WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
AIDS patients should be given a
genetic test before treatment with GlaxoSmithKline Plc's drug,
Ziagen, to see if they face a higher risk of a potentially
fatal reaction, U.S. regulators said on Thursday.

For patients who test positive for a specific gene
variation, Ziagen treatment “is not recommended and should be
considered only under exceptional circumstances when the
potential [...]

NORCROSS, Ga. - After three surgeries, Judy Sherer still had chronic pain in her left shoulder. She’d lost faith in her doctors, and in despair tried a new health benefit offered by her employer.
The service, Health Advocate, is a call-in center that helps customers find the right doctor, haggle over insurance coverage and manage other [...]

ATLANTA - More than 1,000 people died over two years from an illegal version of the painkiller fentanyl, the government reported Thursday in its first national tally of those deaths.
The spike of overdoses seems to have ended, health officials said, pointing to law enforcement’s shutdown of a fentanyl operation in Mexico in 2006.
The wave of [...]

- THURSDAY, July 24 (HealthDay News) — When the elderly woman
first arrived at Brooke Grove Retirement Village in Sandy Spring, Md.,
some of the staffers were skeptical when they saw she had brought her cat
along.

The woman, in the early stages of dementia, “floated in and out,”
according to Jackie Carson, the assisted living administrator at Brooke
Grove, [...]

- (HealthDay News) — Pesticides can help keep your home free of
insects, rodents and other unwanted visitors, but exposure to these
products can pose serious health risks.

The National Safety Council offers these suggestions when working with
pesticides:

Only use pesticides that have been legally purchased, and are approved
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or similar government
agency.
Carefully read [...]

- (HealthDay News) — If you don't carefully monitor your diet,
here are a few warning signs that you should, courtesy of the American
Academy of Family Physicians:

If your doctor has warned you about health problems or risk factors
that can be controlled or improved with a better diet. These conditions
include high blood pressure or high [...]

- THURSDAY, July 24 (HealthDay News) — Researchers believe they have
finally answered a basic question about the cause of celiac disease —
where in the body does the wheat protein gluten enter one's system?

A study published in the July issue of Gastroenterology
identifies the CXCR3 receptor in the intestine as a gluten gateway. When
people with celiac [...]

- (HealthDay News) — Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy
of CenterWatch:

Pneumonia

If you are 70 or older, have received a pneumonia
vaccine at least five years ago and are in good general health, you may
qualify for this study.

The research site is in Raleigh, N.C.

More information

Please see http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat167.html.

—–

Strokes

If you are 21 or [...]

- THURSDAY, July 24 (HealthDay News) — New research offers more
evidence that a new AIDS drug brings significant benefits to patients who
have failed other treatments.

The drug, known as raltegravir (Isentress), almost doubles the
likelihood that patients will beat back the AIDS virus despite being
immune to other medications, according to a study in the July 24 [...]

- THURSDAY, July 24 (HealthDay News) — Between 2002 and 2005, the
number of prescriptions filled for antidepressant drugs increased from 154
million to 170 million, according to a report released Thursday by the
U.S. government.

The analysis, by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, of
antidepressant prescriptions (not including refills) written after doctors
talked with patients in-person or [...]