THURSDAY, Oct. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Three leading medical associations have created guidelines to help heart disease patients cut their risk of ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding from one the condition's most common treatments -- antiplatelets and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin.

The American College of Cardiology, the American College of Gastroenterology and the American Heart Association guidelines call on doctors to better assess the patient's risk factors before treatment starts. These include considering:

* age,

(HealthDay News) -- Iron is an essential mineral that the body needs to make red blood cells.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine says these people are at greater risk for iron deficiency, and should ask their doctor about getting enough iron-rich foods:

* Menstruating women, and those with especially heavy periods.
* Women who are pregnant or who have recently had a baby.
* People who are long-distance runners.
* Vegetarians.
* People with a bleeding ulcer or intestinal bleeding disorder.
* People who donate blood often.

By Kathleen Doheny
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, April 17 (HealthDay News) -- Common medications known as anticholinergic drugs -- used to treat ulcers, stomach cramps, motion sickness, Parkinson's disease and urinary incontinence -- may cause older people to lose their thinking skills more quickly than seniors who don't take the medicines, new research suggests.

By Randy Dotinga
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- Call it a case of gator aid. New research suggests that alligator blood could serve as the basis for new antibiotics targeting infections caused by ulcers, burns and even drug-resistant "superbugs."