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Cost-effective care: Walk-in clinics that treat minor ailments for flat fee gaining popularity
A new trend in walk-in medical care appears to be gaining ground in western Montana.
Immunizations a hot topic among parents
To immunize or not to immunize? This is a question many parents face. Trying to find reliable, trustworthy information to help with this decision can be a challenge. How does a parent know who to ask and who to believe?
Recreating war - Psychologists use virtual reality to treat post-traumatic stress disorder
TACOMA, Wash. - Staff Sgt. Jeff Ebert’s entire body flinches as a roadside bomb explodes near his vehicle. Smoke obscures his view. Gunfire rattles around him.
Reiki for relief: Alternative technique used to promote healing, ease pain of pregnancy and more
Lindsay Daehlin sometimes refers to her 10-month-old daughter, Elisabeth, as a “Reiki baby.”
Healthy Start- Encourage the positive in your child
Parents, has this ever happened to you? You enter the grocery store with your 3-year-old in tow at the end of a long day at work. You simply want to get a few items for dinner.
In-house workout: Americans increasingly bringing gym into their homes
There's no monthly membership for a home gym, no lines for exercise machines or commute times to the local fitness center. For some homeowners it's making a lot of sense to stay in to work out.
How to start your home gym
Here are five basic pieces of exercise gear you'll need to get a health-club quality workout at home, and what you should expect to pay for quality equipment:
Cutting corners: Snipping nerve to suppress appetite may spur weight loss for those not obese enough for gastric bypass surgery
WASHINGTON - An old ulcer operation is getting new attention as a possible alternative obesity surgery: a quick snip of a nerve that helps control hunger.
Insuring truth: Checking facts presented in Michael Moore's ‘Sicko'
WASHINGTON - In many respects, Michael Moore's new movie, “Sicko,” is like a trial for those who oversee health care in the United States.
Few alcohol abusers receive treatment, study says
CHICAGO - More than 30 percent of American adults have abused alcohol or suffered from alcoholism at some point in their lives, and few have received treatment, according to a new government study.
Healthy headstart: Nearly 1 million American children use personal fitness trainers to shape up
DALLAS - Nearly a million American youngsters, some as young as 6, rely on personal trainers to shape up, lose weight or improve in sports, according to figures from the nation’s leading sports club association.
Circumcisions decline: More parents deciding procedure not necessary
SAN FRANCISCO - On the eighth day of her son's life, Julia Query welcomed friends and family to celebrate his birth and honor their Jewish heritage.
Health care access a struggle for many Montanans
BILLINGS - Montanans face serious barriers when accessing health care, but the care provided here is some of the best in the nation, according to a new report.
Motion sensors, memory tests may predict Alzheimer's earlier
WASHINGTON - Tiny motion sensors are attached to the walls, doorways and even the refrigerator of Elaine Bloomquist's home, tracking the seemingly healthy 86-year-old's daily activity.
Billings Clinic picked for three-year cancer project
BILLINGS - Billings Clinic has been selected as one of 16 sites to participate in a national pilot project that will make thousands of clinical trials for cancer treatment accessible to Montanans, officials announced last week.
Pediatrics group reconsidering neutral stance on circumcision
SAN FRANCISCO - The influential American Academy of Pediatrics is reviewing its neutral stance on circumcision following recent studies showing the procedure may have reduced HIV infection rates in African men.
Baby psychiatry: Doctors look for autism, other disorders at younger age
CHICAGO - Within days of their birth, healthy babies will look you in the eye. By 4 months, they will delight in others. And by 9 months, they will exchange smiles.
Healthy Start - Make road trip fun, educational for children
Summer's here! Are you planning a road trip with the family this summer? Dreading the whining and the “are-we-there-yets”?
Ultrasound on the go: As machines shrink, patients around the world reap benefits
WAUWATOSA, Wis. - When doctors in a remote African town warned a 20-something pregnant woman she was well past her due date, the Liberian patient agreed to have labor induced.
Native care conference
Montana's American Indians, like Native people across the country, suffer elevated rates of disease, mortality and infant mortality compared to people of other races, a scenario further exacerbated by a lack of cultural awareness among those in health care professions.
