Health Briefs

Alzheimer's Association offers symposium to aid caregivers

Registrations are being accepted for the Alzheimer's Association Annual Education Symposium, Alzheimer's and Dementias: Caregiver Strategies.

The program for family and professional caregivers will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 8 at The Gordon Club at Fort Gordon. There is a $25 fee for caregivers, students and those not requiring contact/core hours. Limited scholarships are available.

There is a $45 fee for professionals with contact/core hours. The fee includes continental breakfast, lunch and all materials.

For more information or to register, contact the Augusta Regional Office of the Alzheimer's Association at (706) 731-9060. The registration deadline is March 3.

Area Krogers to begin selling generic prescriptions for $4

Kroger Co. announced Wednesday that it will sell more than 300 generic drugs for $4 in all Augusta-Aiken stores .

Wal-Mart, Target and other companies have taken similar initiatives to cut the prices of commonly prescribed drugs.

The new prices, which took effect immediately, are typically for 30-day supplies of generic alternatives used to treat conditions such as diabetes, asthma, depression and heart disease.

Kroger also said its pharmacies will offer generic versions of birth control drugs Ortho Cyclen and Ortho Tri Cyclen for $9.

A list of the pharmacies and eligible generic drugs is available at www.kroger.com/generic or by calling (877) 4RX-LIST.

Men are more aggressive in video game play, study finds

The sexes fight equally hard for that remote, but new research demonstrates that men are predisposed to have a harder time letting go of a video-game controller.

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine did functional brain imaging of 22 young adults -- 11 men, 11 women -- while they played a simple video game on a computer screen with minimal instruction.

The researchers found that while both men and women quickly picked up the game's concepts, the guys were somewhat more aggressive and successful at gaining "territory" on the screen.

The study was published recently in the Journal of Psychiatric Research .

-- From staff and wire reports