What’s the truth behind artificial flavors?
Six artificial flavors are being ordered out of the food supply in a dispute over their safety, but good luck to anyone who wants to know which cookies, candies or drinks they’re in. The dispute highlights the complex rules that govern what goes in our food, how much the public knows about it, and a mysterious class of ingredients that has evolved over decades largely outside of public ... READ MORE
Costly difference: Inpatient vs. observation
When person enters the hospital because of required medical treatment, she is generally not concerned about how she is classified as a patient. But what may seem like an arbitrary classification can be very costly for people with Medicare. Hospitals classify each patient’s status as either “inpatient” or “observation.” Inpatient status implies severe problems requiring highly... READ MORE
When considering hip or knee replacement
How long will a hip or knee replacement last? For people considering this type of surgery, it’s something they want — and need — to know. In the U.S. alone, surgeons perform more than 600,000 knee replacements and about 330,000 hip replacements each year. These operations can provide a major improvement in quality of life and function for those with severe arthritis. On the... READ MORE
Acupuncture can treat many conditions
Dear Mayo Clinic: I started chemotherapy last month, and my healthcare provider suggested I try acupuncture for nausea. How does acupuncture work? Is there any risk to trying it? Answer: Traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, dates back more than 2,500 years. Acupuncture involves inserting thin, single-use, sterile needles through the skin to identify and correct... READ MORE
Hopkins study focuses on ulcerative colitis
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic, progressive disease that affects nearly 1 million Americans. Up to one-third of patients with UC will require hospitalization for severe symptoms such as pain and bloody stools, often within the first year after diagnosis. While new therapies have revolutionized the medical care available to patients, offering a greater possibility of achieving... READ MORE
Spinal-cord stimulators help some patients, injure others
Desperate for relief after years of agony, Jim Taft listened intently as his pain management doctor described a medical device that could change his life. It wouldn't fix the nerve damage in his mangled right arm, Taft and his wife recalled the doctor saying, but a spinal-cord stimulator would cloak his pain, making him “good as new.” Taft's stimulator failed soon after it was... READ MORE
Insulin pumps have most reported problems in FDA database
When Polly Varnado's 9-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, it didn't take long for the family to hear about insulin pumps. In September 2012, the girl picked out a purple one — her favorite color. Over the next seven months, she proceeded to be hospitalized four times in a McComb, Mississippi medical center with high blood sugar. But when Varnado asked about all... READ MORE
Drug study will try to halt memory loss
With 5.7 million Americans already living with Alzheimer’s disease — a number that is expected to more than double in 30 years — researchers are racing to find the culprits that lead to the memory loss and confusion Alzheimer’s disease can cause. One suspect is a type of protein in the brain called beta-amyloid. Researchers believe fragments of this protein can accumulate and... READ MORE
At FDA, a new goal, then a push for speedy device reviews
Dr. Jeffrey Shuren was adamant: The United States would never cut corners to fast-track the approval of medical devices. “We don't use our people as guinea pigs in the U.S.,” Shuren said, holding firm as the new director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's medical devices division. Again and again in 2011 — four times in all — Shuren was summoned before Congress.... READ MORE
New drug shortens, eases flu symptoms
U.S. health regulators have approved the first new type of flu drug in two decades. The approval of Xofluza for people age 12 and older comes just ahead of the brunt of this winter’s flu season. Xofluza is a pill that can reduce severity and shorten duration of flu symptoms after one just dose. It was developed by the Roche Group and Shionogi & Co. It works about as well as... READ MORE
