Healthcare.gov is a new government website that helps you to find insurance options based on your situation; understand the Affordable Care Act; compare hospitals; get tips on preventing common diseases; and more.
Today, the National Institutes of Health announce that the Consortium of Food Allergy Research (CoFAR), established in 2005, will be funded for five more years. CoFAR will continue to foster new approaches to prevent and treat food allergies and also expand in scope to include research on the genetic causes underlying food allergy and studies … Read more
Last year, my New Year’s Resolution was to drink more water. Shockingly enough- I actually did it! Now, a diet soda is a rarity instead of the norm. I pretty much drink strictly H2O, or unsweetened iced tea- sometimes with lemon if I really want to get crazy. Now that I am actually drinking water– … Read more
The National Institutes of Health, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Wellcome Trust, a global charity based in London, today announced a partnership to support population-based genetic studies in Africa of common, non-communicable disorders such as heart disease and cancer, as well as communicable diseases such as malaria. … Read more
I was at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee last weekend and while I had a blast, I really missed the air conditioner. It was so hot that some people were abandoning their tents to sleep in their air-conditioned cars. Since the AC was on my mind when I got back to work … Read more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released the 2010 Federal Duck Stamp on Friday and the Junior Duck Stamp goes on sale Thursday. Federal Duck Stamps are not for postage, but they have other uses. Hunters over the age of 16 need the current Federal Duck Stamp affixed to their state hunting license. For non-hunters, … Read more
It’s late at night, the TV’s on and you see a commercial. It tells you that if you just buy this wonderful book, you’ll learn the secrets to get free money from the government to pay your credit card bills, renovate your home, and start a business! It sounds so wonderful, but is it too … Read more
In people with longstanding type 2 diabetes who are at high risk for heart attack and stroke, lowering blood sugar to near-normal levels did not delay the combined risk of diabetic damage to kidneys, eyes, or nerves, but did delay several other signs of diabetic damage, a study has found. The intensive glucose treatment was … Read more
I am very excited about this Fourth of July. I will be spending it in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with my whole family. It has been a long time since we were all together for a fun celebration. The “foodie” in me is already contemplating what culinary delight I can make to wow the family at … Read more
This 4th of July, I am going to a wedding. If you’ve read this blog with any regularity over the past 3 years, you know this is pretty much par for the course of how I spend my weekends during the summer. When I saw the date on the invite, my immediate reaction was, “They … Read more
A clinical trial of testosterone treatment in older men, reported June 30 online in the New England Journal of Medicine, has found a higher rate of adverse cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and elevated blood pressure, in a group of older men receiving testosterone gel compared to those receiving placebo. Due to these events, … Read more
In high-risk adults with type 2 diabetes, researchers have found that two therapies may slow the progression of diabetic retinopathy, an eye disease that is the leading cause of vision loss in working-age Americans.
It drives me nuts when I’m sitting on the train and I can hear the music blaring from another person’s iPod. It’s just plain rude to be playing your music so loudly that it disrupts the rest of the train. But even if those people aren’t considerate of others, shouldn’t they at least care about … Read more
The vitamin folate appears to promote healing in damaged rat spinal cord tissue by triggering a change in DNA, according to a laboratory study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), part of the National Institutes of Health, announced the availability of supplemental funding for eligible NIBIB-supported research grants to facilitate collaborative work among researchers in the United States and India.
One of my two year old’s favorite tricks is when I make his toy caterpillar turn into a toy butterfly under a dishtowel cocoon. He squeals with glee every time the butterfly emerges from the dishtowel! (You have to love inspiration from The Very Hungry Caterpillar.) Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that the real things are hard … Read more
Despite hopes that higher blood levels of vitamin D might reduce cancer risk, a large study finds no protective effect against non-Hodgkin lymphoma or cancer of the endometrium, esophagus, stomach, kidney, ovary, or pancreas. In this study, carried out by researchers from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and … Read more