• A few setbacks and changes in routine to lose 10 pounds (Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Me Minus 10 got off to a rocky start two weeks ago: No sooner had I pledged to lose 10 pounds than I got, first, a GI-tract malady and then a wicked head cold (both now resolved). Neither helped me mentally or physically. Nor did learning, upon purchase of a new scale, that I have 12, not 10 poun...
  
  
  
• On health-care reform, Republicans target Democrats' division over reconciliation (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  As Republicans work to prevent a health-care bill from reaching President Obama, they are scrambling to exploit divisions between Democrats in the House and the Senate.
  
  
  
• A patient's death prompts a doctor to assess 'Do Not Resuscitate' orders (Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  The emergency department is always noisy, but sudden screams from a staffer still get attention. The triage nurse is yelling, "Not breathing, had vitals at triage and just croaked," as she runs toward us pushing a wheelchair. In it, a pale, thin man is slumped over and looking gray. I'm the atten...
  
  
  
• Despite what you may have heard, there's no boom in deafness (Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  When I was growing up, one of my mother's favorite admonitions -- along with "If you keep making that face, it's going to freeze that way" and "Don't sit too close to the television or you're going to need glasses" -- was the classic "Turn that music down, or you'll go deaf."
  
  
  
  
• Eat, Drink and Be Healthy: Letters about Me Minus 10 (Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Two things I've learned since launching my Me Minus 10 campaign to lose 10 pounds before I turn 50 in December: Many people want to lose 10 pounds -- and many would like to have cartoon images made of themselves! I've received tons of great feedback; here are some of your letters.
  
  
  
• Harry Smith colonoscopy to air on `Early Show' (Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:06:54 EST)
  "The Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith is scheduled to have a colonoscopy Wednesday, with live reports planned as he undergoes the procedure at a New York hospital.
  
  
  
• Obama pitches health plan in spirited appearance (Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:31:31 EST)
  GLENSIDE, Pa. -- Stirring memories of his campaign for the White House, President Barack Obama made a spirited, shirt-sleeved appeal for passage of long-stalled health care changes Monday as Democratic congressional leaders worked behind the scenes on legislation they hope can quickly gain passage.
  
  
  
• Big in Japan? Fat chance for nation's young women, obsessed with being skinny (Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  TOKYO -- As women in the United States and across the industrialized world get fatter, most Japanese women are getting skinnier.
  
  
  
  
• Salmonella prompts processed-food recall (Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Thousands of types of processed foods -- including many varieties of soups, chips, frozen dinners, hot dogs and salad dressings -- may pose a health threat because they contain a flavor enhancer that could be contaminated with salmonella, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.
  
  
  
• Bundled payments might cut hospital costs without reducing quality of care (Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  A decade and a half ago, when I started my solo practice, I would say to my routine HIV patients, "Let's see you back in three months." I was eager to fill clinic slots; also, because of my lack of experience, I felt safer seeing my patients more often.
  
  
  
• As Democrats seek to push through health bill, Obama reaches out to Republicans (Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  As Democrats on Capitol Hill prepared a risky effort to muscle sweeping health-care legislation to final passage, President Obama on Tuesday made a last gambit to split Republicans on the issue, proposing to incorporate a handful of GOP ideas into his signature domestic initiative.
  
  
  
• Parity law requires mental health benefits comparable to physical care benefits (Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Denise Camp was resigned to the double standard that had long applied to her medical bills, forcing her to skimp on other expenses so she could pay for mental health treatment.
  
  
  
  
• Julia Child's co-author succeeded in the kitchen but also in second half of life (Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  The Oscars are coming! And Meryl Streep is nominated for her role as super-chef Julia Child, who chop-chop-chopped those onions to success in "Julie & Julia." The movie tells the tale of Julia's beginnings as a chef in Paris, set against the later story of young writer Julie Powell, who spend...
  
  
  
• College students visit heart surgery operating room for artistic inspiration (Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Aspiring to imitate Thomas Eakins? It certainly looks that way. Last week, a group of students from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania evoked the image of the 19th-century Philadelphia artist when they went to observe -- and then document in their own drawings -- surgery as it was taking place.
  
