
Alerta por nueva droga: es para neuropatías, pero la usan adictos a opioides
La gabapentina se utiliza para tratar afecciones de los nervios, pero la están usando cada vez más adictos a opioides. Es la quinta droga más recetada del país.

New On The Streets: Drug For Nerve Pain Boosts High For Opioid Abusers
Gabapentin, prescribed for epilepsy and nerve damage, is touted by federal health officials as an alternative to opioids for patients. But some are now abusing the drug.

A New Zika Threat Hovers As Summer’s Mosquitoes Get Bzzzzy
The Zika virus, which made its appearance in the U.S. last summer, is still not well understood, and federal and state officials are not sure what to expect this year.

Segregated Living Linked To Higher Blood Pressure Among Blacks
Blood pressure for African-Americans who moved permanently out of segregated areas into medium-segregation locations decreased on average nearly 4 points while those who went to low-segregation locales dropped almost 6 points, a 25-year study finds.

For Knee Pain, Experts Say Don’t Think About Scoping It
Writing in the journal BMJ, an international group of experts and patients say arthroscopic surgery on the knee does not provide lasting relief.

Expertos cuestionan eficacia de la cirugía de rodilla más popular
Un panel internacional desafió la eficacia de uno de los procedimientos ortopédicos más comunes y recomendó fuertemente no realizar la cirugía artroscópica en pacientes con problemas degenerativos de rodilla.

La otra crisis de Puerto Rico: el éxodo de médicos jóvenes
Estudiar medicina es una opción popular entre los jóvenes puertorriqueños. Pero muchos graduados están yéndose, eligiendo mejores oportunidades de trabajo, a pesar de las crecientes y urgentes necesidades de salud de Puerto Rico.

Exodus By Puerto Rican Medical Students Deepens Island’s Doctor Drain
Interest in medical schools is high in Puerto Rico, but many students look to the U.S. mainland for residencies because of higher pay and the commonwealth’s declining economy. The migration of young talent is both a symptom and an exacerbation of the island’s medical woes.

Nueva preocupación para las familias con fumadores: el humo de tercera mano
Nuevos hallazgos ponen de relieve los esfuerzos de la comunidad científica por identificar los peligros potenciales de otro subproducto de los cigarrillos que está al alcance de la mano de un niño.

A New Worry For Smokers’ Families: ‘Thirdhand Smoke’
The chemical residue from cigarette smoke that can cling to walls, clothes and skin may present a danger to children.

Popular Guarantee For Young Adults’ Coverage May Be Health Law’s Achilles’ Heel
Republicans and Democrats don’t agree on much these days, but both parties want to keep the health law’s provision to allow adults to stay on their parents’ plan until age 26. But that could be hurting the marketplace’s insurance pools.

Pacientes de bajos ingresos con VIH temen quedarse sin cobertura
Bajo nuevas reglas que impondría la ley de salud republicana, pacientes de bajos ingresos que viven con VIH podrían perder la cobertura que un programa de asistencia federal les ayudó a obtener.

Low-Income AIDS Patients Fear Coverage Gains May Slip Away
The federal health law made it feasible for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program to expand its efforts and help patients buy marketplace insurance plans to cover drugs and other health care.

Experimental Stem Cell Treatment Leaves Three Women Blind
Researchers, who detail the women’s experiences in the New England Journal of Medicine, say it exposes the need for better regulation of clinical trials.

Zika: brotes por el calor pueden acelerar una vacuna
Mientras las temperaturas más cálidas anuncian la llegada de mosquitos molestos, los investigadores están trabajando febrilmente en varias vacunas prometedoras contra el zika… pero hace falta un brote para probarlas.

Sprint To Find Zika Vaccine Could Hinge On Summer Outbreaks
In a paradox, researchers say testing for a vaccine will depend on the outbreak recurring this year.

Individual Insurance Primer: Long-Troubled Market At Center Of Drive For Repeal
People who do not get insurance through their job or the government have long battled a difficult market.

Trump’s Immigration Ban Fuels Fear For Young Doctors Whose Jobs May Be In Limbo
With announcements of placements in residencies expected in March, medical education groups and hospitals say they’re unsure how to proceed.

Trump’s Nominee For Agriculture Has Key Health Role
From nutrition assistance programs to preventing food-borne illness, the Agriculture Department is keenly involved in health policy.

Advocacy Group Pushes For Changes In U.S. Food Assistance Program
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which eschews meat and pushes for nutrition to have a stronger influence in health policy, is suggesting alterations in how food aid to low income people is structured.