FRIDAY, July 18 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists may have found more evidence that a person's genetic make-up may help determine whether or not they respond to the antidepressant Celexa (citalopram).

Specifically, researchers at the Mayo Clinic have found that variations in the serotonin transporter gene could help select which patients should try this drug, one of the family of medications known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Some 10 percent of the American population now take antidepressants, making it the most widely prescribed drug class in the country.

(HealthDay News) -- Measuring proteins that carry cholesterol in the blood may give a better estimate of heart attack risk than measuring cholesterol, a major study finds.

The study focused on the ratio of two of the proteins, called apolipoprotein B100 (ApoB) and apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1). The international team of researchers studied data on more than 27,000 people and found that the ratio of apolipoprotein B100 (ApoB) to apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) accounted for 54 percent of the risk of heart attack.

“It’s powerfully GOOD news,” said Dr. Northrup when she received word of a Congressional Resolution asking the FDA to rescind its ban on the use of the bio-identical hormone estriol. So, despite popular belief, women who are concerned about their health care and who want to explore all options really can fight city hall.

Rising temperatures and increased dehydration linked to global warming will boost kidney stone rates in the United States and around the world, new research suggests.

In the United States in particular, hotter weather will lead to a dramatic rise in kidney stone disease among residents of southern states -- the so-called "kidney-stone belt." This will result in an increase of 1.6 million to 2.2 million additional kidney stone cases by 2050, according to the study.

TUESDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) -- An in-trial dendritic cell vaccine that fights malignant brain tumors called glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) may help boost a patient's immunity response and improve the outcome, a new report says.

An article in the July 15 issue of Cancer Research says this would mark the first time a tumor-altering therapeutic intervention would have shown such promise.

WASHINGTON - A trio of experimental drugs has doctors hopeful that for the first time in decades, millions of people at risk of lethal blood clots may soon get easier treatment.

The first goal is a pill option for people who now need daily blood-thinning shots for weeks after knee or hip replacement surgery.

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By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, July 11 (HealthDay News) -- People who are hospitalized for severe heart failure and have been taking beta blockers should be kept on those medications while in the hospital, a new study finds.

And if they weren't taking beta blockers already, most of them should be started on the medications when they leave, according to a report in the July 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

THURSDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) -- In developing countries where breast-feeding is a necessity, and HIV is rampant, the risk of disease transmission through breast milk might be reduced if infants were first fed a freeze-dried formula full of good bacteria that could capture and potentially destroy the deadly virus.

Powerful addictive drugs -- known as controlled substances because of their potential for abuse -- are easily ordered online, and in most cases without a prescription, a new Columbia University study finds.

Of 365 Web sites that sold controlled substances regulated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), 85 percent of the sites did not require a prescription, according to an Associated Press analysis of the study.

Examples of drugs that could be purchased this way included the potent painkillers morphine and oxycodone, and amphetamine stimulants.