A robotic exoskeleton called eLEGS enables people who have been paralyzed below the waist to walk again. The technology, developed by Berkeley Bionics, is geared toward consumers — the 6 million Americans who are paralyzed, …
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In Illinois, Sex-Offending Doctors Continue Practicing With No Oversight
Sex-offending doctors and health professionals in the state of Illinois have been allowed to continue practicing on probation, virtually unmonitored, according to a long-term investigation by the Chicago Tribune.
Why White Girls Are Getting More Weight Loss Surgery
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that the rate of weight loss surgery in the U.S., including lap band and gastric bypass, went up by 700% between 2005 and 2007. But we already knew that the …
Study: To Build a Better Youth Athlete, Slug Sports Drinks
Team sports ain’t what they used to be. Parents jeer, coaches demand and kids — understandably — are under a lot of pressure to perform.
Study: Brain Injuries On the Rise Among Teen Basketball Players
As childhood obesity reaches epidemic levels, anything that gets kids moving should be encouraged. But children’s sports are competitive these days. Whether at school or on traveling or club teams, young athletes are training …
Empowering the Patient as Consumer: Health Care Gets Grades
As a journalist, I’m accustomed to doing research online. Before I interview someone, travel somewhere to report or cite data from an organization, I typically do a background search. When I decide to buy something, I operate …
In medicine, rudeness may hurt more than feelings
Like all professions, medicine has its fair share of office politics — which can generate sniping, griping, eye-rolling and even the occasional temper tantrum. Yet, in a medical setting, can day-to-day rudeness do more than cause hurt feelings and wounded pride? Applying findings from several studies analyzing the cognitive impact of
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Negative effect of limiting surgical residents to 50 hours
A new study from Swiss researchers adds to the ongoing debate over the best method for maintaining the highest educational standards for medical residency programs while also ensuring optimal patient safety. While plenty of research has indicated that exhaustion among medical professionals can lead to more mistakes, critics of rules
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HIV research: breastfeeding, kidney transplants
New research published in the July 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine suggests promising developments in the battle against HIV and AIDS. In a study of more than 2,300 breastfeeding HIV-positive mothers, researchers from the University of North Carolina and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that
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Slight drop, but plastic surgery still a $10 billion industry
A reflection of the still sagging economy, there was a slight overall drop (1%) in elective cosmetic procedures last year compared with 2008, but 12.5 million Americans still spent an estimated $10 billion on plastic surgery in 2009, according to data released this week by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Nine percent fewer
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For kidney donors, no long-term risk of premature death
Live kidney donors have similar long-term survival rates as non-donor peers, according to a new study published in the March 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Each year, an estimated 6,000 healthy people donate kidneys to ailing loved ones or, in some cases, to strangers through large chain donations. Yet
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Breast reduction surgeries on the rise—for men
Men feeling self-conscious about the size of their breasts is nothing new—as members of the Seinfeld generation will recall, the episode in which Kramer invents “the Bro,” or the “Mansierre” to tame oversized “man boobs” first aired in 1995. Yet, according to the BBC, in recent years discomfort over what are colloquially known as
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Preventing girls’ knee injuries on the soccer field
With the increasing popularity of soccer around the world comes a corresponding uptick in soccer-related injuries. And considering that fútbol fever has grown particularly rapidly among women in recent years—the number of female soccer players grew by 19% between 2000 and 2006, to 26 million players—female futbolistas have been
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