  
  
• Lawsuit attacks patent giving company control over genetic test for cancer risk (Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  After receiving a diagnosis of aggressive breast cancer at age 43, Lisbeth Ceriani wanted to find out whether she had the BRCA gene mutation, which makes women much more likely to get breast and ovarian cancer. If she tested positive for the mutation, she decided, she would have her ovaries remov...
  
  
  
• Ted Leonsis of Washington Capitals suggests making goals to ensure a happy life (Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Ted Leonsis, Internet multimillionaire, Washington Capitals owner and by general acclaim a very nice guy, has some recommendations for being a happier person, and it isn't about getting rich. (Why is it that really wealthy people always say that?) Instead, he writes in his new memoir-cum-self-hel...
  
  
  
  
• Democrats will have votes for health bill, Obama aide says (Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Raising the prospect of a "simple up-or-down vote" on health-care reform, White House adviser Nancy-Ann DeParle said on Sunday she thinks Democrats will secure enough ayes on the measure and signaled that the administration could be moving toward trying to pass it along party lines.
  
  
  
• D.C. rushing to fix problems with AIDS records at clinics (Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  The District's troubled HIV/AIDS Administration is scrambling to correct dozens of billing and record-keeping deficiencies discovered at Washington area medical clinics that draw federal AIDS funding.
  
  
  
• Former vice president Cheney released from hospital after fifth heart attack (Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Richard B. Cheney's fifth heart attack may add to the lore surrounding the seemingly indomitable former vice president. But his ability to survive repeated coronaries is more a testament to modern medicine's advances in detecting and treating the leading killer than any supernatural powers.
  
  
  
• Most parents back vaccines, though many believe autism link (Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  CHICAGO -- One in four U.S. parents believes that some vaccines cause autism in healthy children, but even many of those worried about risks think their children should be immunized.
  
  
  
  
• Minnesota abortion provider helps meet need in South Dakota (Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Carol Ball's day begins in the dark, in another state. By the time she arrives at work, crosses a snowy parking lot and enters the austere one-story Planned Parenthood clinic here, she has flown 200 miles to do something no South Dakota doctor will do.
  
  
  
• Michelle Obama shares the emotions behind her movement to boost kids' health (Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  First lady Michelle Obama sits in an upholstered armchair in her East Wing office, a generous bowl of fresh apples on a nearby table. She wears a body-conscious gray sleeveless sheath with an artful corsage of matching fabric decorating the right shoulder. A petite Georgetown student -- one of the...
  
  
  
• Dolphin therapy is booming despite concerns about efficacy and animal cruelty (Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Do you or does your child suffer from cerebral palsy? Down syndrome? Autism? A knee injury? General ennui?
  
  
  
• WHO: Swine flu outbreak has not yet peaked (Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:48:58 EST)
  The World Health Organization announced Wednesday that it was too early to declare that the H1N1 pandemic had peaked and urged nations around the world to remain vigilant.
  
  
  
  
• Alternatives to BPA containers not easy for U.S. foodmakers to find (Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Major U.S. foodmakers are quietly investigating how to rid their containers of Bisphenol A, a chemical under scrutiny by federal regulators concerned about links to a range of health problems, including reproductive disorders and cancer.
  
  
  
• Swine flu wanes, but experts say pandemic strain could reemerge (Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Even as officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are announcing that the epidemic of the H1N1 flu is no longer widespread in any state, no disease expert is willing to say there isn't a third -- or fourth -- wave of swine flu in the country's future.
  
  
  
• Ovaries have not adjusted to many women's decision to delay having children (Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Whether you are aware of your incessantly ticking biological clock or not, the absolute last thing that any woman of steadily advancing childbearing age wants to hear when she flips on the morning news shows is: Women lose 90 percent of their eggs by age 30.
  
  
  
• Obama offers new health-care plan; GOP slams it as 'government takeover' (Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:15:00 EST)
  President Obama made it clear Monday morning that he intends to make a final push for a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's health-care and insurance system, offering a new health-care plan that largely embraces the approach already taken by the U.S. Senate.
  
  
  
  
• Researchers say antiretroviral (ART) drugs may prevent HIV infection (Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  SAN FRANCISCO -- The antiretroviral drugs that revolutionized the care of people with AIDS are on the threshold of a new life as tools to prevent infection in individuals and brake the epidemic in populations as a whole.
  
