A technique that treats fibroids without surgery could reduce the need for hysterectomies, according to a study released today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Fibroids, benign uterine growths that can cause heavy menstrual bleeding and pelvic pressure, account for 200,000 hysterectomies each year. An additional 34,000 women undergo myomectomies, in which only the fibroid is surgically removed, preserving the uterus. Far fewer women have embolization, a decade-old procedure that involves the injection of grain-size polyvinyl particles into the uterine artery to block off the fibroid's blood supply.
Living in a state that voted for George W. Bush in 2004 can be hazardous to a child's health. That's the conclusion of Michael Petit, head of the Every Child Matters Education Fund, which just released a report tying politics to health. "In red states, children are at significantly more risk" than in blue states, or those that voted Democratic that year, says Petit, who published his findings yesterday on the foundation's website. The report garnered plaudits from child advocates, but some health policy analysts described it as simplistic.
A new drug that fights cigarette addiction more than triples a person's odds of quitting, compared with using no drugs at all, according to a review of research on the drug. Meantime, another study found that certain antidepressants also make it easier to quit.
AP - Convinced this is their moment, tens of thousands marched Saturday in an anti-war demonstration linking military families, ordinary people and an icon of the Vietnam protest movement in a spirited call to get out of Iraq.
AP - The U.S. military reported the deaths of seven more soldiers Saturday, while Sunni insurgent bombers struck yet another market in a predominantly Shiite district, killing at least 13 people in their bid to terrorize Baghdad days before a U.S.-Iraqi military crackdown.
AP - New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton blamed President Bush on Saturday for misusing authority given him by Congress to act in Iraq, but conceded "I take responsibility" for her role in allowing that to happen.
Twin car bombs killed at least 15 people and injured 55 Saturday at a market in Baghdad, police officials said. It was the second Baghdad market bombing in two days. On Friday, another 15 people died in an attack at a popular pet market. Meanwhile, seven U.S. troops were killed in three incidents, the military announced.
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