Flesh-eating bacteria may sound like a bad horror movie, but the case of a Gwinnett County woman fighting such an infection has many concerned about a threat that may be lurking in Northeast Georgia’s lakes and rivers.
Aimee Copeland, a 24-year-old graduate student, is fighting the bacteria after an accident on a homemade zip line along the Little Tallapoosa River that caused a gash in her leg, where the bacteria took hold.
Medical experts say the bacteria itself is common, found in water but also often found on our skin. The condition, …

The FDA on Thursday approved generic versions of blood thinning drug Plavix, which helps reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Known chemically as Clopidogrel, Plavix is marketed in the U.S. by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY: News ) and Sanofi (SNY), and is available in strengths of 75 mg and 300 mg.
Clopidogrel is indicated for the treatment of patients who have had a recent heart attack or a recent stroke, or have partial or total blockage of an artery. Clopidogrel’s label sports a black-box warning to alert that the …

Coffee drinkers may live longer as research has found they were less likely to die during the 14-year study period than non-coffee drinkers.
Researchers found that compared with people who did not drink coffee, men who consumed six or more cups a day where 10 per cent less likely to die during the 14 years of the study.
For women there were 15 per cent fewer deaths for those drinking six cups or more.
The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that there was a marginal difference for men …

An FDA advisory panel approved the oral swab screening.

A federal advisory committee on Tuesday unanimously approved over-the-counter sale of a rapid HIV test, acknowledging the need for new tools against an epidemic that is driven largely by people who don’t know their status and infect others.
If the Food and Drug Administration agrees with its advisers, the oral swab screening device made by OraSure Technologies Inc. of Bethlehem, Pa., would become the first infectious disease test approved for home use.
The panel overcame considerable unknowns and concerns that the test cannot pick …

Twice as many people suffer from sleepwalking than previously suspected, with nearly a third experiencing it at some point in their lives, new research has revealed.
- 14 May 2012 -
Scientists found one in every 25 adults are prone to night time wandering, with 29.2 per cent reporting some form of sleepwalking since childhood.
The study also showed an association between nocturnal disruption and certain psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety.
The researchers said the study “underscores the fact that sleepwalking is much more prevalent in adults than previously appreciated.”
Lead author Maurice …