Amy Winehouse Toxicology Report: No Drugs

Amy Winehouse had no illegal drugs in her system when she died, and it is still unclear what killed the singer, her family said Tuesday.

The family said in a statement that toxicology tests showed “alcohol was present” in the singer’s body but it hasn’t yet been determined if it contributed to her death.

The 27-year-old soul diva, who had…

Are Too Many People Taking Heartburn Drugs?

Too many people in the U.S. may be taking stomach-acid-suppressing drugs such as Nexium and Prevacid, new research suggests. The drugs, known as proton pump inhibitors, help those with serious stomach and digestive problems, but the risks may outweigh the benefits for people with less serious conditions, experts say.

Proton pump inhibitors can have rare but serious side effects,…

Has Your Kid Got a Fever? Don’t Rush to Dole out Drugs

Parents, especially new ones, freak out about fevers. A third of all pediatric visits involve worried parents bringing in feverish little ones. But there’s really no reason to fret when your kiddo’s temperature starts to rise. And there’s no reason to push drugs to alleviate the fever, according to a new clinical report published…

Antipsychotic Drugs Raise Heart Risks, Experts Warn

Doctors must not forget about the physical health of people with serious mental health disorders who take antipsychotic drugs, experts warn.

The authors of an editorial in the Feb. 19 issue of The Lancet noted that patients with severe mental illness live an average of 16 years less than people in the general population. Heart disease,…

Pain Drugs Up Fracture, Heart Attack Risk

Doctors are increasingly turning to Oxycontin and similar painkillers to treat arthritis and other conditions in older people, but the drugs may not be as safe as once thought. A new study suggests that elderly arthritis patients who take these drugs—known as opioids—are 4.5 times more likely to break their hip, pelvis, wrist, or upper arm than those…

Heart Drugs and Supplements a Risky Mix

Herbal and dietary supplements are found in the aisles of supermarkets and health-food stores rather than behind a pharmacy counter, but they can be dangerous when mixed with the wrong drug.

A new survey suggests that a majority of heart patients taking the popular blood-thinning drug warfarin are risking potentially dangerous complications by combining it with supplements such as…

Psych Drugs Can Pile on Pounds

Katie’s temper tantrums and emotional outbursts became uncontrollable when she was 5 years old. After diagnosing her with Asperger’s syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), doctors placed her on risperidone, an antipsychotic drug used to treat irritability and aggression in autistic children.

The medication “took the edge off,” according to her mother, Janet, but it also made…

Vitamins, Water-Soluble

Vitamins are essential organic substances that are needed in small amounts in the diet for the normal function, growth, and maintenance of body tissues. Water-soluble  vitamins consist of the B vitamins and vitamin C. With exception of vitamin B6 and B12, they are readily excreted in urine without appreciable storage, so frequent consumption becomes necessary. They are generally nontoxic…

Mood-Food Relationships

Research on the connection between a person’s mood and the food he or she eats has reveled what many people have long believed, that eating a certain food can influence a person’s mood—at least temporarily. Research by Judith Wurtman, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has focused on how certain foods alter one’s mood by…