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How to Avoid Errors in Surgery

Pre-Surgery Safety Precautions

SurgeonsHelen King, Corbis

While surgical errors of any sort are cause for alarm, news headlines have featured some all-out horror stories, such as doctors removing the wrong organ or even amputating the wrong leg. Experts say there are things you as a patient can do to lower your chances of something like that happening to you.

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Family Sues to Get Experimental Drug

Experimental Drug May Be Teen's Last Hope

Jacob Gunvalson, July 14, 2008Darren Gibbins, AP

Jacob Gunvalson, 16, has a fatal form of muscular dystryphy called Duchenne. There is no known cure. The Minnesota boy and his family are suing a New Jersey pharmaceutical company, trying to force it to give him an experimental drug. His parents say it's Jacob's only hope to stay alive.

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Donor Kidneys Removed With Single Cut

New Technique May Encourage Kidney Donors

Chanda Calentine, July 16, 2008Tony Dejak, AP

Chanda Calentine, 30, donated a kidney to her uncle. Thanks to a new surgical technique pioneered by doctors at the Cleveland Clinic, she can expect to recover much faster from the surgery and will be left with only a tiny scar.

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Army to Shoot Live Pigs for Medical Drill

Animal rights activists are outraged over an Army exercise in which pigs are shot so medics can learn how to treat wounds. A spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals calls the practice "outdated as Civil War rifles," but the military says the training is crucial for saving human lives.
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South Remains Nation's Fattest Region

Top 5 States With Highest Obesity Rates

West VirginiaCindy Davis Walker, AP

Five southern states have the highest obesity rates in the U.S., with more than 30 percent of their adult residents obese, according a survey released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In West Virginia, above, the rate is 30.3%. Click through to see which state is fattest.

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Hunger Can Make You Happy, Study Says

Do growls in your stomach put joy in your heart? Many dieters might scoff at the idea, but new research suggests hunger actually can induce happiness. In a study on mice, researchers found that elevated levels of ghrelin -- a hormone that spurs hunger -- made the rodents more adventurous and social.

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Customers at big fast-food chains in New York City are finally facing the facts about their meal choices. And for some, the truth may be hard to swallow _ like 1,130 calories for a Big Mac, medium fries and a medium soda. Read More

Maine officials are advising consumers to avoid eating lobster tomalley after tests revealed high levels of toxins in some lobsters. Read More

The tomato scare may be over, but it has taken a toll _ it's cost the industry an estimated $100 million and left millions of people with a new wariness about the safety of everyday foods. Read More

The South tips the scales again as the nation's fattest region, according to a new government survey. Read More

A Minnesota family is suing a New Jersey pharmaceutical company to force it to give their son an experimental drug. Jacob Gunvalson, 16, suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic, degenerative disease. His family says that if he doesn't get the Read More

Some doctors have long suspected that if the plaque that builds up in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease could be removed, they could be saved. But a new vaccine that did just that suggests the theory is wrong. Read More

Brad Kaster donated a kidney to his father this week, and he barely has a scar to show for it. Read More

Former President Clinton's foundation has signed pricing agreements with several suppliers involved in making a malaria-fighting drug in an effort to stabilize the medication's fluctuating costs and ensure more dependable availability. Read More

Plans for a large-scale trial of a potential AIDS vaccine are being dropped in favor of a smaller, more focused study, the National Institutes of Health said Thursday. Read More

An eight-month-old Pakistani girl has tested positive for polio in an area where militants campaigned against vaccination, a World Health Organization official said Thursday. Read More

The Atkins diet may have proved itself after all: A low-carb diet and a Mediterranean-style regimen helped people lose more weight than a traditional low-fat diet in one of the longest and largest studies to compare the dueling weight-loss techniques. Read More

The Atkins diet may have proved itself after all: A low-carb diet and a Mediterranean-style regimen helped people lose more weight than a traditional low-fat diet in one of the longest and largest studies to compare the dueling weight-loss techniques. Read More

Tobacco companies deliberately changed the menthol levels in cigarettes depending upon whom they were marketing them to _ lower levels for young smokers who preferred the milder brands and higher levels to "lock in lifelong adult smokers," researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health concluded. Read More

One of the largest studies of its kind shows just how sluggish American children become once they hit the teen years: While 90 percent of 9-year-olds get a couple of hours of exercise most days, fewer than 3 percent of 15-year-olds do. Read More

An E. coli outbreak traced to recalled beef in Michigan and Ohio has spawned cases in three other states, U.S. health officials said Tuesday. Read More

During the past two school years, teacher Julia Keyse had to enforce an unusual rule in her kindergarten and first-grade classroom: No interrupting while she pricked Caylee's finger to check her blood sugar and adjusted her insulin pump. Read More

Getting a lot of exercise may help slow brain shrinkage in people with early Alzheimer's disease, a preliminary study suggests. Analysis found that participants who were more physically fit had less brain shrinkage than less-fit participants. However, they didn't do significantly better on tests for mental performance. Read More

Mexico's health secretary says a team of health and agriculture officials has traveled to the United States to demand that Mexican tomatoes be cleared of any suspicion in a recent salmonella outbreak. Read More

A trio of experimental drugs has doctors hopeful that for the first time in decades, millions of people at risk of lethal blood clots may soon get easier treatment. Read More

When Dr. Michael E. DeBakey pushed forward with his groundbreaking research and maverick approach to medicine a half century ago, heart surgery was a medical marvel. Read More

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