Medical News Today News Alert

Dear Subscriber,

Welcome to today's Medical News Today News Alert containing today's medical news headlines for your chosen categories. You will only receive these alerts when new news is available for your chosen categories. To unsubscribe from our news alerts, or to alter any of your subscription details (name,e-mail address etc) please see http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsalerts.php?changemydetails=y .

Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News

Ground-Breaking Effort To Prevent Opioid Abuse And Overdose Fatal overdoses involving prescribed opioids tripled in the United States between 1999 and 2006, climbing to almost 14,000 deaths annually - more than cocaine and heroin overdoses combined. Hospitalizations and emergency room visits related to prescription opioid pain medicines such as oxycodone (brand name Oxycontin) and hydrocodone (Vicodin) also increased dramatically in the same period.

05 Aug 2011

Alzheimer's / Dementia News
Predicting Alzheimer's Blood Test Almost 100% Accurate A new blood test for Alzheimer's disease is 96% accurate at identifying the disease and can perhaps detect it even before symptoms such as memory loss (dementia) develop. An estimated 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Association.	05 Aug 2011
Converting Human Skin Cells Into Functional Neurons Without Using Stem Cells Scientists have managed to convert human skin cells into functional neurons without having to use any kind of stem cells, researchers from Columbia University Medical Center reported in the journal Cell.	05 Aug 2011

Flu / Cold / SARS News
Diagnosing Flu In Minutes Arriving at a rapid and accurate diagnosis is critical during flu outbreaks, but until now, physicians and public health officials have had to choose between a highly accurate yet time-consuming test or a rapid but error-prone test.	05 Aug 2011

Health Insurance / Medical Insurance News
Nearly 4 Times More Spent On Health Insurance Costs By US Physicians Compared To Their Canadian Counterparts U.S. physicians spend nearly $61,000 more than their Canadian counterparts each year on administrative expenses related to health insurance, according to a new study by researchers at Cornell University and the University of Toronto.	05 Aug 2011

Heart Disease News
Low Lifetime Recreational Activity May Be A Factor In Peripheral Arterial Disease New research published in the August 2011 issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery®, the official publication of the Society for Vascular Surgery®, indicates that there may be a connection between low lifetime recreational activity (LRA) and increased peripheral arterial disease (PAD).	05 Aug 2011
ESC Announces Review Of Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines "The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is aware of the early termination of the PALLAS trial (a randomised dronedarone versus placebo outcomes study in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation and cardiovascular risk) because of adverse outcomes associated with dronedarone.	05 Aug 2011
Human And Mouse Hearts Respond Differently To Two Cardiovascular Drugs: Results Call Into Question Reliance On Animal Models Anyone who follows science has read enthusiastic stories about medical breakthroughs that include the standard disclaimer that the results were obtained in mice and might not carry over to humans.	05 Aug 2011

IT / Internet / E-mail News
The Appeal Of Videogames People spend 3 billion hours a week playing videogames but little is known scientifically about why they are actually fun in the first place.The vast majority of research into videogames has concentrated on the possible harmful effects of playing videogames, ignoring the simple question of why people actually want to play them.	05 Aug 2011
Healthcare Practice In Rural Africa Improved By Text Message Reminders New research funded by the Wellcome Trust has shown that sending text message reminders to healthcare workers in rural Africa can improve the implementation of national guidelines for treating malaria.	05 Aug 2011

Seniors / Aging News
Having Hypertension When Middle Aged Can Lead To Cognitive And Vascular Damage In Later Life, Study Shows A study led by researchers at UC Davis, published in the August 2nd issue of the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, discovered high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and smoking in middle age people may trigger vascular damage, decrease brain volume and cause cognitive decline later in life.	05 Aug 2011
Reducing Antibiotic Use In Critically Ill Patients Measuring the levels of a natural body chemical may allow doctors to reduce the duration of antibiotic use and improve the health outcomes of critically ill patients."Infection is a common and expensive complication of critical illness and we're trying to find ways to improve the outcomes of sick, elderly patients and, at the same time, reduce health care costs," says Daren Heyland, a professor of Medicine at Queen's, director of the Clinical Evaluation Research Unit at Kingston General Hospital, and scientific director of the Technology Evaluation in the Elderly Network.	05 Aug 2011
Centenarians Just As Likely As The Rest Of Population To Smoke, Drink And Pack On Pounds People who live to 95 or older are no more virtuous than the rest of us in terms of their diet, exercise routine or smoking and drinking habits, according to researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.	05 Aug 2011

Sexual Health / STDs News
Sensor Easily Detects Date Rape Drugs In Drinks Date rape drugs can be added to a person's drink, making them vulnerable to sexual exploitation. A new sensor that could look like a tiny stirrer or straw can be placed in the drink and accurately tell whether it has been spiked.	05 Aug 2011
What Is The Difference Between Sex And Gender? The words sex and gender are commonly used interchangeably, but many linguists would argue that their usage is quite distinct. Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics, while gender refers to behaviors, roles, expectations, and activities in society.	05 Aug 2011
What Is An Orgasm? An orgasm is the peak of sexual pleasure. It typically consists of a series of involuntary muscle contractions in the sexual organs, lower pelvic muscles, and the anus. An orgasm is accompanied by the release of endorphins - opioid-like chemicals produced in the brain that give a feeling of euphoria.	05 Aug 2011

You are receiving this news alert e-mail because you subscribed via an online form on our web site. If you wish to unsubscribe, please visit http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/newsalerts.php?changemydetails=y .