| Women have the power to prevent heart disease
If you're a wife, mother or daughter, chances are you've talked to the man in your life about heart disease. Maybe you've reminded him to have a cholesterol and blood pressure screening, or maybe you've scheduled a doctor's appointment for him. Now it's time to pay attention to your own heart. If you don't, you could be part of a growing number of women who are struggling with the life-altering effects of heart disease and stroke. In the United States, heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, claiming the lives of more females than males. More women die from heart disease than breast cancer. In fact, heart attack and stroke claim more lives than the next seven leading causes of death. .
'Joan' sitcom's theme jangled Mom's nerves
My friends and I were reminiscing about 1950s sitcoms. Someone mentioned "I Married Joan," which we all recalled but could not remember any of the actors, especially who played Joan. Help, please. Vivian H., Antioch Dear Vivian: "I Married Joan" ran from 1952 to 1955, and starred comedic actress Joan Davis as the aforementioned Joan, and Jim Backus as her husband, Judge Bradley Stevens. Joan's younger sister (and partner in the madcap schemes) was played by Davis' daughter, Beverly Wills. My mother always tells the story about how the theme song used to jangle her nerves when she was pregnant with my older brother and suffering from heartburn. She grew to hate the song, the show and the name, so my dad had to do some persuading three years later to get her to agree to naming me Joan -- after his boss's daughter, not after the actress.
Schering-Plough Net Rises on Cholesterol Drugs' Sales (Update6)
Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Schering-Plough Corp.'s fourth- quarter earnings surged 62 percent as the combined sales of its Vytorin and Zetia cholesterol drugs jumped to $1.1 billion. Net income rose to $204 million, or 12 cents a share, from $126 million, or 7 cents, a year earlier, the Kenilworth, New Jersey-based company said today in a statement. Revenue increased 14 percent to $2.7 billion, spurred by a 46 percent rise for Zetia and Vytorin. Chief Executive Officer Fred Hassan closed plants and fired 2,000 workers to cut $100 million in 2007 costs. Schering, the eighth-biggest drugmaker by sales, said it expects revenue from the company's cholesterol drugs to increase this year even as the treatments face competition from generic copies of Merck & Co.'s Zocor.
Yen hits 3-week high against dollar
The yen hit a three-week high against the dollar and the euro on Tuesday as the Japanese currency continued to receive support ahead of the Group of Seven industrialised nations meeting of finance ministers and central bankers this weekend. The yen has rallied from a four-year trough against the dollar and an all-time low against the euro in the last week amid concerns that the weakness of the Japanese currency would be on the agenda at the meeting. European officials have led the chorus calling for the topic to be put up for discussion, but Japanese and US officials have played down the issue. However, Adrian Schmidt, senior foreign exchange strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland, said there appeared to be some fatigue with the G7 talk. He said there seemed to be a strong consensus that the official communique following the meeting would contain no specific comments on the yen.
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