Author: Thomas H. Maugh
-
Heart bypass surgery underused, study says
LOS ANGELES — Tens or even hundreds of thousands of Americans are having coronary artery angioplasty and stenting every year when they should be having bypass grafts, and the result is an extra 5,000 or more deaths annually, researchers said Sunday. Patients and cardiologists frequently prefer angioplasty and the insertion of a stent to keep…
-
CDC: Flu-like illnesses climbing, but kids’ infections not 1 in 5
Influenza-like illnesses are now higher than levels generally seen at the peak of the flu season, federal health officials said Friday, even as they dismissed media reports from a day earlier that 1 in 5 children had contracted swine flu during the first weeks of October.Pandemic H1N1 influenza activity continues to spread, with 46 states…
-
Chocolate’s forebears were early American arrivals
Cacao, the staple of Valentine’s Day chocolates and hot drinks by a cozy winter fire, made it to the American Southwest by 1000, centuries earlier than researchers had believed. In a study published Monday, scientists said they had found traces of theobromine, the chemical that serves as a distinct marker for cacao, on pottery shards…