Medtipster Guides You to Flu
Shots
The online health care search engine and price comparator
Medtipster.com allows visitors to search
for pharmacies providing flu shots nationwide, targeted by zip code.
Medtipster will also add H1N1 vaccination locations to the site as soon as
this information is made available. Visitors to
Medtipster.com can simply click on the
flashing flu shot icon at the top of the screen to reach the search page.
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Cheap Three-Drug Combination Helps Cut Heart
Risks
High-risk patients who took a combination of three
older heart drugs -- a generic statin, a generic blood pressure pill and a
low-dose aspirin -- cut their risk of a heart attack or stroke by as much as
80 percent, U.S. researchers said on Thursday. They said their study offers a
simple, effective and inexpensive way to help people with diabetes or heart
disease avoid heart attacks and strokes.
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U.S. Family Doctors Prescribe Most
Mental Health Drugs
Fifty-nine percent of U.S. mental health drug
prescriptions are written by family doctors, not psychiatrists, raising
concerns about the quality of some treatments, according to a study recently
released. Researchers from Thomson Reuters and the U.S. Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration examined 472 million prescriptions
written for psychotropic drugs from August 2006 and July 2007.
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The Buzz: Targeting Cancer With Bee
Venom In Animal Studies, Tiny Composite Spheres Deliver Drug Directly to
Tumor Sites; 'It's Like an Injection'
A bee sting can be painful, but its venomous payload
might hold promise for a beneficial purpose—fighting cancer. Researchers at
Washington University in St. Louis have used an ingredient of bee venom
called melittin to shrink or slow the growth of tumors in mice. Melittin's
anti-tumor potential has been known for years, but it hasn't been used as a
drug because it also attacks healthy cells, including vital red blood cells.
Now the researchers have found a way, using the burgeoning field of
nanotechnology, to pinpoint tumors for attack by melittin while largely
shielding healthy cells.
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Antibiotics Bought Easily on the
Internet
Study found 138 sites that sold them illegally, without a prescription.
Consumers who decide on their own that they need antibiotics can easily find
and buy the medications on the Internet, without the benefit of a
prescription, new research shows. The practice is illegal, the study authors
said, and could contribute to an overuse of antibiotics that is known to
create resistant bacteria
which, in turn, can cause life-threatening infections.
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