Your Health

Daily low-dose aspirin can be of help to older people with an elevated risk for a heart attack. But for healthy older people, the risk outweighs the benefit.

Health & Safety

Study: A Daily Baby Aspirin Has No Benefit For Healthy Older People

9:55pm September 16, 2018

by Rob Stein

Results from a large international study show that risks from taking daily low-dose aspirin outweigh the potential benefits for older people in generally good health.

After impact, the authentic Specialized Evade helmet on the left held up but the counterfeit on the right crumbled. Specialized says the fakes lack reinforced roll cages — internal skeletons that hold the helmets together even after a crash.

Fake Bike Helmets: Cheap But Dangerous

10:04am September 16, 2018

by Jeff Tyler

Cheap knock-offs don't provide anywhere near the protection or durability of the products they replace. And most riders won't be able to tell the difference between real and counterfeit helmets.

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Health & Safety

To Manage Dementia Well, Start With The Caregivers

12:38pm September 15, 2018

by Lauren Gravitz

A new approach to helping Alzheimer's and dementia patients starts with training caregivers, teaching them to respond to their loved ones' needs with insight and creativity.

Aaron Reid, 20, rests in an exam room in the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Health & Safety

Update: A Young Man's Experiment With A 'Living Drug' For Leukemia

4:39pm September 14, 2018

After trying one treatment after another for his leukemia, 20-year old Aaron Reid enrolled in a study to test an experimental therapy using modified cells from his own body.

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A government research project to assess the safety of BPA is beginning to show results.

Government Study Of BPA Backs Its Safety, But Doesn't Settle Debate

6:15pm September 13, 2018

by Jon Hamilton

The plastic additive BPA got a clean bill of health in a two-year government study involving thousands of rats. But scientists worried about BPA's risks say the study has flaws.

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Health insurers who offer Medicare Advantage plans have permission to soon require patients to try less expensive alternatives to some before receiving pricier drugs.

Health & Safety

New Medicare Advantage Tool To Control Drug Prices Could Narrow Choices

3:19pm September 13, 2018

by Susan Jaffe

Federal officials will allow private Medicare insurance plans to require patients who are candidates for certain expensive drugs to try cheaper drugs first.

Jeff Williams, Apple's chief operating officer, speaks about the new Apple Watch Series 4 at the company's product-launch event in Cupertino, Calif., on Wednesday. The new Watch includes a sensor allowing users to take an electrocardiogram they can share

Health & Safety

New Apple Watch To Detect Abnormal Heartbeats

5:32pm September 12, 2018

by Avie Schneider

The focus heading into Apple's event was on its new iPhones, but it also unveiled a redesigned Apple Watch with a sensor allowing users to take an electrocardiogram they can share with their doctor.

An unidentified 15-year-old student at a high school in Cambridge, Mass., vaped near campus in April.

Health & Safety

FDA Intensifies Crackdown On E-Cigarette Sales To Teenagers

4:12pm September 12, 2018

by Rob Stein

The Food and Drug Administration said teen vaping has reached epidemic proportions, prompting more than 1,300 warning letters to stores selling e-cigarettes to kids and an ultimatum to four companies.

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Manure lagoons on hog farms like this one in eastern North Carolina flooded after Hurricane Floyd swept through in 1999, creating environmental and health concerns for nearby rivers. Farmers are worried that the scenario will repeat after Hurricane Floren

Hog Farmers Scramble to Drain Waste Pools Ahead Of Hurricane Florence

8:55pm September 11, 2018

by Dan Charles

Hurricane Florence is heading toward a part of North Carolina where pigs far outnumber people. Farmers and environmentalists are worried about the fate of hundreds of open-air manure lagoons.

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Scientists at Johns Hopkins University are studying barn owls to understand how the brain maintains focus.

Scientists Study Barn Owls To Understand Why People With ADHD Struggle To Focus

5:24pm September 11, 2018

by Jon Hamilton

Research on the brains of barn owls suggests that attention problems like ADHD may involve a brain circuit that usually helps us ignore distractions.

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