Retailers getting desperate

Free necklaces and shipping for holiday shoppers?

NEW YORK - Retailers are so desperate this holiday season that they're willing to lose money to get you to spend yours.

UK central bank intervenes in market to halt economic crisis

The Bank of England said it would buy long-term government bonds over the next two weeks to combat a recent slide in British financial assets

FDA approves first rapid, take home HIV test

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first over-the-counter HIV test, allowing Americans to test themselves for the virus that causes AIDS in the privacy of their homes.

Calling attention to medical orphans

Aside from being associated with Mother's Day and Memorial Day, the month of May has also increasingly come to be known as Awareness of Medical Orphans Month.

Are you one in a million?

It is estimated that half of American adults have at least one of the leading risk factors for heart disease: Smoking, hypertension or uncontrolled high cholesterol. By reducing these risks significantly, most of the two million heart attacks (and 800,000 of the resultant deaths) that occur in this country annually could be prevented.

Does zinc shorten colds?

Head colds seem to be the bane of our existence. With a real cure continuing to elude us, we continue to try all variety of medications that will relieve head-cold symptoms and shorten the illness' duration. In this latter category of over-the-counter medications, it has been suggested that zinc lozenges or syrup would be effective. To find out, researchers recently analyzed data of 17 trials involving more than 2,000 individuals. They found that those taking zinc were able to reduce the duration of their colds by about a day and a half (compared with those taking placebos). Moreover, larger doses of zinc were found to work even better, especially among adults (compared with children).

At your disposal

If you have expired or unwanted medications lingering inside the medicine cabinet, do not automatically throw them down the toilet. Instead, get in touch with a local drug disposal program to keep drugs safely out of the environment. If there is no disposal program, you are urged to throw unwanted drugs in the trash after mixing them with coffee grounds and sealing them in a plastic bag. Doing so will render the medications unpalatable to anyone who may later somehow come into their possession. The FDA does recommend that powerful painkillers, controlled substances and other potentially dangerous drugs be flushed because they can be harmful to children, pets and others for whom they are not intended.

DRUGS ACT: Just say no

Americans are struggling to afford the highest drug prices in the world.

U.S. grows, world slows

Top business stories of 2014

Treating sinus inflammation

When sinus inflammation (sinusitis) strikes, most people probably think that the best thing to do is get a prescription for antibiotics from their doctors. However, antibiotics are ineffective in 90 percent to 98 percent of all sinusitis case because nearly all sinus infections are viral in nature, and antibiotics don't kill viruses.

Taste, taste, taste

Mary and I affectionately refer to tasting wine many times as "homework." For us while it really isn't work at all it is a big part of the job, as we never feel comfortable or confident recommending a wine to a customer if we have not tried it first regardless of the price we pay and therefore charge our customers, it has to meet our standards. Allegorically, customers can and for their own protection should approach wine the same way.

FDA allows over-the-counter morning-after pill, lifts age limit

Smiling along with us

Banff' World Tour film festival coming to North Idaho

Movies feature mountain sport, humor and culture

The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour is coming to town, with showings planned in both Sandpoint and Coeur d'Alene. The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival has made a yearly stop in North Idaho since 1995, starting off with one night of films. While most cities will host only one or two nights of films, audiences in both cities will see three nights of films with different movies each night. In total, 24 different films will be shown.

Treating sinus inflammation

When sinus inflammation (sinusitis) strikes, most people probably think that the best thing to do is get a prescription for antibiotics from their doctors. However, antibiotics are ineffective in 90 percent to 98 percent of all sinusitis case because nearly all sinus infections are viral in nature, and antibiotics don't kill viruses. Currently, one in every five antibiotic prescriptions written for U.S. adults is written for sinusitis. Keeping in mind that unnecessary and unneeded antibiotic use leads to more virulent strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The Infectious Diseases Society of America recommends that doctors only suspect a bacterial infection when sinusitis symptoms last ten days or more and do not improve. After that, a five to seven day course of amoxicillin is often recommended.

More poisonings than auto deaths

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more Americans died of poisonings than in automobile crashes during the most recent year for which there are available statistics. That means that poisoning is now the leading cause of injury death in this country.

On the record about off-label drugs

A medication is said to be used "off label" when it is prescribed to treat a condition for which it has yet to be approved by the FDA. An example of off-label drug use may be an anti-depressant that is prescribed to treat insomnia or a pain condition.

Fueling the pain

Climbing costs have drivers in search of lowest prices

Gas prices hike burns drivers

Has the Fed been fueling bubbles? You be the judge

ADHD drugs perform better than assumed

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects an average 9 percent of U.S. children between ages 5 and 17, making it one of the most common childhood disorders. Because children affected by ADHD experience problems staying focused, hyperactivity, and disruptive/aggressive behavior, they are likely to fall behind at school and display risky behavior as teenagers. While such drugs as methylphenidate (Ritalin) may help children with ADHD concentrate better and control impulsivity, some argue that the prescription stimulants transform children into "robots" or "drug them into acquiescence." However, the latest research on the matter reveals that the ADHD children themselves do not agree. Many say that they still are the same people but they "just act a little better."