Study gauges patient opinions in L.A. County
... accessing care. The report also tracked access to prescription medications and access to preventive health-care s...stem and an associate professor at UCLA. Access to prescription medications is important, and patients often face barriers to receiving the pharmaceuticals that the...Study identifies trends in self-referred imaging
...umer advertising and marketing of health products, prescription pharmaceuticals and surgical procedures. Since the late 1990s, some imaging centers have begun accepting clients without physician referral or input. These self-referred consumers typically have full-body computed tomography (CT) exams that include a...Health food store recommendations could be bad for your health
...onsider them natural and therefore less toxic than prescription medicine. Yet, recent reports suggest that these products may interact with drugs used in chemotherapy, by reducing their effectiveness or increasing toxicity. Mills and colleagues urge physicians to be aware that their patients could be taking natu...Prescribing heroin can help treatment resistant addicts
Supervised prescription of a combination of methadone plus heroin is feasible, safe, and effective in reducing the many physical, mental, and social problems of heroin addicts, according to Dutch researchers in this week's BMJ. Researchers in the Netherlands carried out two...Fifteen football players died during 2002 season, none from heatstroke, study finds
...ing, now we understand that's a potentially deadly prescription for disaster. We have all the tools and knowledge to prevent heatstroke fatalities." Eight players died from heatstroke in 1970, the highest one-year total, he said. Before 1955, no heatstroke deaths were recorded among football players, he said. Few...Medicare+Choice enrollees face continued cost increases in 2003, costs have doubled since 1999
... physician and hospital copayments, and outpatient prescription drugs not covered by the M+C package. Source: Mathematica Policy Research analysis of Medicare Compare using HealthMetrix Research's Medicare HMO Cost Share Report Methodology....Vitamins C and E improve cardiovascular health in children with high cholesterol, study says
...causing these abnormal cholesterol levels. Because prescription drugs that successfully lower cholesterol levels in adults are not usually recommended for use in children, scientists have begun to look at possible dietary interventions for children with these disorders. In a study appearing in the August 11 onli...UI Researchers urge advances in meth abuse treatment
...leagues also support investigating whether certain prescription drugs might be used to treat meth abuse. "It may seem counterintuitive to treat a drug abuse with a medication, but heroin treatments indicate it's possible," Hall said. "Meth abuse alters brain chemistry and functioning, and it's not clear whether t...Many low income Medicare beneficiaries will still face high drug bills under proposals in Congress
...se in either lower or higher income groups to have prescription drug coverage; they also spend more out of their o...ld pay $2,437, or 11.6 percent of their income, on prescription drugs under the House bill, and $3,208, or 15.3 percent of their income, under the Senate bill. Alth...Obese individuals may be more susceptible to altitude sickness, researchers report
...tion, these individuals should consider taking the prescription medication acetazolamide, which has been effective in preventing altitude sickness in susceptible travelers." The study included nine obese men and 10 nonobese men who spent 24 hours in a decompression chamber. The barometric pressure was held steady...Deadly 'Drug Corner' moves to your computer
... for home-delivery. In fact, if you search for "no prescription codeine" through one of the standard computer-sear...web-page links generated by typing in the term "no prescription codeine" were sites that offered to sell directly or indirectly opiate medication without a prescrip...Physicians and patients rarely discuss costs
...surance that covered at least part of the costs of prescription drugs, 25 percent complained that out-of-pocket costs were a burden, and 16 percent reported that they had skipped or stretched a medicine during the previous 12 months due to costs. Patients seen in a community practice were slightly more likely to ...Abdominal fat, a contributor to heart disease risk, is related to alcohol drinking pattern
...king, physical activity, diet, disease prevalence, prescription drug use and, for women, menopausal status -- also were recorded. Analysis of the variables showed that small amounts of alcohol consumed on a regular basis were associated with the smallest abdominal heights, while participants who drank sporadical...Although direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription medicines is prohibited in Canada, it is nonethele...ults reveal an unsavoury link between DTCA and the prescription pad. In a related commentary, Gardner and colleagues explore the tensions involved in DTCA and the p...Millions wasted on blood pressure tablets
...oduce these estimates, the researchers used sales, prescription and survey data to estimate the number of people in each country that were being treated for high blood pressure, and the proportion of those that were taking thiazides. The proportion varied between countries from 12% to 40%. Previously published r...Exercise and weight loss reduces excess insulin and lowers blood pressure in Syndrome X
...ealth. "Many clinicians are quick to reach for the prescription pad when faced with medical problems," said James Blumenthal, Ph.D., senior member of the Duke team. "However, when you have a complex medical syndrome where drugs to treat one area may be harmful in another, it is important to offer patients an effe...Viagra (R) can take effect in as little as 14 minutes in many men, study shows
... for this study was provided by Pfizer.Viagra is a prescription medication indicated for the treatment of ED. It is important to note that Viagra can be taken with or without food. Viagra is available only from health care providers and should always be used in accordance with its approved labeling. Viagra is...Adequate anticoagulation reduces impact of stroke for patients with atrial fibrillation
...inning medications most frequently aspirin or the prescription drug warfarin and previous studies by members of this research team and others have confirmed that achieving adequate levels of anticoagulation as reflected by levels of 2.0 to 3.0 on a blood test called INR can significantly reduce the risk that ...Study evaluates Abacavir, Lamivudine and Efavirenz versus Zidovudine, Lamivudine and Efavirenz
...pharmacists to patients with each new and refilled prescription in order to provide further information to the patient on this drug. Epivir in combination with other antiretroviral agents is indicated for the treatment of HIV infection. Epivir should be used with caution in pediatric patients with a history of p......w an increase in demand for services, particularly prescription drugs, over time. In fact, 65 percent of Definity enrollees were more likely to call customer service for information or help, compared with 40 percent in other plans. And 44 percent used Definity's Internet site to monitor their personal care accoun...