  
  
• Goodnight, moon. Good morning, sun. (Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Riding in school buses in the early morning, then sitting in poorly lighted classrooms are significant reasons students have trouble getting to sleep at night, according to new research.
  
  
  
• Olympic champions must train hard, but the right genes are also essential (Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno trained for the Vancouver Olympics for two years. He sprinted up mountains, lifted weights, ran, biked and skated. He often worked out twice a day, sometimes more. In his first event of the 2010 Games, he won a silver medal.
  
  
  
• Salmonella outbreak may be tied to spice suppliers for salami (Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:34:01 EST)
  The company at the heart of a nationwide outbreak of salmonella illness linked to salami says it has detected the bacterium in sealed containers of red pepper from two suppliers, raising concerns that other foodmakers may have used tainted spices in a variety of foods.
  
  
  
  
• Kaiser reverses decision to end after-hours urgent-care services at Md. facility (Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Kaiser Permanente has reversed a decision to stop offering its heavily used after-hours urgent-care services in Kensington after members protested, a top Kaiser executive said Thursday.
  
  
  
• What needs to be in every medicine cabinet (Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  A few weeks ago, it seemed a 24-hour pharmacy would always be a quick car ride away, but the record snowfalls remind us of that old Boy Scout saw: Be prepared. As the snow melts, clean out expired medicine, toss the extra bottles of lotion you never use and stock up on supplies that cover common ...
  
  
  
• Cold, hard, and fast: The danger of Winter Olympics sports (Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  This week, as airborne snowboarders try to complete two flips and three spins before landing on a halfpipe, or skeleton athletes hurtle headfirst at 90 mph just two inches above the icy track, we hold our breath wondering whether they'll make it. From the comfort of our living rooms, they seem ju...
  
  
  
• Migraines, memory loss: Was it all in his head? (Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Karen Hammerman could see that her son was upset, and when he told her why, she was unnerved. Adam Hammerman, then a 16-year-old sophomore at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Montgomery County, had missed a week of school because of a virus and telephoned several classmates to see what assig...
  
  
  
  
• Faith complicates a young mother's life-or-death decision on lung transplant (Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Maribel Perez breathes in short puffs, panting almost, through a hole cut into her trachea and covered demurely with a patch of gauze. Clear tubes connected to a noisy machine in the living room of her small Alexandria apartment pump pure oxygen into her nostrils.
  
  
  
• Genomes of Archbishop Tutu, Bushman decoded in developing-world health push (Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Scientists have deciphered the genetic blueprint of South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu and an indigenous Bushman from Namibia as part of an ambitious and controversial project to bring modern genomic medicine to the developing world.
  
  
  
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• Blood, toil, tears and a lot of sweat in the medical tent (Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  The day starts about 5:30 a.m., when the hotel turns back on the power. The fans come back on, at least. People begin stirring, snores fade away, backpacks rustle and feet pad around.
  
  
  
• Not exactly a ringing endorsement (Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Lisa Oakley knows that some studies on long-term use of cellphones suggest an increased correlation with cancerous tumors. And she knows of a couple of people who have had brain tumors, and wonders whether their cellphones had anything to do with it.
  
  
  
  
• Stay out of the bathroom (Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  For nosy guests, a medicine cabinet is the holy grail of snooping. But some experts advise not storing medicine there. "There is too much moisture and too much light," said D.C. pharmacist Dave Toth. Instead, fill a drawer with basic medicines and first-aid supplies. Even closets can be too cold ...
  
  
  
• First lady Michelle Obama: 'Let's move' and work on childhood obesity problem (Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  In front of a packed audience in the State Dining Room at the White House on Tuesday, first lady Michelle Obama rolled out her national initiative to combat childhood obesity with a show of force that included medical, business and government leaders, grassroots activists, celebrity public service...
  
  
  
• Almost 1 in 5 Americans had swine flu; death rate over 11,000 (Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  About 57 million Americans, or slightly more than 18 percent of the population, have contracted pandemic H1N1 influenza since April, federal public health officials said Friday.
  
  
  
• Hormone-infused nasal spray found to help people with autism (Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  A nasal spray containing a hormone that is known to make women more maternal and men less shy apparently can help those with autism make eye contact and interact better with others, according to a provocative study released Monday.
  
