Blood-thinning drug becomes risky after an injury

The blood-thinning drug warfarin is used by millions of people to prevent blood clots. However, people who suffer traumatic injuries while...

Alternative treatments for diabetes -- do they work?

There's something about Type 2 diabetes that inspires creativity, innovation and promises from the alternative medicine industry. People who...

'127 Hours' earns high marks from doctors

The premise

Viagra can help with altitude sickness, report says

I have heard that Viagra is effective for altitude sickness. Is this true?

Funding gaps leave many schools lacking nurses

The 17-year-old boy who came into Cathy Owens' nursing office at Murrieta Valley High School in Riverside County was gasping for breath....

Genetic testing doesn't spook patients, study finds

When Mike Godfrey's employer put out a call for recruits for a study on genetic testing, he hesitated before volunteering to hand over a...

Menu labeling law doesn't register a blip at Taco Time

Food menus that carried nutritional labeling would help people choose healthier foods, health experts have long argued. The early results of...

Rodent of the Week: Fearful memories are buried, temporarily, during adolescence

Fearful memories acquired early in life may be temporarily forgotten, researchers suggested this week. Although the study is in mice, it...

Tinnitus: What causes this baffling disorder?

Tinnitus -- that persistent ringing sound heard by about 40 million Americans -- may be caused by a pairing of brain changes, researchers...

Heart disease risk rises with time spent sitting

Heart disease risks rise dramatically among people who spend two or more hours a day sitting in front of...

Rodent of the Week: Immunity to cocaine induced in mice

Cocaine addiction is difficult to treat. Doctors have no specific therapies for the addiction. However, an experiment in mice has produced...

Birth control pills using 24-day regimen may be more effective

Birth control pills using a 24-day regimen -- 24 days of active pills and four days of inactive pills -- are becoming more popular. A new...

Bullying by peers can contribute to psychotic symptoms

Bullying in childhood and adolescence is a scourge in sore need of effective solutions. Studies have already revealed the toll that bullying...

Clostridium difficile infections increasing among children

Clostridium difficile, a nasty, infectious disease that tends to spread in hospitals, is cropping up in more U.S. children,...

On the front lines of chronic Lyme disease

Dr. Bernard Raxlen arrived at Manhattan's glamorous Gotham Hall on a cool autumn night in 2008 to receive a humanitarian award.

Cooling caps tested to help cancer patients keep hair

A handful of San Francisco breast cancer patients are donning frigid skullcaps to test a device designed to keep hair tightly rooted...

A very high risk Rx

One of my doctors gave me a prescription and left a blank slip attached below it. One of my other doctors had stopped giving me a certain...

Teen birthrate at lowest point in seven decades

Teenagers are giving birth at the lowest rates noted in seven decades of record-keeping, according to statistics from the federal government...

Californians continue to kick the cigarette habit

The percentage of California adults who smoke has continued to drop more than the national average, according to new data released Monday by...

Breast-feeding benefits academic performance 10 years later

Breast-feeding infants for at least six months appears to give kids' an advantage in school, according to a...

Dairy component shows promise in cutting diabetes risk

Move over, ...

The Healthy Skeptic: telomerase activators

We all know what aging looks like from the outside: wrinkled skin, gray hair, a growing need to turn up the volume on "Jeopardy." But in...

Holistic nutrition is weak on science, strong on selling supplements

"Holistic nutrition." You may not know the term, but you've surely heard its claims. Among other things, holistic nutritionists (or HNs,...

Vaginal steam bath finds a place among Southern California spa options

Pungent steam rises from a boiling pot of a mugwort tea blended with wormwood and a variety of other herbs. Above it sits a nude woman on an...

Lower-cost substitute for Zegerid

My doctor prescribed Zegerid for acid reflux. It contains omeprazole plus sodium bicarbonate. My pharmacist says I can take OTC...

Proximity to freeways increases autism risk, study finds

Children born to mothers who live close to freeways have twice the risk of autism, researchers reported Thursday. The study, its authors...

Rodent of the Week: A pathway to better memory

Researchers have identified a protein that appears to play a major role in strengthening memories. The protein, called neuropeptide S, has...

Breast-feeding opportunities will increase under healthcare reform

Breast-feeding at work should become a lot easier as employers adhere to a provision of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. In a report...

Diabetes affects one in 16 women who give birth

Diabetes is a major problem. If you don't think so, consider the latest statistic from the federal government. One in 16 U.S. women who give...