Medical

Maybe James Kinsey swerved to avoid an animal. Maybe his cell phone rang. Maybe, as the investigating officer suspected, he dozed off at the wheel on Old Fountain Road, just a half mile from his home in Dacula, after a long night shift. Whatever the cause, his Chevy Aveo crossed into an oncoming lane and was struck by another car. Too tall for the Chevy’s tiny cabin, the six-foot-one Gulf War veteran smashed his head against the door frame. The seat belt saved his life.

A study of more than 6 million seniors in the U.S. found that 21 percent are prescribed at least one "high risk" medication. These prescriptions are a lot more common in the South, among women, and in poorer areas.

Did you get your flu shot yet? Before you head to your doctor's office or the local pharmacy to get poked in the arm, you should know your flu vaccine options are mighty plentiful this year. Dr. Michael Jhung of the CDC explains the flu vaccine smorgasbord.

Of the eight top hospitals in Atlanta according to U.S. News & World Report, two of them have nationally ranked specialties. Emory University Hospital and Shepherd Center, the top ranked local hospitals on the list, have national areas of expertise.

The national cyclospora outbreak continues as the stomach bug has now affected 353 people in 15 states, including three in Georgia, according to the CDC. Here's what you need to know, courtesy of the CDC and the Georgia Department of Health.

The IV in my right arm pumped in liters of needed fluid, along with some Toradol anti-inflammatory medication, while a nasal cannula provided a steady stream of cool oxygen. This was a Sunday morning, after a nine-mile run from Decatur to Buckhead left me particularly tomato-faced, parched and pouring with sweat.Though I’ve found myself in a similar predicament before, this time I wasn’t sick and sitting in urgent care.I had elected to visit Hydration Station, a new business in Buckhead that offers intravenous fluids to the over-exerted, the stomach-bugged and the hungover.

Worried about the flu? How shortsighted of you. Malaria is what should be on your radar. According to the CDC, malaria cases have reached a 40-year-high. In 2011, 1,925 cases were reported in the United States. Ninety-nine of those cases were reported right here in Georgia.

A recent study estimates that Georgia and other states opting out of Medicaid expansion will miss out on a collective $8.4 billion in federal payments and spend roughly $1 billion “in the short term” on uncompensated care. Grady Memorial Hospital will swallow some of these costs as Metro Atlanta’s largest safety net health provider.

Atlanta made it onto yet another Top Ten list. This time, we're the ninth worst city for asthma, in a ranking of asthma capitals by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.