  
  
  
• Autism and diet: Many questions to digest (Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Last week, the British medical journal the Lancet, which had originally published a controversial 1998 study by British researcher Andrew Wakefield that implied a link between autism and the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, formally retracted that study. In the wake of this, one of the tan...
  
  
  
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• Revision to the bible of psychiatry, DSM, could introduce new mental disorders (Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Children who throw too many tantrums could be diagnosed with "temper dysregulation with dysphoria." Teenagers who are particularly eccentric might be candidates for treatment for "psychosis risk syndrome." Men who are just way too interested in sex face being labeled as suffering from "hypersexua...
  
  
  
• Sexual satisfaction is a complex process that vexes many women and their doctors (Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  My patient Debra practically waltzes into my office. She is giggling and barely waits for the door to close before she announces: "I am having sex again and really enjoying it. Not only that, but I'm actually having random lusty thoughts." What a change from a couple of months ago, when sex was n...
  
  
  
• Memory lapses are common and increase with age; when do they signal Alzheimer's? (Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Where did I park my car? What is that lady's name? Where are my glasses? Some call these "senior moments" or "tip-of-the-tongue" experiences. They're mundane for many elderly (and not-so-elderly) adults, but when do they become something more serious? How does one know when it's time to get scree...
  
  
  
  
• 'Village' groups help seniors remain in their homes as they grow older (Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Nearly three years ago, Harry Rosenberg and his wife, Barbara Filner, met with nine of their neighbors about starting an aging-in-place "village" in the Burning Tree community of Bethesda. The idea: If neighbors could help one another with basic services such as transportation and simple home...
  
  
  
• Nail biting habit can be hard to break; behavioral techniques can help (Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  My friend Katie has a dirty little secret that's actually obvious to anyone who gives her a cursory once-over: Ever since childhood, she has bitten her nails down to the quick, often gnawing at them until the cuticles bleed, especially when she's nervous or bored. This successful 43-year-old mark...
  
  
  
• Super-size equipment helps D.C. area EMTs move the obese (Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Local paramedics and firefighters don't need to follow television shows about a half-ton teen or biggest losers to track the obesity trend.
  
  
  
• Pentagon to stock health facilities with morning-after pill (Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:12:56 EST)
  The Department of Defense will begin making the morning-after pill Plan B available at all of its hospitals and health clinics around the world, officials announced Thursday.
  
  
  
  
• Obama invites Republicans to summit on health care (Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  President Obama moved to jump-start the stalled health-care debate Sunday, inviting Republicans in Congress to participate in a bipartisan, half-day televised summit on the subject this month.
  
  
  
• Geriatrics experts discuss the upside of growing older (Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  If you think that getting older is the beginning of the end, think again. Sure, skin loses some elasticity and joints get creaky, and maybe you can't keep your eyes open past 9:30 p.m. But even people well into their 80s are going to yoga and Pilates classes, volunteering, having sex and taking c...
  
  
  
• Earthquake-response doctors in Haiti can't save everyone seeking emergency care (Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  We have three tents for our "triage emergency department." Two tents stand out: the "Jiffy Pop" (look that up, those of you born in the microwave era) and the Blue Tent.
  
  
  
• Congressmen seek accounting of AIDS fraud complaints (Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Two Republican congressmen who help oversee billions of dollars for people with AIDS are asking the federal government for an accounting of fraud and mismanagement complaints leveled against AIDS programs nationwide.
  
  
  
  
• In 'vegetative state' patients, brain scanners show some alert minds (Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Many of the patients were labeled with the same grim diagnosis: "vegetative state." Their head injuries, teams of specialists had concluded, condemned them to a netherworld -- alive yet utterly devoid of any awareness of the world around them.
  
  
  
• Problems at D.C.-funded AIDS program also reported at homes for mentally ill (Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  The founder of a city-funded AIDS program that recently closed amid reports of alleged fraud and neglect also operated eight facilities for the mentally ill that were racked for years by similar problems, city officials said.
  
  
  
• Looking forward to life after prostate cancer treatment (Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  After being treated for prostate cancer recently, I did a review of my writings on the subject through the years. Pretty consistent stuff: Get screened regularly, fellows, as I was doing, and stop being so chicken-hearted about those digital exams.
  
