WEDNESDAY, June 25 (HealthDay News) -- Extended use of the oral drug rivaroxaban helps prevent potentially fatal blood clots after hip replacement surgery, British researchers say.

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 16 (HealthDay News) -- Want to know how much hair you're losing?

Start counting -- the hairs on your comb, not on your head.

In the June issue of Archives of Dermatology, scientists demonstrate that a so-called "60-second hair count" is a simple and reliable away to get a grip on whether you're balding and, if so, how fast.

The procedure, which can be carried out in the convenience of your own home, may reassure the adult male -- or not.

The drug naltrexone, widely used to treat alcohol addition, may also help people with a gambling problem, according to a University of Minnesota study of people who gambled for six to 32 hours a week.

The researchers had 58 men and women take doses between 50 milligrams and 150 milligrams of naltrexone every day for 18 weeks, while 19 others took a placebo. Of the 49 people in the treatment group who completed the study, 40 percent quit gambling for at least one month, compared with 10 percent of those in the placebo group, United Press International reported.

One Vioxx-related verdict against drug maker Merck & Co. was reversed Thursday by an appeals court in Texas, while a Vioxx-related reward was reduced by a New Jersey appeals court.

In Texas, an appeals court scrapped a $26 million verdict awarded to the widow of Robert Ernst, who started taking the painkiller Vioxx eight months before he died in May 2001. The appeals court said there's no evidence that Ernst suffered a fatal heart problems from a blood clot caused by Vioxx, the Associated Press reported.

By Amanda Gardner
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. blood collection centers face a conundrum: At a time of decreasing blood donations, a new study shows that an important source of current and future donations, 16- and 17-year-olds, are more likely to bruise, faint or experience other complications when they donate.

That means this critical pool of young donors may be less likely to give in the future, experts say.

MONDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- Lung cancer patients may be one step closer to the day when the disease can be detected early with a simple blood test.

Scientists slated to report their findings Tuesday at the American Thoracic Society's conference in Toronto say the test -- which tracks gene activity in immune-system cells -- was very good at distinguishing patients with lung cancer from those without the disease.

An anti-bleeding drug probably will stay off the market, experts say, after a rigorous study found patients getting the medication during heart surgery were much more likely to die than patients given other drugs.

Bayer AG, the maker of the drug Trasylol, said it is still deciding what to do and is awaiting details from the Canadian study. Bayer faces dozens of lawsuits claiming Trasylol led to excess deaths and that the company hid evidence of harm.

WEDNESDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers report they have dramatically increased the survival rate for people with strokes caused by bleeding within the brain by fine-tuning the dosage and timing for administering the clot-busting drug tissue plasminogen activator (tPA).