Health Headlines - October 22

U.S. Works to Deliver Flu Shots, Some Don't Wait

U.S. health officials worked to redistribute flu vaccine to the neediest as worried Americans took matters into their own hands, heading across borders to Canada and Mexico to get shots on Friday.

Bush Signs Law Banning Certain Steroid-Like Drugs

President Bush signed a law on Friday banning certain steroid-like drugs, used by some athletes as performance enhancers.

Arthritis Drugs May Help Fight Cancer

Arthritis drugs like Celebrex and the recently withdrawn Vioxx may boost the immune system's ability to attack brain tumors, and possibly other types of cancer, researchers said on Friday.

Study Links Sleep Loss to Teens' Suicide Behaviors

Teenagers who usually fall into bed at 2 a.m. each night and get up a few hours later to make their 8 a.m. classes are putting themselves at risk for more than chronic tiredness.

Inhaled Insulin as Effective as Injection

For people with type 2 diabetes, taking an inhaled form of insulin before meals and a single daily injection of long-acting insulin provides blood sugar control comparable to that of a conventional all-injection insulin regimen, researchers report.

Gene May Account for Range of Ills, Study Finds

A rare genetic mutation may help explain why some people get hit with a triple whammy of high blood pressure, cholesterol and a tendency to gain weight easily, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.

New Method Improves Therapy for Prostate Cancer

British scientists have discovered a new way to improve the effectiveness of drugs used to treat prostate cancer.

U.S. Approves Ultrasound to Treat Uterine Fibroids

A new device to treat uterine fibroids -- fibrous clumps that can cause miscarriages, painful menstruation and other related problems in women -- won U.S. regulatory approval on Friday.

Doctor for U.S. Lawmakers Donates Flu Vaccine

The attending physician for U.S. lawmakers, their staffs and others who work at the U.S. Capitol received additional doses of the flu vaccine and is donating them to city medical officials, top U.S. Republican lawmakers said on Friday.


Trial Rejected in Fla. Right-To-Die Case

A judge Friday refused to order a new trial to determine whether a severely brain-damaged Terri Schiavo would want to be kept alive artificially.

Doctors Give Toddler a Second Heart

A little girl just a week shy of her second birthday has become the youngest person in the United States ever to receive a "piggyback" heart transplant, a procedure that involved implanting a second heart into her tiny chest.

Doctor Uses Maggots on Diabetic Sores

Dr. Hideya Mitsui's patients were in trouble — diabetes-triggered lesions on their feet weren't responding to antibiotics, and amputation was the next step. So Mitsui turned to an unsightly remedy he says has never used before in Japan: maggots.

Expert: World Unprepared for Flu Pandemic

It's only a matter of time before another deadly flu pandemic strikes, an international vaccine expert warned Friday, saying that the world is ill-prepared to cope with a major outbreak of disease.

Carnivals Offer Workers Free Dental Care

Downwind from the cotton candy, the caramel apples and the deep-fried Oreos, carnival worker Robert Weaver stepped into a mobile dentist's office on the state fair midway to pay the price for his love of sweets: three pulled teeth.

Drug Treatment Keeps Multiple Sclerosis at Bay

A European study offers more evidence that weekly injections of interferon beta reduce the risk that people with early symptoms of multiple sclerosis will progress to the full-blown disease within two years.

Cybill Shepherd Now an IBS Role Model

Pushing through the pain while starring in movies and hit TV series such as Moonlighting, actress and singer Cybill Shepherd said that for more than 20 years she suffered from IBS.

Protein Test May Detect Lung Cancer

Duke University Medical Center researchers have developed a new method to detect differences between normal and cancerous lung tissue.

Keep Sex Life Sweet Despite Menopause

One-third of women over 50 struggle with some kind of sexual problem, but most can improve their love lives by focusing on the problem and making some changes, doctors report.