The French health care system has been dubbed “the best in the world.” David Turecamo finds out why the French can afford to get sick.

Get lots of rest.
Drink enough fluids to ward off dehydration.
Soothe a sore throat with a salt water gargle, throat lozenges and soothing treats, such as hard candy or a Popsicle.
Take acetaminophen to ease pain and bring down a fever. If your child under age 12 is ill, do NOT give him or her aspirin.

Fifty-one patients overdosed on the drugs; six of the overdoses were fatal, the researchers found.
The danger of overdosing increased with the amount of drug prescribed, according to the study. Those given higher doses had almost nine times the chance of overdosing as those given lower doses of opioids.
“The rate of overdose was strongly related […]

Pediatric Meningococcal Vaccine
This study will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the study vaccine administered at the same time with routine vaccines. Participants must be 55 days to 89 days old and not previously vaccinated.
The research site is in Miami, Fla.
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Depression with Painful Symptoms
This is an […]

The study, published Jan. 19 in the journal Critical Care, compared 13 patients who received fish oil in the normal IV nutrient solution given to patients with sepsis, and 10 patients who received traditional solutions. The patients who received the fish oil had lower levels of inflammatory chemicals in their blood, achieved better lung function, […]

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Artificial Muscles Help Facial Injury Patients Blink
A new technique for implanting artificial muscles enables people with facial injuries to blink, which is essential for healthy eyesight.
The artificial muscles developed by facial surgeons at the University of California, Davis consist […]

“We focused on the commonest Y-chromosome lineage in Europe, carried by about 110 million men — it follows a gradient from south-east to north-west, reaching almost 100 percent frequency in Ireland,” the study’s leader, Mark Jobling, of the University of Leicester, stated in a university news release. “We looked at how the lineage is distributed, […]

The researchers also theorize that viral infections can cause appendicitis.
“Just as the traditional appendix scar across the abdomen is fast becoming history, thanks to new single-incision surgery techniques that hide a tiny scar in the bellybutton, so, too, may the conventional wisdom that patients with appendicitis need to be operated on as soon as they […]