Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Drug Companies Help Fund Doctors' Schooling: Survey
Drug industry money was accepted by 55 percent of U.S. medical residency programs that train doctors in internal medicine, according to a survey conducted in 2006 and 2007.
This high level of financial support from drug makers occurred even though about 75 percent of the 236 internal medicine program directors who took part in the survey said such aid was "not desirable," The New York Times reported.
Among the other survey findings:
- In programs that accepted funding, drug companies paid for educational materials in 83 percent of the programs, meals in 90 percent, office supplies in 68 percent, and drug samples in 57 percent.
- Drug industry money was accepted by 72 percent of medical residency programs in the southern United States, compared with 47 percent in the Northeast.
- The 55 percent overall rate of accepting drug industry money was down from the 88 percent level reported in a 1990 survey.
The survey, conducted by the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine, was published online in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
-----
Ex-Vice President Cheney Hospitalized Following Chest Pains
Former Vice President Dick Cheney was "feeling good" Tuesday morning, a day after being hospitalized with chest pains, CNN reported.
The news network reported late Monday that Cheney, who has a history of heart trouble, was resting comfortably at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., where his doctors were assessing his situation.
Cheney, 69, has suffered four heart attacks -- one in 1978 when he was 38, another in 1984 and a third in 1988, after which he underwent quadruple bypass surgery to unclog his arteries. A fourth attack occurred in late 2000, after he was elected vice president in the George W. Bush administration. Cheney received a stent to open an artery at that time.
According to CNN, Cheney also received an implanted heart monitoring device in 2001 to track his cardiac rhythm and slow it down if necessary. In 2008, after a recurrence of an abnormal heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation, Cheney underwent a procedure aimed at restoring a more natural rhythm.
Besides serving under former President Bush from 2001-2009, Cheney also served in the administrations of former Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.
-----
Seasonal Flu Vaccine to Protect Against Swine Flu
The 2010-2011 seasonal flu vaccine will include protection against H1N1 swine flu, which means people won't have to get separate shots, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel said Monday.
In a unanimous vote, the committee agreed that the pandemic H1N1 flu should replace the H1N1 strain used in last year's vaccine, Bloomberg reported.
Health experts meet each year to select the three most commonly circulating flu strains to be included in the seasonal flu vaccine.
It's normal for the FDA advisory committee's recommendations to be adopted and used to guide vaccine manufacturers, Bloomberg reported.
-----
Singing Helps Stroke Patients Recover Speech
Singing promotes brain rewiring that can help stroke patients recover their ability to speak, says a new study.
U.S. researchers explained that singing uses a different area of the brain than speech. If a person's speech center is damaged by a stroke, they can be taught to use their singing center instead, BBC News reported.
During therapy, stroke patients are taught to put their words to simple melodies. They're also encouraged to tap out each syllable of words with their hands. This tapping seems to act as an "internal pacemaker" that makes the singing therapy even more effective, said study leader Gottfried Schlaug, a neurology professor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego.