Research firm: Amazon sells $199 tablet at a loss

NEW YORK - Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire tablet, which started shipping this week, costs $201.70 to make, a research firm said Friday. That's $2.70 more than Amazon charges for it.

Pharmacist sentenced

Hydrochloric acid, your alkaline ace in the hole

The forgotten genie for weight loss and more.

OTC medications at wholesale prices

Diabetes is an awful disease.

What to take for arthritic knees

Osteoarthritis of the knees is a common problem, particularly after age 60. While low-impact aerobic exercise, muscle strengthening, and stretching can help increase range of motion and decrease pain, medications are often also necessary. If so, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons recommends the following medications to control symptoms: no more than 4 grams of acetaminophen (Tylenol) per day; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Advil) or naproxen sodium (Aleve) taken with food; cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, such as celecoxib (Celebrex); or topical NSAID diclofenac sodium (Voltaren Gel). These recommendations are designed to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. If they cannot be tolerated or greater pain relief is needed, a corticosteroid injection may be needed.

A small victory: Used-car prices slip from dizzy heights

The whole crazy price cycle began with the eruption of the pandemic, when many states issued stay-at-home orders

Is newer necessarily better?

Pharmacists can perform an important service to consumers by informing them about drug effectiveness. For instance, when an older drug is just as effective as a newer one and costs substantially less, the pharmacist may disabuse a patient of the widely held notion that something newer is necessarily better. Similarly, the pharmacist may help dispel the notion that, if something costs more, it is necessarily better. As a case in point, three of the oldest and least costly medications used to treat type 2 diabetes (metformin, glimepiride and glipizide), when taken alone or in combination, may be better first choices for diabetics than newer brand-name drugs like pioglitazone (Actos), rosiglitazone (Avandia) and sitagliptin (Januvia). It may pay to ask.

Medication-related weight gain

As if it weren't difficult enough to maintain normal body weight, some people actually put on pounds as a result of the medication they are taking.

Medications only work if you take them

One of the more worrisome aspects of keeping patients healthy is the fact that many do not take their medications. At the very worst, this compliance problem begins when patients with chronic conditions do not even pick up their newly prescribed drugs. This failure to comply with their prescribing physicians' recommendations places patients with high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol levels and other potentially life-threatening conditions at particular risk.

US regulators lift in-person restrictions on abortion pill

About 40% of all abortions in the U.S. are now done through medication

Generic-drug tsunami warning!

Patients currently taking prescription drugs should know that, over the coming months, an unprecedented number of expiring drug patents will unleash a virtual tsunami of generic drugs.

Low dose to no dose is no good

Doctors may prescribe a low-dose aspirin regimen to patients who have experienced heart attacks or strokes. Not only can a daily "baby" aspirin help prevent a second heart attack or stroke, it may also reduce the chance of having a heart attack or stroke among patients with certain risk factors (diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or smoking). However, about half of those on daily aspirin regimens discontinue use for various reasons (including stomach upset and simply forgetting). This unauthorized halt of a daily aspirin regimen can pose significant dangers (increased risk of heart attack and death from coronary heart disease) to those who have cardiovascular disease. Consultation with the prescribing doctor is imperative before discontinuing daily doses of aspirin.

Feeling feverish?

We have all been educated to think that 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit is the average body temperature of humans and that anything above that reading indicates a fever. However, it's not really that simple. Rectal temperature, which most accurately reflects true internal body temperature, varies from 97.9 degrees F. (morning) to 100.4 degree F. (late afternoon). Oral, armpit and ear temperatures, which are less accurate and can be influenced by external factors, can be as low as 94.5 degrees F. To determine your personal "normal" temperature, take three readings (morning, noon and night) at any one of the four sites, and calculate your average temperature for each of the three times of day. Use those numbers as your base temperature.

Food prices are squeezing Europe. Now Italians are calling for a pasta protest

Spain has avoided price controls

Apple fans to the core

Fans, entrepreneurs among first buyers of new iPad

Entertainment Briefs for April 8, 2010

Jon Gosselin: Kate ignores kids; Haim obtained 553 pills before death;

No headline

After being asked and not knowing, I decided to do some investigating about why people are panic-buying toilet paper.

Home blood sugar monitoring

There is no question that diabetics who carefully monitor their blood sugar levels stand the best chance of avoiding complications commonly associated with the disease. To this end, it helps greatly for diabetics to utilize home blood sugar monitoring kits that enable them to analyze their blood sugar levels by testing a drop of blood from a pricked finger on a test strip that is placed in a meter.

Fueling the pain

Climbing costs have drivers in search of lowest prices

Gas prices hike burns drivers

TV makers design for streaming video to stay relevant

Makers unveil new models with 4K resolution at International CES gadget show