  
  
• Lancet retracts paper linking vaccine to autism (Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  The Lancet medical journal formally retracted a paper Tuesday that caused a 12-year international battle over links between autism and the childhood vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella.
  
  
  
  
• Gates Foundation pledges $10 billion to vaccine research (Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  DAVOS, SWITZERLAND -- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will donate $10 billion over the next decade to research vaccines and make them available to the world's poorest countries, the Microsoft co-founder and his wife said Friday.
  
  
  
• Obama 2011 budget request: Food and Drug Administration (Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:23:00 EST)
  The Food and Drug Administration would see a 6 percent jump in its budget to $2.51 billion. The agency's total resources would reach about $4 billion because of user fees it expects to collect from food, tobacco and drug industries.
  
  
  
• Dietary supplements may produce health benefits, but proof is lacking (Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Shelf after shelf of strangely named bottles fill an entire aisle at Whole Foods Market. There are "CoQ10" softgels, "charcoal" pills and mysterious "hoodia" tablets. But why would anyone take charcoal? What exactly is a CoQ10? And can you eat a hoodia?
  
  
  
• Obama's pick for food safety chief surprises consumer advocates (Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Soon after taking office, President Obama highlighted food safety as a domestic priority. A string of national outbreaks of food illnesses were a "troubling trend," the president said. He called the problems "critical" and said they presented a "risk to public health."
  
  
  
  
• Evidence is thin that multivitamins are beneficial, but they seem benign (Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Earlier this month, I found myself standing in front of a massive display of multivitamins at a local grocery store, confounded by the options: There were supplements for children, teens, males, females, pregnant women, adults "50 and wiser," those in peri-menopause and menopause, and seniors; fo...
  
  
  
• Creepy crawlies can really get under your skin (Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Carla Sguigna laid her daughter's head in her lap as they watched a movie in their basement family room in her North Bethesda home. Sguigna methodically combed through her 4-year-old's hair, strand by strand, fingering each shaft down to her scalp.
  
  
  
• Omega-3 fatty acids may reduce heart disease risk (Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Suddenly, they're everywhere: in your pasta, your peanut butter, your baby's formula. Omega-3 fatty acids have been known to doctors since the 1930s. But their recent bump in popularity stems from a 2004 ruling by the Food and Drug Administration that labels could say foods containing omega-3s may...
  
  
  
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• Rise in teenage pregnancy rate spurs new debate on arresting it (Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  The pregnancy rate among teenage girls in the United States has jumped for the first time in more than a decade, raising alarm that the long campaign to reduce motherhood among adolescents is faltering, according to a report released Tuesday.
  
  
  
  
• Genetic tests give consumers hints about disease risk; critics have misgivings (Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Last fall, Sgt. Timothy Gall, an Army medic stationed at Fort Belvoir, sought clues to the multiple sclerosis and heart disease that ran in his family by looking into his DNA. All it took was some spit and about a thousand bucks.
  
  
  
• How to choose the best multivitamin (Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Many people take just one supplement, a multivitamin. Here are some tips for choosing the best multivitamin, from Andrew Weil, founder of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, which focuses on combining alternative treatments with conventional medical practices.
  
  
  
• SE hospital believes nonprofit status could help finances (Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  United Medical Center, formerly known as Greater Southeast Community Hospital, is seeking a nonprofit charitable status to help stave off a financial crisis that appears to have worsened -- two years after it received nearly $80 million from the District.
  
  
  
• High cholesterol puts 1 of 5 teens at risk of heart disease (Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  One out of every five U.S. teenagers has a cholesterol level that increases the risk of heart disease, federal health officials reported Thursday, providing striking new evidence that obesity is making more children prone to illnesses once primarily limited to adults.
  
  
  
  
• Denise Austin is still going strong (Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Most people greet strangers with a "pleased to meet you." Denise Austin prefers a more direct approach: "Touch my tummy."
  
  
  
• 'Health Heroes' dish up nutritious food at Clinton high school (Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  As a substitute teacher in Prince George's County, Kim Carrington, 44, has stepped up to the head of a lot of different classes, from kindergarten to high school French. But it was the food and nutrition class she taught at Surrattsville High in Clinton that came to mind when she got an e-mail on...
  
