Carolyn Drake

Hospitals looking to be prepared for a sharp increase in patients during flu season may be better off monitoring trends in Internet search traffic than waiting for lagging government reports to arrive, Johns Hopkins University researchers report.

Marijuana contains many of the irritating chemicals found in tobacco, but smoking it occasionally does not result in long-term loss of lung function, a recent study indicates.

Increased access to high-quality primary care is connected to a decreased risk of death, researchers at the University of California, Davis, have found.

A meta-analysis of several dozen studies has found that lifestyle intervention programs for those at high risk of diabetes resulted in moderate weight loss regardless of whether they were facilitated by high-cost clinically trained professionals or lower-cost lay educators.

A substance used in China as a hangover remedy has demonstrated an ability to prevent alcohol from affecting the brains of rats and may lead to the development of a drug to treat alcoholism.

New evidence from a large cohort study of mothers and children in Norway has affirmed previous studies indicating that babies born via caesarean section have an elevated risk of developing asthma.

The anticoagulant dabigatran has been linked to a heightened risk of myocardial infarction in a wide range of patients when compared to other medications.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients have an increased risk of venous thromboembolism, Mayo Clinic researchers have found.

A novel treatment method called stem cell educator therapy appears to reverse the effects of type 1 diabetes, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and colleagues in China report.

Postmenopausal women who are taking statins appear to have an increased risk of developing diabetes, researchers have found.

Janssen Research & Development has submitted an application to the FDA requesting approval of Xarelto (rivaroxaban) to decrease the risk of thrombotic cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

Over 38 million adults in the United States engage in binge drinking, many more than previously thought, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ultrasound imaging is not inferior to computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging for assessing renal mass size, researchers at the University of California, Irvine, and the University of Pennsylvania have found.

Altering the diet of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder helps decrease symptoms of hyperactivity and inattention just a small portion of the time, a recent review of controlled scientific studies suggests.

The American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation and nine other leading medical specialty societies have launched the Choosing Wisely campaign in an effort to decrease unnecessary health care spending and improve the quality of care patients receive.

Women who suffer from celiac disease are more likely to report symptoms of depression and disordered eating, even if they follow a gluten-free diet, researchers have found.

In hospitals and other medical settings, any surface touched by multiple people can serve as a medium for spreading viruses and bacteria-even a computer keyboard. That's where the Vioguard self-sanitizing keyboard, which was approved for use in health care settings last week by the FDA, comes in.

Children born to mothers who are of low socioeconomic status or have maternal gestational diabetes mellitus may be at increased risk of developing ADHD.

The combination of two widely used drugs-lamotrigine and valproate-may treat refractory epilepsy more effectively than other antiepileptic regimens, researchers at the University of Washington have found.

Less than half of a sampling of trials funded by the National Institutes of Health were published within 30 months of completion, Yale School of Medicine researchers have found.

Weight gain is caused by overconsumption of calories, not the ratio of protein to carbohydrates in one's diet, researchers from Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana have found.

Plastic surgery is undeniably a growth industry in the US, but along with its popularity has come a series of scandals that illuminate the potential dangers of the surgical pursuit of beauty.

The rate of twin births in the United States has risen 76% over the last three decades, from 18.9 to 33.3 per 1,000 births, the CDC reports.

Increased physical activity appears to improve kids' academic performance, report Dutch researchers based on a review of 14 previous studies on the subject.

Allowing patients to listen to music with noise-cancelling headphones during a prostate biopsy may reduce their pain perception and anxiety, according to researchers at the Duke University Medical Center.

A widespread shortage of generic drugs in recent months has made life increasingly difficult for patients with ADHD, and many are growing frantic as they are forced to purchase costly brand name drugs instead of scarce generic versions.

Levels of the protein troponin I in patients admitted to emergency care for chest pain may help doctors rule out or confirm a diagnosis of heart attack, researchers in Germany have found.

The Strong4Life campaign has become a subject of controversy among critics who feel the ads have the potential to do more harm than good to the self esteem of obese kids.

Adolescents with type 1 diabetes may have difficulty getting a full night of sleep, which can greatly impact their performance in school and, worse, their blood sugar control, researchers at the University of Arizona have found.

As the year comes to a close, one cannot help but reflect on the astounding technological advancements made in 2011, particularly since such progress has greatly benefited the medical industry.