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Children's Health

Smoking, Alcohol Pose Unique Risks for Teens

Drinking and smoking may pose more unique hazards for teenagers than the usual health and addiction risks. Throughout adolescence, the brain undergoes major remodeling, and new evidence suggests that alcohol and cigarettes may have an especially damaging effect on those developing brains.

Smoking, Alcohol Pose Unique Risks for Teens

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Global Health

Countries Ordered to Report Disease Outbreaks

International law requires nations to report outbreaks of only three diseases: cholera, plague and yellow fever. That's changing under sweeping new regulations approved this week that require nations to tell the World Health Organization about any outbreak with the potential to spread across borders.

Countries Ordered to Report Disease Outbreaks

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Health Care

Questions Raised About Viagra Connection to Vision Problems

The Food and Drug Administration is considering reports linking two erectile dysfunction drugs to rare occurrences of vision problems and even blindness. A conclusion will not be easy. The same conditions that predispose men to erectile dysfunction problems can also predispose them to eye problems.

Questions Raised About Viagra Connection to Vision Problems

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Global Health

Flu Vaccine Update

The Chinese government rushed 3 million doses of avian flu vaccine to a threatened province this week. After finding almost 200 dead geese, health officials worry the disease could spread to other birds and possibly humans. Can we modernize how we make vaccines? And should we start stuffing our medicine cabinets?

Flu Vaccine Update

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Children's Health

NIH Tested AIDS Drugs on Foster Children

Earlier this May, the Associated Press reported that National Institutes of Health researchers tested AIDS drugs on hundreds of foster children in the late 1980s and '90s. In many instances, the drugs were given without independent advocates who monitor the safety of these children. Ed Gordon explores the controversy with two AIDS experts: Dr. Jonathan Fishbein of the National Institutes of Health and Baylor College of Medicine's Dr. Mark Kline.

NIH Tested AIDS Drugs on Foster Children

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The Impact of War

Guard Suicide Highlights Risks for Returning Troops

Military researchers say 17 percent of troops back from Iraq show signs of problems such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and guardsmen and reservists may be at greater risk than their active-duty counterparts. The suicide of South Carolina guardsman Jeffrey Sloss sheds light on the need to seek help.

Guard Suicide Highlights Risks for Returning Troops

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Medicare's Political Life Expectancy

Fresh Air

Political scientist Jonathan Oberlander is an expert on health politics and policy. He is an associate professor of social medicine at the University of North Carolina. He is the author of the book The Political Life of Medicare. His articles and opinion pieces have appeared in Health Affairs, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times.

Medicare's Political Life Expectancy

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Research News

Statins May Prevent Colon Cancer

New evidence suggests that a class of drugs widely used for heart disease might also prevent colon cancer. The study appears in this week's New England Journal of Medicine. But the new research into statins isn't conclusive -- and further studies of the already successful drugs are unlikely because of the costs.

Statins May Prevent Colon Cancer

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Children's Health

Saving Kids from 'Nature Deficit Disorder'

Author Richard Louv talks about his new book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Louv argues that kids are so plugged into television and video games that they've lost their connection to the natural world.

Saving Kids from 'Nature Deficit Disorder'

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Politics

Bush Reaffirms Vow to Veto Stem Cell Measure

President Bush reasserts his intention to veto a measure to expand funding for research using stem cells from human embryos. He says it creates "incentives to destroy emerging human life." Bill supporters say the research could accelerate finding cures for numerous diseases. The House of Representatives approved the bill Tuesday; it moves next to the Senate.

Bush Reaffirms Vow to Veto Stem Cell Measure

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Bush Veto Looms as House Supports Stem Cell Research

The House of Representatives passes a bill that would expand federal support for embryonic stem cell research. President Bush opposes research involving human embryos and is likely to veto the bill if it reaches his desk. The vote of 238-194 leaves the bill vulnerable to a Bush veto.

Bush Veto Looms as House Supports Stem Cell Research

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