NPR Health Blog

HIV In The Middle East And North Africa: Hidden 'Behind A Veil'?

HIV isn't openly discussed in Middle Eastern societies. New data give a much clearer picture of its prevalence and how governments do and don't respond. We speak with one researcher who explains the challenges of studying a topic taboo in the...

Published Fri, Aug 19 2011 3:15 PM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Even Windows On First Floor Pose Risk Of Falls For Youngsters

Even though the rate of falls from windows has declined some, more than 5,000 kids a year end up in emergency rooms after tumbling out of windows. The youngest kids are at the most risk. Read More...

Published Mon, Aug 22 2011 10:56 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Eating More Nuts And Soy May Help Beat High Cholesterol

A Journal of the American Medical Association study published today found that people with high cholesterol who followed diets rich in soy, nuts, and plant sterols reduced their bad cholesterol levels significantly. Read More...

Published Tue, Aug 23 2011 1:53 PM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Got High Blood Pressure? It Might Take 24 Hours To Know For Sure

Britain's health-quality institute says the good old blood pressure cuff is no longer good enough to accurately diagnose hypertension. The British now recommend that people with a high reading should also have an ambulatory test, wearing a blood-pressure...

Published Wed, Aug 24 2011 11:09 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

The 'Next Big Step': Preventing 1 Million Heart Attacks And Strokes

Federal officials say it's time to try harder on some proven approaches to reducing cardiovascular disease. Within five years such things as better treatment of high blood pressure could make a big difference. Read More...

Published Tue, Sep 13 2011 1:03 PM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

CDC Basks In 'Contagion's' Admiring Take On Disease Detectives

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the film Contagion was designed for entertainment purposes, but that the scenario of a global pandemic is plausible. "We can't know what's going to happen," says...

Published Wed, Sep 14 2011 11:22 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Judge Blocks Florida Law Curbing Doctors' Questions About Guns

A federal judge in Florida ruled that the right of doctors to free speech wouldn't interfere with gunowners' rights to bear arms. She enjoined a state law that effectively restricted what doctors could ask patients about gun ownership. Read More...

Published Thu, Sep 15 2011 12:35 PM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Cocaine Mule Busted In Sao Paulo

A man arrested Monday at an airport in Brazil had quite a bit of undeclared carry-on luggage: 72 bags containing almost a kilogram of cocaine inside his body. Read More...

Published Fri, Sep 16 2011 8:20 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Lung Cancer Leads List of Malignancies Linked With Bankruptcy

Lung cancer was associated with the highest risk of personal bankruptcy five years after diagnosis, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center found. Smokers are more likely to be on a lower rung of the socioeconomic ladder. Read More...

Published Tue, Oct 11 2011 6:57 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health Blog

Advice To Guideline-Writers: Keep Patients Involved in PSA Decision

Confused about the fuss over PSA screening for prostate cancer? A commentary in the New England Journal of medicine says there's a middle ground between business-as-usual and throwing PSA tests out altogether. Read More...

Published Wed, Oct 26 2011 3:59 PM by Shots - Health Blog

Why The Cadillac Tax On Health Plans Isn't Really A Tax

By Scott Hensley By now you've heard plenty about the so-called Cadillac tax on high-end health insurance, a plank in the Senate health bill that would levy a 40 percent penalty on health plans costing more than $8,500 for singles and $23,000 for...

Published Mon, Dec 28 2009 6:02 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health News

Filed under: Health Overhaul, Insurance

OMB's Orszag To Tie Knot With ABC's Golodryga

By Scott Hensley Washington's most-eligible nerd is getting hitched. White House Budget Director and inveterate health care number-cruncher Peter Orszag and ABC News' glamorous financial correspondent Brianna Golodryga got engaged Monday over...

Published Tue, Dec 29 2009 7:40 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health News

Filed under: A Little Lighter

Ginkgo Biloba Fails To Preserve Memory

By Scott Hensley If you've forgotten why you take Ginkgo biloba, we're not surprised. An extract from trees like this one doesn't help with memory after all. (jam343/Flickr) Loads of people take the popular herbal supplement to bolster their...

Published Wed, Dec 30 2009 7:58 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health News

Filed under: Personal Health, Aging, Mental Health

Feds Unveil Incentive Plan For Electronic Medical Records

By Scott Hensley A simple sounding phrase--meaningful use--is the key that could open a vault of federal bonus bucks for doctors and hospitals. (iStockphoto.com) (iStockphoto.com) --> Late Wednesday, Health and Human Services officials unveiled more...

Published Thu, Dec 31 2009 5:55 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health News

Filed under: Doctors, Quality, Hospitals, Electronic medical records

IRS Would Take Big Health Role Under Overhaul

By Christopher Weaver Pop quiz time. What government agency would administer perhaps the two biggest initiatives at the core of Congress' health overhaul proposal: a set of subsidies to help low-income people buy coverage, and a requirement that everyone...

Published Mon, Jan 04 2010 11:56 AM by NPR Blogs: Shots - Health News