Nation's health spending rises, but not so much
WASHINGTON (AP) - Health care continued to take up a greater share of the economy in 2007, as spending on hospitals, doctors and other services increased 6.1 percent to $2.2 trillion. There was a silver lining in the numbers: The increase in health spending was the smallest since 1998, thanks largely to the growing use of generic drugs. More »
Shaping good health as teens outgrow pediatrician
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ever watched a teen skulk in the corner of a toddler-packed pediatrician's waiting room, obviously wishing to be anywhere else? Adolescents aren't just big kids, and too many start falling through cracks in the health care system when they pass the stage of preschool shots and summer camp checkups - what a major new report calls missed opportunities to shape the next generation's well-being. More »
Nursing industry desperate to find new hires
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Please, please accept a high-paying job with us. In fact, just swing by for an interview and we'll give you a chance to win cash and prizes. Sounds too good to be true, especially in an economy riddled with job cuts in nearly every industry. But applicants for nursing jobs are still so scarce that recruiters have been forced to get increasingly inventive. More »
Doctor, former patient now colleagues in Detroit
DETROIT (AP) - When Dr. Trevor Banka treats cancer patients alongside Dr. Michael Mott he is working with not only his mentor, but the physician who helped save his life. ``I wanted to work next to Dr. Mott and I wanted to train with him,'' said Banka, a 28-year-old second-year oncology resident at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital. ``We have a very special relationship.'' More »
Recording studio in hospital about more than music
HOUSTON (AP) - Just down the hall from the chemo infusion rooms at Texas Children's Hospital, Jalen Huckabay was about to slip into another world, away from the wearying regimen of pokes, prods and pinches she'd endured since being diagnosed with lymphoma in November. For the next few hours, the curly-haired, cherub-faced 16-year-old would become a songwriter. More »
Smoking ban leads to major drop in heart attacks
ATLANTA (AP) - A smoking ban in one Colorado city led to a dramatic drop in heart attack hospitalizations within three years, a sign of just how serious a health threat secondhand smoke is, government researchers said Wednesday. The study, the longest-running of its kind, showed the rate of hospitalized cases dropped 41 percent in the three years after the ban of workplace smoking in Pueblo, Colo., took effect. There was no such drop in two neighboring areas, and researchers believe it's a clear sign the ban was responsible. The study suggests that secondhand smoke may be a terrible and under-recognized cause of heart attack deaths in this country, said one of its authors, Terry Pechacek of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More »