  
  
• Pain and dying are explored by doctors in new books (Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  LAST ACTS Discovering Possibility and Opportunity at the End of Life
  
  
  
• In Ohio, Obama says he won't 'walk away' from health-care fight (Sat, 23 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  ELYRIA, OHIO -- Offering both a passionate defense of his policies and a populist pitch, President Obama told audience members in this economically struggling region Friday that he will continue fighting for them even in the face of stiffening political opposition.
  
  
  
  
• Pelosi: House won't pass Senate bill to save health-care reform (Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  As Democrats continued to grapple with the consequences of their loss in Massachusetts, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday eliminated the most obvious avenue for completing health-care reform, saying the House will not embrace the version of the legislation already approved by the Senate.
  
  
  
• On TV's 'One Big Happy Family,' Cole family is losing weight together (Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Well, they certainly are big. And they do appear happy.
  
  
  
• Virginia medical team reaches Haitian city, begins to treat patients (Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  JACMEL, HAITI -- After 2 1/2 days of travel, over the sea, across borders, in planes so small they had to leave most of their food and water behind, the emergency relief workers from Northern Virginia had finally arrived.
  
  
  
• Doctors changed diagnosis after woman said allergies weren't causing runny nose (Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Rebecca Yates was sick of sounding like a broken record -- and tired of getting the same response from the internist at her HMO.
  
  
  
  
• Debate on circumcision heightened as CDC evaluates surgery (Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Circumcision, long one of the most emotionally charged surgical procedures performed in the United States, has become the focus of yet another intense debate as leading health authorities are about to issue major new evaluations of the potential health benefits of the operation.
  
  
  
• Insurer okayed out-of-network care for heart patient but family faces huge bill (Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  RICHMOND -- Five months into pregnancy, Jodi Lemacks discovered that her unborn son had a severe heart defect and would require a complex operation as soon as he was born. But the local pediatric heart surgeons didn't inspire confidence.
  
  
  
• WHO official denies exaggeration about dangers of swine flu pandemic (Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  A top World Health Organization official dismissed charges Thursday that the agency exaggerated the threat posed by the H1N1 virus and that it had been unduly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry to issue dire warnings about the swine flu pandemic.
  
  
  
• FDA can't block importing of 'electronic cigarettes' (Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  A federal judge ruled Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration may not block the importation of "electronic cigarettes," battery-powered versions of conventional smokes.
  
  
  
  
• Democrats seek quick deal on health-care bill (Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  President Obama and congressional leaders raced Friday to strike a compromise on far-reaching health legislation, hoping to settle lingering disputes before Tuesday, when a special election in Massachusetts could hand Republicans their 41st vote in the Senate and the power to defeat Obama's top...
  
  
  
• Reversing itself, FDA expresses concerns over health risks from BPA (Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  The Food and Drug Administration has reversed its position on the safety of Bisphenol A, a chemical found in plastic bottles, soda cans, food containers and thousands of consumer goods, saying it now has concerns about health risks.
  
  
  
• In Haiti, relief agencies rush to meet desperate need for water (Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Port-au-Prince, Haiti's densely populated capital, is home to more than 2 million people, each of whom, under normal circumstances, needs to drink about a gallon of clean water every day, just to survive. Basic needs such as washing and cooking add another three gallons or so per person each day.
  
  
  
• One in five Americans got swine flu vaccine, CDC reports (Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  ATLANTA -- About one in five Americans has been vaccinated against swine flu, according to the government's first detailed estimates of vaccination rates against the pandemic.
  
  
  
  
• The numbers (Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  33% Proportion of U.S. adults who are obese. 12.6%
  
  
  
• Functional training exercises compete with machine-based workouts in D.C. gyms (Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  As they do every January, people are cramming into gyms to lose weight. But this year, some gyms are also working to slim down -- by excising rather than exercising. Instead of love handles and jiggling arm flesh, their problem area is the equipment loaded with stacks of hefty plates meant to wor...
  
  
  
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• District, NIH announce new initiative aimed at HIV/AIDS epidemic (Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:50:04 EST)
  The District government and the National Institutes of Health on Monday announced the launch of a $26.4 million initiative to attack the city's HIV/AIDS epidemic with expanded testing and treatment to reduce the level of the virus in its victims and hopefully decrease their chances of spreading t...
  
