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Taking correct medications on time easier with a pill card

Free, online instructions for creating a pill card -- an illustrated medication schedule -- using only a personal or laptop computer and printer are now available from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a part of the US. Department of Health and Human Services.

24 Mar 2008

Low cost tactics improve medication use after heart attack

Direct-to-patient communication about the importance of continuing prescription drug treatment after a heart attack is a simple, low-cost way to increase the likelihood of patients adhering to life saving therapies at least four out of every five days.

14 Mar 2008

Is deep-vein thrombosis lurking in your legs?

They kill 300,000 people a year - but most of them could be prevented. They strike more than a million people every year, most of them out of the blue - and half without causing symptoms.

14 Mar 2008

$550 million to fight HIV/AIDS

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt has announced $550 million in grants to fund primary care and support services for individuals living with HIV/AIDS in 56 cities and major urban areas.

13 Mar 2008

Folic acid consumption before and during pregnancy

Taking a folic acid pill a day — a simple measure to prevent severe birth defects — is under-promoted in the media, under-recommended by health care providers and underused by women of childbearing age, according to a new review of studies.

6 Mar 2008

Guidelines for von Willebrand disease diagnosis and management

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health today issued the first clinical guidelines in the United States for the diagnosis and management of von Willebrand Disease (VWD), the most common inherited bleeding disorder.

4 Mar 2008

NIDDK releases new awareness series on diabetes, digestive diseases and kidney and urologic diseases

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) has announced the release of new health information to raise awareness about diabetes, digestive diseases, and kidney and urologic diseases among people not yet diagnosed with these illnesses.

1 Mar 2008

New online information resource on bladder problems

Women with bladder control problems can learn about treatments and techniques to help them manage their condition in a new resource from the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC), an information dissemination service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

1 Mar 2008

Hydroxyurea for sickle cell patients

An independent panel convened this week by the NIH concluded that the use of hydroxyurea for sickle cell patients should be increased in adolescents and adults.

28 Feb 2008

New NIH cholesterol website for seniors

Many older adults have their blood cholesterol level checked regularly.

28 Feb 2008

RFID technology to secure donor blood supply

Radio frequency identification technology, or RFID, has inspired many novel applications of late, including efforts to study magazine reader patterns, access restricted areas, locate stolen vehicles and track luggage at major airports.

27 Feb 2008

NCMHD announces HIV/AIDS expert as new senior policy advisor

Idalia Ramos Sanchez, a longtime fighter for health equity especially as it relates to HIV/AIDS, has been appointed senior policy advisor at the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH).

27 Feb 2008

Cognitive impairment among older Americans is declining

Rates of cognitive impairment among older Americans are on the decline, according to a new study supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) comparing the cognitive health of older people in 1993 and 2002.

27 Feb 2008

Spinal cord injury may not increase risk of heart disease

Americans who live with spinal cord injury do not appear to be at greater risk of developing carbohydrate and lipid disorders such as insulin resistance, diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, and high or low blood cholesterol levels - risk factors for heart disease - than able-bodied persons, according to a new evidence review by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

27 Feb 2008

Mail order pharmacies growing more popular

Of Americans who buy prescription drugs, the proportion who purchase them from mail order pharmacies rose from just under 9 percent in 2000 to just over 13 percent in 2005, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

26 Feb 2008

Smoking's effects on genes may play a role in lung cancer development and survival

Smoking plays a role in lung cancer development, and now scientists have shown that smoking also affects the way genes are expressed, leading to alterations in cell division and regulation of immune response.

21 Feb 2008

Discovery of antibody that neutralizes two viruses classified as henipaviruses

In laboratory experiments, scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and their colleagues supported by the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), have discovered an antibody that neutralizes two viruses classified as henipaviruses.

18 Feb 2008

Cholesterol-lowering drug used to block staph infections in mince

An international team of researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has blocked staph infections in mice using a drug previously tested in clinical trials as a cholesterol-lowering agent.

17 Feb 2008

NIH and EPA announce new chemical toxicity testing agreement

Testing the safety of chemicals ranging from pesticides to household cleaners will benefit from new technologies and a plan for collaboration, according to federal scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who today announced a new toxicity testing agreement.

17 Feb 2008

Respiration device for detecting early-stage respiratory irregularities in premature babies

A start-up company is developing a novel, non-invasive device for detecting early-stage respiratory irregularities in premature babies, children and adults receiving ICU care.

8 Feb 2008