And the closures disproportionately affect “safety net” emergency rooms, meaning those serving patients who are poor, publicly insured or uninsured — people without access to traditional avenues of health care, according to a study in the May 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The implications include longer waits at remaining ERs, including […]

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
FDA Panel to Discuss Cholesterol Drug Trilipix
A meeting to discuss whether a key indication should be removed from the cholesterol drug Trilipix will be held Thursday by a panel of expert advisors to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Trilipix […]

The Hospital, Your Care Coordinator
Hospitals Are Increasingly Requiring Cash Up Front

When a Hospital Is Bad for You
The U.S. News Best Hospitals rankings and other resources can help steer you to a top-notch hospital when a procedure or condition requires exceptional skill. For routine care, such as repairing a torn rotator cuff or inserting a heart […]

Flame retardants are used to reduce the danger of polyurethane foam — used in a massive number of products — catching fire, and to slow the rate of burning if it does catch fire.
Penta brominated diphenyl ethers (pentaBDE) was the most popular flame retardant prior to 2004, but was banned in 172 countries and 12 […]

Health-care services were used extensively by patients in both countries, particularly in the last month of life. More than twice as many people in Ontario died in a hospital (48.5 percent vs. 20.4 percent), although most patients in Ontario have stated they want to die at home, the study reported.
Elderly people in both the United […]

Italian researchers report that they compared daily selenium use to both a medication called pentoxifylline and a placebo, and found that selenium could benefit people with Graves’ disease with eye involvement, without causing side effects.
“Our study demonstrates that patients with mild Graves’ orbitopathy, [who are] usually not given any specific treatment, can benefit from a […]

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Painkiller-linked Suicide Tries Among Older Women on Rise
The rate of emergency department visits for drug-linked suicide attempts by American women aged 50 or older jumped by 49 percent between 2005 and 2009, a new government report finds.
Much of the […]

The men hit harder when they were in a standing position and when they were hitting downward rather than upward, showing that tall, upright males have a fighting advantage. The findings might help explain why our ancestors began walking upright and why women tend to prefer tall men, according to the study authors.
“The results of […]

The academy offers these suggestions:

Get regular checkups with your own doctor.
Eat a healthy, nutritious and balanced diet.
Find time for plenty of sleep.
Schedule time for 30 minutes to 60 minutes of exercise at least four days per week.
Help manage stress with techniques such as meditation or deep breathing exercises.
Take some time for yourself each once in […]

Researchers examined the outcomes of more than 40,000 children treated for minor blunt head trauma at 25 U.S. emergency departments between June 2004 and September 2006. They found that four to six hours of clinical observation significantly reduced the use of cranial CT, a neuro-imaging test for traumatic brain injuries, without compromising care.