On deadline? Unfamiliar topic? These web guides, developed by veteran health journalists, can quickly guide you to the right sources and data.
Electronic medical records, also known as electronic health records or EMRs, allow physicians and patients to access patient files, test results and even medical images online. Although the hope is to catch medical errors, save money and coordinate care among a patient’s medical providers,... more »
As many as 10 million women and 1 million men suffer from eating disorders including anorexia nervosa (in which victims eat too little and become painfully thin) and bulimia (binge eating followed by purging via self-induced vomiting or laxatives), according to studies cited by the nonprofit... more »
Although some international health indicators have improved substantially in the last decade, poverty, conflict, lack of access to health care and/or education, poor sterilization techniques, evolving human migration patterns, unsafe water, new infectious agents and changing development activities... more »
Asthma rates have skyrocketed in recent years, with the prevalence of this chronic lung condition increasing almost 59 percent from 1982 to 1996, and increasing by another 6 percent from 2001 to 2006, according to a 2008 American Lung Association report. Scientists are still trying to understand... more »
MRSA, otherwise known as the "Superbug," often sends the media into frenzy, particularly when a person contracts it in a locker room or a college dorm and dies. There are two types, community-associated and health-care-associated, and they are often confused. Community-based infections account for... more »
The Alzheimer's Association estimated in 2009 that as many as 5.3 million Americans suffer from the mind-robbing illness. With that number expected to grow by double-digit percentages through 2025 as the population ages, scientists are working feverishly on strategies for prevention and treatment.... more »
As the fastest growing ethnic population in the United States, Latinos have a major impact on the health care system. Nearly one in three Americans will be Latino by 2050, according to an August 2008 estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Latino population is expected to nearly triple from 46.7... more »
This racial group includes any of the original peoples of North, South and Central America who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment. The five leading causes of death among American Indians and Alaska Natives are heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, diabetes and chronic... more »
As of 2007, almost 8 percent of Americans – nearly 24 million people – suffer from diabetes, a serious and chronic condition that can lead to complications such as blindness, amputations or even death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About a quarter of them don't... more »
The health concerns of African-Americans are varied and critical. African-American men have the highest death rate of all racial and ethnic groups, male and female. The 10 leading causes of death for African-Americans are: heart disease; cancer; stroke; diabetes; unintentional injuries; homicide;... more »
