KVAL - News - Health

What's deadlier than wind, floods, lightning and quakes combined? Heat

Excessive heat kills more Americans than hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, floods and earthquakes combined, according to Center for Disease Control statistics for 1979 to 2003. In 2001 alone, 300 people died due to heat exposure.

Fawcett's death spotlights a rare cancer

In a perverse twist of medical fate, Farrah Fawcett has become the poster girl for anal cancer, a rare disease often linked to a sexually transmitted virus.

Few survive cardiac arrest, even with hospital CPR

You don't have to be Michael Jackson to have this problem: The odds of surviving cardiac arrest after getting CPR in a hospital are slim and have not improved in more than a decade, a big Medicare study concludes.

CDC: Private health care coverage at 50-year-low

The percentage of Americans with private health insurance has hit its lowest mark in 50 years, according to two new government reports.

FDA reviewing safety of Sanofi's Lantus insulin

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it is reviewing data on the safety of Lantus, a synthetic insulin made by Sanofi-Aventis SA.

Mississippi's still fattest but Alabama closing in

Mississippi's still king of cellulite, but an ominous tide is rolling toward the Medicare doctors in neighboring Alabama: obese baby boomers.

FDA requires Chantix, Zyban to have warning

The Food and Drug Administration will require two smoking-cessation drugs, Chantix and Zyban, to carry the agency's strongest safety warning over side effects including depression and suicidal thoughts.

Gene variants linked to higher schizophrenia risk

A handful of typos in a mysterious region of the human genetic code are connected to a slightly higher risk of schizophrenia, new studies show.

Diet Detective: At-Home Fitness Part 1

A convenient at-home exercise program you can stick to three times a week is certainly better than going to the gym once a month.

FDA panel: Lower maximum daily dose of Tylenol

Government experts called for sweeping safety restrictions Tuesday on the most widely used painkiller, including reducing the maximum dose of Tylenol and eliminating prescription drugs such as Vicodin and Percocet.