conclusion of a...

The Driving Doctor: Hands down.
August 16, 2005... Byline: PHIL BERARDELLI You can see another sign of the sad state of driving competency on today's roads by watching where other drivers are holding the steering wheel. For too many drivers, their habitual position is on the top of the...

Controversial silicone implants may return.
August 16, 2005... Byline: EVA A. SYLWESTER WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- After ordering a moratorium 13 years ago, the Food and Drug Administration is now considering allowing manufacturers to resume selling silicone gel-filled breast implants, although...

Ped Med: The heat is on outdoor health.
August 17, 2005... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ Burgers broiling on the grill and bodies simmering on the beach, both staples of summer can become a recipe for a health disaster, particularly for children. Chefs cooking up a storm under the sun should beware...

Preventable medical errors.
August 17, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Part 8 of a continuing series. People may fear dying in a highway crash -- nearly 43,000 deaths each year in the United States -- or dying of breast cancer -- about 40,000 a year -- but...

The Age of Autism: March of the experts.
August 17, 2005... WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- The news that the first child diagnosed with autism got better after medical treatment -- while leading experts didn't make the connection -- suggests how research and reality have been distorted for decades. ...

Acute renal failure surprisingly common.
August 18, 2005... Byline: EVA A. SYLWESTER WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The first multinational study of acute renal failure has found the condition occurs more frequently in intensive-care units than previously thought and is caused most often by septic...

Most athletes dehydrated, group reports.
August 18, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- As football teams begin practice in the August heat, an expert panel is reporting that most athletes show up to practice dehydrated -- and they don't drink enough water during the session...

Caregiving: Hand washing still lax.
August 18, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN Part 1 of 2. Patients have been told for a long time to ask their doctor or nurse if they have washed their hands, but not enough may be doing so because healthcare hand washing happens less frequently than it should....

The Driving Doctor: Looking down the lane.
August 18, 2005... Byline: PHIL BERARDELLI Has this ever happened to you? Rolling down an entrance ramp to a highway, you are forced to stop because a vehicle ahead is stopped, even though there is nothing standing in the way. Either the acceleration area is...

Eat to Live: Let's hear it for chocolate.
August 19, 2005... Byline: JULIA WATSON Dismay flutters in the hearts of chocolate lovers at the news that Hershey is buying Scharffen Berger, the Berkeley, Calif., makers of top-notch chocolate. The news comes hot on the heels of the recent purchase by...

Flatulence phobia inhibits healthy diet.
August 19, 2005... Byline: EVA A. SYLWESTER WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Kids come up with all kinds of excuses not to eat their vegetables, but the American Institute of Cancer Research is working to debunk an excuse used by many adults: that eating...

Health Wrap: Work less, live longer.
August 19, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED The three-step formula for a long and happy life was revealed this week. Don't work overtime. If you're a woman, lose 10 pounds by the time you turn 30. And get heart surgery at age 80 whether you need it or not. ...

The Age of Autism: Gold?
August 22, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED Why would treatment with gold help someone with autism? That is the question raised by The Age of Autism's report last week that the first child ever diagnosed with the disorder appeared to improve significantly...

Eat to Live: Fast fruit drinks for health.
August 22, 2005... Byline: JULIA WATSON Cast a quick eye over any recent news about food and it is easy to understand why mega food producers are barely concerned about legislation and guidelines to improve the public's state of health. The public appears...

Study: Herb helps hay fever.
August 22, 2005... Byline: EVA A. SYLWESTER WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- An herbal extract may treat seasonal allergies just as effectively as antihistamine drugs without the risk of drowsiness, a new study by Swiss and German researchers has found. The...

Eat to Live: Seniors as a food-ad target.
August 23, 2005... Byline: JULIA WATSON "I will take over the cooking," my father informed my mother when he retired. "You've done it for me over the past. Now I will do it for you." Off he went to buy a cookbook and for the next decade and more, regularly...

Caregiving: Hand washing can save lives.
August 23, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN Part 2 of 2. Hand washing is the quickest, cheapest and easiest way to reduce hospital infections, yet less than 50 percent of healthcare personnel wash their hands before touching a patient -- sometimes with fatal...

The Driving Doctor: Beating high gas costs.
August 23, 2005... Byline: PHIL BERARDELLI Fed up with the high cost of gasoline? Tired of paying $40, $50, $60 or more to fill up your tank? Worried that paying these prices is helping to enrich certain oil-exporting nations with ties to terrorism? Want...

Study: Small biopsies work for big tumors.
August 23, 2005... Byline: EVA A. SYLWESTER WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- For breast-cancer patients, knowing whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under the armpit is crucial to survival. When the breast tumor is larger than about 5 centimeters,...

Ped Med: Getting to the cause of illness.
August 24, 2005... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ From a pushy protein to a soothing smile, forces of nature and nurture can mix and mesh, collide and crash to send a child tumbling toward die-hard disease. Scientists strain to catch a glimpse of every...

Ped Med supplement: A litany of child ills.
August 24, 2005... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ Scientific sleuths are collecting evidence against a long list of suspects in the repeated assault on 9.4 million minors, or 12.8 percent of the U.S. under-18 population, severe enough to require special healthcare...

Health IT can create a culture of safety.
August 24, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Part 9 of a continuing series. Collecting and reporting healthcare performance measures via computerized records allows providers to monitor system quality, thereby developing a level of...

The Age of Autism: Gold and mercury.
August 24, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Something startling happened to an autistic boy named "Donald T." 58 years ago at the Campbell Clinic in Memphis. He got better -- a lot better. That's when Donald, the first person...

Eat to Live: Giving up the working lunch.
August 24, 2005... Byline: JULIA WATSON The advent of the Internet has ruined the European lunch hour for anyone working in international business, finance and investment. The Spanish have forfeited their siestas. The Greeks have abandoned their habit of...

Caregiving: Saving a caregiver's hands.
August 25, 2005... Byline: ALEX CUKAN Caregiving is hard on a person's health, stress levels and pocketbook, but it is perhaps hardest on the hands -- so treating hands well in October could result in less dryness and chapping in February. Family...

Specialty practices pushing costs higher.
August 25, 2005... Byline: PHIL BERARDELLI WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Growing competition among hospitals and physicians for profitable specialty services is driving inpatient and outpatient facility expansions that could put healthcare costs out of reach...

The Driving Doctor: When passing is no-win.
August 25, 2005... Byline: PHIL BERARDELLI Indiscriminate and constant passing is one of the worst habits on the highway. It is symptomatic of aggression. It displays carelessness. It wastes fuel. It contributes to the chaotic nature of traffic -- and it can...

Health Wrap: Take 2, call me in 10 years.
August 26, 2005... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- The ability of even the best-designed long-term health studies to confuse and confound was on display once again this week. To wit, the variability of the headlines about the effect of pain...

Commentary: The latest research on pain.
August 26, 2005... Byline: JENNIFER WIDER M.D. Pain seems to affect women and men differently, even at early ages. Studies have shown that women report pain more often than men. Certain studies even suggest women can handle and cope with pain better than...

Survey reveals reasons for plastic surgery.
August 26, 2005... WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A new study of why people seek elective plastic-surgery procedures in the United States reveals that prospective patients come from all ages and income levels. The study, called the first of its kind and...

Eat to Live: Dining in 10 years.
August 29, 2005... Byline: JULIA WATSON While most of us probably have no idea what we'll be having for dinner tonight, consumer research analysis firm Datamonitor has just launched its predictions of what we will be eating 10 years from now. Datamonitor...