WASHINGTON, DC – Driving around the nation’s capital during the first day of a government shutdown, I wondered if radical Republicans are mean-spirited or just plain stupid. The answer became clear, however, after watching federal workers on Tuesday slowly file out of a downtown government building: Republicans simply don’t care. They don’t care about protecting […]
ATLANTA (AP) — On the day consumers start perusing newly launched federal online health exchanges, Republican governors who oppose President Barack Obama‘s insurance overhaul are mostly sitting on their hands. But the law is going into effect without them. Thirty-six states, most of them Republican-controlled, opted to let the federal government run exchanges where consumers […]
With open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act set to begin Oct. 1, officials at the new health insurance Marketplaces are gearing up to help consumers. Call centers have been launched. “Navigators” to help consumers are being trained. Ad campaigns are under way in the states operating their own Marketplaces. …and crooks are already at […]
Have questions for the doctor? Text it to “646464” (OHOHOH). Many women look forward to the end of having monthly periods but ultimately, they find, menopause is no walk in the park either. Hot flashes, weight gain, vaginal dryness, painful sex and urinary tract infections can put a real damper on a woman’s sex life. […]
Rhonda Mayberry’s excess weight had become an unbearable burden. At about 5’2” and 399 pounds, she suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure and extreme lack of mobility. The pounds weren’t coming off with diets. In 2008, she and her doctor decided surgery was the right option. Now, three years after gastric bypass surgery and 240 […]
For the first time, researchers are reporting that a treatment might help stabilize Alzheimer’s disease for as much as three years, although the evidence is weak and in only four patients. The drug is Gammagard, made by Baxter International Inc. Doctors say that four patients who have been receiving the highest dose for three years […]
Federal health officials confirmed 33 cases of a rare fungal eye infection across seven states on Thursday, stemming from products mixed in a Florida pharmacy that also mixed supplements that killed 21 elite polo horses in 2009. The patients had all undergone some type of eye procedure, including surgery or injections. Twenty-three suffered some degree […]
You would do anything to protect your baby. You put up baby gates, cover electrical outlets, and strap him in his car seat every time you go for a ride. When it comes to keeping him healthy, immunization gives you the power to protect him from 14 serious childhood diseases before he turns two years […]
Recent studies suggest possible links between periodontal infections and heart disease. Researchers have reported that the most common strain of bacteria found in plaque can cause blood clots that induce heart attacks when they escape into the bloodstream. To explain the relationship between the heart and periodontal infections, some experts hypothesize that bacteria present in […]
By 2020, every state may have bans on smoking in restaurants, bars and the workplace, federal health officials predicted Thursday, based on the current pace of adopting anti-smoking laws. The number of states with comprehensive indoor smoking bans went from zero in 2000 to 26 in 2010. “It is by no means a foregone conclusion […]
Breast cancer is more deadly in African American women than in white women, but it doesn’t have to be. Over the next three weeks, we will bring you information that you can use to help rewrite the story of African Americans and breast cancer. We will explore why this issue is so important for our […]
Act fast in the event of a strokeStroke is the third-leading cause of death in the United States. African-Americans have a higher rate of death or disability from stroke than the general U.S. population. But knowledge is power when it comes to stroke. “If you know the signs of stroke and get the right medical […]