Health & Science

Research News

Schizophrenia May Be Linked To Immune System

July 1, 2009 · Three new genetic studies are providing some tantalizing hints about what causes schizophrenia. ()  

Are You Over The Acetaminophen Limit?

July 1, 2009 · A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel wants to reduce the public's exposure to the potent painkiller. ()  

Health Care

FDA Experts Call For Ban On Vicodin, Percocet

July 1, 2009 · An advisory panel rules that prescription drugs that combine acetaminophen with other painkilling ingredients should be eliminated, citing FDA data indicating that 60 percent of acetaminophen-related deaths are related to prescription products. ()  

Health Care

Doctors Say Costs, Not Care, Have Become Focus

June 30, 2009 · As health care costs have soared, many physicians have struggled to manage the business end of health care and provide quality care for their patients. Two doctors, each with more than 30 years of experience, talk with NPR about the changes they've seen in health care, and where the system might be headed. ()  

Health Care

Co-Op Option Offers Compromise In Health Debate

June 30, 2009 · As Senate and House committees negotiate a potential new health care system, the idea of insurance co-ops is gaining ground as an alternative to a government-run plan. The HealthPartners co-op in Minneapolis provides some insight into the ability of these plans to provide low-cost, high-quality care. ()  

Nation

In Texas, A Living Lab For Studying The Dead

June 30, 2009 · Only a few universities in the world have facilities devoted to studying human bodies as they decompose. Texas State University's Forensic Anthropology Research Facility is the newest. Students there learn to recover and study human bones. ()  

Global Health

Swine Flu Spread Mirrors Air Travel

June 30, 2009 · Analysis of flight destinations of passengers departing from Mexico in March and April show that air travel was key in virus transmission across the globe, according to new research. ()  

Research News

Daily Sex Boosts Sperm Quality, Study Finds

June 30, 2009 · In a study of men with damaged sperm, doctors found patients who had sex every day for a week significantly reduced the amount of DNA damage in their sperm. Experts think sex helps reduce the damage by getting sperm out of the body quickly; if sperm is in the body for too long, it has a higher chance of getting damaged. ()  

Nation

Marijuana Vendors Lobby To Pay Higher Taxes

June 30, 2009 · Voters in cash-strapped Oakland, Calif., will soon decide whether to approve a 15-fold increase in the taxes imposed on medical marijuana dispensaries. Dispensary owners support the measure because they see it as a way of legitimizing their businesses. ()  

Nation

Transportation Safety Board 'Calls It Like It Sees It'

June 30, 2009 · The National Transportation Safety Board isn't able to enforce its own recommendations, but the agency's acting chairman says it's better that way. He says it helps the NTSB focus solely on safety when investigating hundreds of airplane crashes, train wrecks and other accidents each year. ()  

Your Health

Baby Steps To Better Breathing

June 29, 2009 · Breathing is something we take for granted. But with busy and stressful lifestyles, we can develop habits that interfere with the natural rhythm of the breath. Breathing techniques can help us slow down our breath to emulate the full, deep breaths of sleeping babies. ()  

Health Care

FDA Panel Advises Smaller Doses Of Painkillers

June 30, 2009 · The Food and Drug Administration's panel voted 21-16 to lower the current maximum dose of nonprescription acetaminophen, which is 4 grams, or eight pills per day. Taking more than that can cause potentially fatal liver damage. ()