  
  
• Researchers ask why optimism is associated with health, pessismism with disease (Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  
  
  
  
  
• Battery-powered pump is implanted in teenager with unexplained heart failure (Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  It was the kind of complaint any mother of a 16-year-old has heard a hundred times: "Mom, I don't feel well."
  
  
  
• Pharmacists dispense pills, counsel patients, screen for illness, give vaccines (Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  When Charley John tells people he's a pharmacist, he knows what many of them think: that he spends his workdays sequestered behind a counter doling out pills, dropping them into little plastic vials and handing them to customers.
  
  
  
• House Democrats confer on health-care reform (Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Worried House Democrats held a caucus-wide conference call Thursday to strategize about health-care reform before lawmakers return to Washington next week.
  
  
  
• Healthful-living experts weigh in with their New Year's resolutions (Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  By the time you turn 49, as I recently did, the tradition of making New Year's resolutions has lost some of its luster. What remains to be resolved that hasn't been resolved before?
  
  
  
  
• Mayo Clinic publishes book detailing healthy diet and weight-loss program (Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  Grapefruit, bacon, cabbage soup: They're impostors, staples of fad diets billed as Mayo Clinic weight-loss plans but never endorsed by the medical institution .
  
  
  
• Health bills would shift Medicare money to Mayo and other 'high-value' hospitals (Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST)
  As House and Senate lawmakers start to reconcile their health-care bills with an eye to final passage, a little-noticed provision is already prompting celebration from a small group of influential hospitals that stand to gain millions in Medicare dollars.
  
  
  

• My Turn: What Veterinarians Can Teach Us About Health Care (Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:37:43 GMT)
  When I say I'm a veterinary oncologist, I am usually met with a bemused, slightly incredulous reaction. I'm often asked, "Do people really treat their pets for ?" As a matter of fact, they do. Not only do I administer radiation and chemotherapy to cats and dogs (not to mention the occasional ferret and hedgehog) on a daily basis, but I work in one of the most sophisticated veterinary hospitals in the country, with a neurosurgeon, a dermatologist, an ophthalmologist, and a host of other specialists. Pet owners routinely rack up $10,000 bills to save the life of an animal that they consider a beloved member of the family.

  
  

  
  
  
• How Expensive Will The Obama Health Care Plan Really Be? (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:36:59 GMT)
  

  The bogus Republican claim that Obamacare is a government takeover of one-sixth of the economy.

  
  

  
  
  
• D.C. Aims to Increase Female Condom Use (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:18:21 GMT)
  

  The underutilized contraceptive is making a big comeback thanks to a major grant. But is it enough to stop the spread of HIV?

  
  

  
  
  
• NEWSWEEK Debate: Can Bad Teachers Change? (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:30:08 GMT)
  

  NEWSWEEK's Evan Thomas and The New York Times's Elizabeth Green discuss whether educators are born or made.

  
  

  
  
  
• Why Tweeting an Abortion May Backfire (Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:53:05 GMT)
  

  It's good that we are no longer talking about women's experiences in the abstract. But tweeting an abortion may backfire.

  
  

  
  
  
• Medicine We Can Live Without: How to Cut Costs Now (Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:13:06 GMT)
  

  How we can save billions by cutting out unnecessary procedures that kill tens of thousands a year.

  
  

  
  
  
• Low-Tech Treatment May Be Best for Addiction (Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:31:19 GMT)
  

  Low-tech treatments work better.

  
  

  
  
  
• K2: Scary Drug or Another Drug Scare? (Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:21:34 GMT)
  

  Local media is abuzz about 'K2'. A scary drug, or just another drug scare?

  
  

  
  
  
• The Benefits of International Adoption (Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:43:43 GMT)
  

  Despite sensational headlines about Haitian orphans, children adopted from developing nations can thrive in the United States. I know, from personal experience.

  
  

  
  
  
• An Abortion on Twitter: Why Shame Remains (Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:13:49 GMT)
  

  A Florida woman tweeting her abortion is trying to take the shame out of the procedure. It's a high-tech twist on an evolving mission, one that's had limited success.

  
  

  
  
  
• Why Are Breast-Cancer Rates Dropping? (Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:31:09 GMT)
  

  A new study suggests that declines in hormone therapy may be responsible.

  
  

  
  
  
• How Oxytocin Might Help Cure Autism (Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:24:21 GMT)
  

  A scientist explains his fascinating research. Then we explain his explanation.

