Spikes in blood sugar can take a toll on memory by affecting the dentate gyrus, an area of the brain within the hippocampus that helps form memories, a new study reports.

Researchers said the effects can be seen even when levels of blood sugar, or glucose, are only moderately elevated, a finding that may help explain normal age-related cognitive decline, since glucose regulation worsens with age.

Patients with a particular gene variant seem to respond less effectively to the anticlotting agent Plavix than those with the normal version of the gene, according to studies in medical journals Monday.

Three independent research groups studied data from patients taking Plavix over a number of years and found that individuals with the gene variation had higher rates of heart attack, death and other cardiac-related events. The gene variant appears to reduce the function of an enzyme needed to activate the medicine.

Cancer is projected to become the leading cause of death worldwide in the year 2010, according to a new edition of the World Cancer Report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Low- and middle-income countries will experience the impact of higher cancer incidence and death rates more sharply than industrialized countries, according to the report. This news is in contrast with another recent report that shows that cancer incidence and death rates for men and women in the United States continue to decline, as reported by Medscape Oncology.

After a series of prescription-medication scares in recent years, consumers are receiving a flood of safety information about the drugs they take -- so much that it risks scaring some people.

The incidence of new cancer cases has been falling in recent years in the United States, the first time such an extended decline has been documented, researchers reported Tuesday.

As the economic picture keeps getting worse, the doubts grow about President-elect Obama’s ability to do much of consequence in remaking health care. Tom Daschle, the former senator tapped to become head of HHS, has argued that all Americans should have to have health insurance, an expensive prospect whose fiscal feasibility is in question.

I've had clothes custom-tailored by a seamstress. I've had vacations custom-planned by travel agents. And now, I've received a custom-designed personal health plan from medical experts.

Recently, I joined a group of volunteers at Emory University submitting to an exhaustive -- and exhausting -- "predictive health assessment" that researchers used to determine the specific health risks I face and to prescribe changes to my behavior and lifestyle with the aim of reducing those risks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of deaths have been linked to medications that have never been reviewed by the government for safety and effectiveness but are still covered under Medicaid, an Associated Press analysis of federal data has found.

Taxpayers have shelled out at least $200 million since 2004 for such drugs, and millions of private patients are taking them as well.

Even as employers push a greater share of rising medical costs on to workers, a growing number of companies also are providing services like free check-ups, screening exams and prescription drugs that potentially can save employees hundreds of dollars a year.