Medical Treatments

Keep Things Simple For A Healthy, Long Life

5:15am January 02, 2016

by John Schumann

Most of prevention is fairly straightforward and, unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. But then again, the most important steps you can take to safeguard your health are well within your reach.

Why 2015 Was The Year Of The Period, And We Don't Mean Punctuation

3:36pm December 31, 2015

by Malaka Gharib

Is this the year when menstruation went from taboo topic to entrepreneurial opportunity? High-profile moments (including one featuring Donald Trump) may be remaking social attitudes about the period.

The upshot from a study of more than 75,000 low-risk births is that "childbirth in the United States is very safe regardless of where you decide to do it," says Dr. Michael Greene, who directs obstetrics at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Giving Birth Outside A Hospital Is A Little Riskier For The Baby

6:29pm December 30, 2015

by Rob Stein

A big study finds the risk that the baby will die soon after delivery is twice as high if the delivery was planned for home or a birthing center versus the hospital, but such deaths are very rare.

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Health & Safety

Draft Of CDC's New Prescribing Guidelines Stirs Debate

6:18pm December 29, 2015

by Robert Siegel

Since 1999, prescription opioid sales have quadrupled in the U.S. Now, as the country faces an epidemic of prescription drug abuse, doctors are divided over how much prescriptions are the problem.

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Training The Immune System To Fight Cancer Has 19th-Century Roots

7:22pm December 28, 2015

by Rebecca Davis

When Jimmy Carter said his advanced melanoma was gone, he credited immunotherapy, treatments that harness the immune system to fight cancer cells. This idea dates back to a 19th-century doctor.

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Gene Editing Tool Hailed As A Breakthrough, And It Really Is One

6:48pm December 28, 2015

by Joe Palca

A tool for modifying genes is spreading through the biomedical research world like wildfire. As part of the series Joe's Big Idea, NPR's Joe Palca explores why CRISPR-Cas9 is becoming indispensable.

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A 12-week regimen of Harvoni is 90 percent effective in curing an infection with hepatitis C, doctors say. It also costs about $95,000.

States Deny Pricey Hepatitis C Drugs To Most Medicaid Patients

3:42pm December 28, 2015

by Jake Harper

Effective treatments for hepatitis C cost as much as $95,000. Medicaid in many states, including Indiana, is mostly limiting the drugs' use to very advanced cases. ACLU of Indiana is suing the state.

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Dr. Bennet Omalu speaks on stage during the 2015 Health Hero Awards hosted by WebMD on Nov. 5 in New York City.

Doctor Behind 'Concussion' Wanted To 'Enhance The Lives' Of Football Players

5:33pm December 27, 2015

Dr. Bennet Omalu's discovery of a new degenerative brain disease among football players inspired a movie-and the wrath of the NFL.

Going to an out-of-network emergency room can be costly.

ER Docs Say Rule Change Could Raise Patients' Out-Of-Network Bills

2:42pm December 24, 2015

by Michelle Andrews

Two physicians groups say federal government regulations for out-of-network emergency care payments will cost consumers more because insurers will pay less.

You might be able to get fungus-free toenails, but it could cost you.

It's Costing A Lot Of Money To Make Those Toenails Fungus-Free

5:02pm December 23, 2015

by Angus Chen

The health care system could save millions of dollars on treating toenail fungus by cutting out one test, researchers say. But that means that some people might take medication they didn't need.