Hip fix: Resurfacing helps get active boomers back in saddle
Barb Howell's hips have been worn down by a lifetime of horseback riding.
Kalispell surgeon among first in state to provide procedure
KALISPELL - A half-century back and much to his parents' delight, young Stephen Gasche hoisted himself up off the floor, tottered a bit, and took his first hesitant step.
Yoga for youth: Billings kids bend, stretch and pose with games, songs
BILLINGS - Bending at the hips, the preschoolers stretched clasped hands downward like an elephant's trunk.
At St. Pat's, heart surgery then home
Using new procedure, cardiologist and surgeon use stent to bypass aneurysm without opening chest
Kirby Allers went home the day after heart surgery.
Healthy Start - Working moms can breast-feed
If you were a young mother, would you like to prepare your baby's meals in a toilet stall? Well, that's exactly where the majority of working mothers find themselves pumping breast milk to feed their babies once their maternity leave is over.
Gravity machines land at gym
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - America might not need yet another exercise machine. Treadmills, weights and resistance equipment already jam the health clubs.
Dialysis divide: Rural clinics feel squeeze as nurses decline, patients rise
SHERIDAN, Wyo. - It's midmorning, and two nurses are bustling between four dialysis stations in a narrow space on the second floor of Sheridan Memorial Hospital.
Dialysis patients find ways to pass the time
It takes nine to 12 hours a week, typically spread evenly over three days, for dialysis to clean waste and excess fluid from the blood.
Group proposes legislation to improve care
Kidney Care Partners, a national advocacy group, has proposed legislation it says would improve health care for people with chronic kidney disease.
Youth bariatric surgery put to test
CINCINNATI - Seventeen-year-old Amanda Munson gained confidence and energy as she lost 40 of her 296 pounds after weight-loss surgery and her diabetes went into remission.
Study: Dust With Retardant May Harm Cats Study: Abortion Pills Don't Bring Risks Study: Everest Deadlier for Old Climbers Cell Therapeutics to Buy Cancer Drug Halt to 'Female' Camel Cigarettes Sought Some Baby Bibs Contain Lead, Group Says N.M.: Won't Oversee Marijuana Production Program to Share Research on Radiation Diabetes Drugs to Include New Warnings Review Set for Pregnancy Weight Advice
AP Top Health News At 10:15 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A new federal study suggests that household dust containing a common flame retardant may be linked to an increase in cats getting sick from overactive thyroids. That could be a warning sign for how young children could get exposed to the chemical, said Linda S. Birnbaum, director of experimental toxicology at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and co-author of the study....
ATLANTA (AP) -- Women who use abortion pills rather than the more common surgical method seem to face no greater risk of tubal pregnancy or miscarriage in later pregnancies, according to a new study....
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Climbers over age 60 are three times more likely to die on Mount Everest than the average mountaineer, according to study results released Wednesday, as more older people try scaling the world's highest peak....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Biotech firm Cell Therapeutics Inc. on Thursday will announce plans to pay Biogen Idec Inc. up to $30 million for a lymphoma cancer treatment....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Dozens of women's and public health organizations on Wednesday called on R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to remove from the market its Camel No. 9 cigarettes, a brand they say is cynically aimed at getting young, fashion-conscious women and girls to start smoking....
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Some vinyl baby bibs made in China and sold at Toys "R" Us stores contain lead levels well above federal safety limits for lead in paint, a California environmental group said Wednesday....
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- New Mexico will not grow medical marijuana for seriously ill patients for fear that the federal government could prosecute state workers, but will continue to certify which patients are eligible to possess the drug....
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Nearly two decades of observations of thousands of people who lived near a Cold War uranium-refining plant will be shared by the University of Cincinnati with other researchers in an effort to further understand the health effects of low-level radiation....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The diabetes drugs Avandia and Actos will be labeled with severe warnings about a risk of heart failure to some patients, health officials said Tuesday....
ATLANTA (AP) -- Before Jennifer Lepine became pregnant, she heard other soon-to-be moms say she should "eat for two." But that conflicted with what her doctor told her: Consume only 300 extra calories a day and gain no more than 35 pounds....