  
  

  
  
  
• George F. Will: Immature Men Won't Grow Up (Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:08:49 GMT)
  

  The making of modern immaturity.

  
  

  
  
  
• Primary-Care Doctor Shortage Hurts Our Health (Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:30:31 GMT)
  

  A critical shortage of primary-care physicians is yet another symptom of our ailing health-care system.

  
  

  
  
  
• Feminism, Progressive Values, and Glenn Beck (Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:06:46 GMT)
  

  Feminism is stronger than Glenn Beck's slurs.

  
  

  
  
  
• FactCheck: Health-Care Summit Was Rife With Errors (Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:36:56 GMT)
  

  This marathon discussion had no shortage of factual malpractice.

  
  

  
  
  
• FactCheck: What's Inside the GOP Health-Care Plans (Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:23:00 GMT)
  

  Republican and bipartisan health care proposals may be up for discussion at Obama's summit. What are the details of these plans?
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
• Elite Athletes Struggle for Insurance, Too (Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:56:08 GMT)
  

  Athletes at the peak of physical health often face the same hurdles to insurance coverage as the rest of us.

  
  

  
  
  
• Baird: Tell-All Memoirs Aren't the Best Revenge (Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:00:44 GMT)
  

  Do tell-all memoirs really help heal?

  
  

  
  
  
• Lessons From the Harlem Children's Zone (Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:54:53 GMT)
  

  What we can learn from the Harlem Children's Zone.

  
  

  
  
  

• "Personal" study shows gene maps can spot disease (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:40:11 -0500)
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two studies published on Wednesday show it is possible to sequence the entire gene maps of families with inherited diseases and pinpoint the offending bit of DNA.
  
  
  
• Doctors fail to cut cholesterol enough (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:13:35 -0500)
  LONDON (Reuters) - Only half of patients at high risk of heart disease are given the right targets for cutting their cholesterol and millions may suffer heart attack or stroke due to doctors' poor advice, scientists said on Thursday.
  
  
  
• U.S. says "drugged driving" growing threat (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:50:13 -0500)
  VIENNA (Reuters) - Motorists under the influence of drugs are a growing threat on U.S. roads, while the number who drink and drive has fallen thanks to education and law enforcement, a top U.S. drug control official said on Tuesday.
  
  
  
• Canadian vaccination study proves 'herd immunity' (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:55:16 -0500)
  CHICAGO (Reuters) - Inoculating children against flu protects more people of all ages in the larger community, probably because young people tend to spread viruses through physical play, Canadian researchers said on Tuesday.
  
  
  
• Vaginal birth after cesarean underused: panel (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:09:52 -0500)
  NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - If you're pregnant and have had a cesarean section before, chances are you'll have one again. In at least one-third of US hospitals, a repeat cesarean is the only option, and nine in 10 women end up getting one -- a fact that had experts worried at a national conference this week on vaginal birth after cesarean, or VBAC.
  
  
  
• Prostate test 'public health disaster': discoverer (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:11:36 -0500)
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The most commonly used tool for detecting prostate cancer, routine PSA screening, has become "a hugely expensive public health disaster," its discoverer said on Wednesday.
  
  
  
• Despite law, drug safety still a concern at FDA (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:49:18 -0500)
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Recent new powers have helped the U.S. Food and Drug Administration combat contaminated medications, counterfeit pills and other safety woes, but more work is needed to address lingering concerns about drug risks, FDA officials said on Wednesday.
  
  
  
• FDA rules out bisphosphonate, thigh fracture link (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:47:26 -0500)
  BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators said on Wednesday they have found no link between oral bisphosphonate osteoporosis medications such as Merck & Co Inc's Fosamax and certain thigh bone fractures.
  
  
  
• Smoking years key factor in lower Parkinson's risk (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:14:02 -0500)
  NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Several studies have shown that smokers have a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease. A new study shows that it's how many years of smoking a person has under their belt -- rather than how much they smoke every day -- that matters.
  
  
  
• More cocaine-overdose deaths seen on hotter days (Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:56:53 -0500)
  NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The number of New Yorkers who die of cocaine overdose appears to go up when the temperature surpasses 75 degrees, a new study suggests.
  
  
  

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