Health - The Durango Herald

The risky surgery to remove a woman’s 132-pound tumor that grew by 10 pounds a week

The tumor had ballooned to 132 pounds and stretched the patient’s abdomen into a 3-foot-wide orb. By the time oncologist Vaagn Andikyan examined the 38-year-old woman, she could n...

DATE: May 7, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Drug epidemic ensnares 25-year-old pill for nerve pain

WASHINGTON – The story line sounds familiar: a popular pain drug becomes a new way to get high as prescribing by doctors soars. But the latest drug raising red flags is not part o...

DATE: May 4, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Tooth whiteners essentially bleach your teeth, and that has pros and cons

Walk down the toothpaste aisle at your typical drugstore and you’ll see a range of products that promise to whiten your teeth. Whitening toothpaste, whitening strips, a whitening gel that yo...

DATE: May 3, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Diseases spread by ticks, mosquitoes and fleas more than tripled in the U.S.

The warmer weather of spring and summer means the start of tick and mosquito season and the diseases they transmit, including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, West Nile and Zika. ...

DATE: May 2, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

U.S. seeking 1 million for massive study of DNA, health habits

WASHINGTON – Wanted: A million people willing to share their DNA and 10 years of health habits, big and small, for science. On Sunday, the U.S. government will open nationwide enr...

DATE: May 1, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Portable test helps identify refugees at risk of outbreaks

WASHINGTON – Call it a lab in a box: Researchers created a device about the size of a toaster that can test a drop of blood to tell, in about half an hour, who’s immune to certain infections...

DATE: Apr 30, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Cataract surgery evolves to make vision even sharper

New tool allows Durango surgeons to improve lens selection

DATE: Apr 29, 2018 | CATEGORY: Southwest Life

More kids have autism, better diagnosis may be the reason

NEW YORK – The government estimates that autism is becoming more common, but it’s only a small increase and some experts think it can be largely explained by better diagnosing of minority ch...

DATE: Apr 28, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Opioid treatment gap in Medicare: Methadone clinics

One in three older Americans with Medicare drug coverage is prescribed opioid painkillers, but for those who develop a dangerous addiction there is one treatment Medicare won’t cover: methad...

DATE: Apr 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

New regulations for Montezuma County septic systems are upheld

Additional oversight attempts will identify older systems

DATE: Apr 25, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Kids with rare rapid-aging disease get hope from study drug

CHICAGO – Children with a rare, incurable disease that causes rapid aging and early death may live longer if treated with an experimental drug first developed for cancer patients, a study su...

DATE: Apr 24, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Vaccinated against shingles? Great. Do it again.

Federal officials have recommended a new vaccine that is more effective than an earlier version at protecting older adults against the painful rash called shingles. But persuading many adult...

DATE: Apr 23, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health