Final Honors for Vets

This Veterans Day, as I have for the last few years, I will be thinking about my dad. My dad was buried in a Department of Veterans Affairs cemetery near Tampa, Florida, four years ago. The ceremony was dignified and moving, and would have made my dad proud. When we arrived from the funeral home … Read more

Rate this Recipe: Pumpkin Pancakes

Lee la versión en español This month always makes me think of pumpkins – driving to the local pumpkin patch, going on a hayride and warm apple cider. This recipe is from USDA’s SNAP-Ed Connection’s Recipe Finder database – also available in Spanish. These recipes were submitted by nutrition and health professionals and organizations. I … Read more

Halloween Traditions

Every year, a few days before Halloween, I pull out my Halloween-appropriate movies and have a movie marathon. This year, I will enjoy a little Halloween comedy by watching Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker in Hocus Pocus. Bette Midler is divine performing “I Put a Spell on You.” I love the movie … Read more

1000 Genomes Project publishes analysis of completed pilot phase

Small genetic differences between individuals help explain why some people have a higher risk than others for developing illnesses such as diabetes or cancer. Today in the journal Nature, the 1000 Genomes Project, an international public-private consortium, published the most comprehensive map of these genetic differences, called variations, estimated to contain approximately 95 percent of … Read more

NIH introduces Images, a database of images in biomedical literature

More than 2.5 million images and figures from medical and life sciences journals are now available through Images, a new resource for finding images in biomedical literature. The database was developed and will be maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a division of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National … Read more

Medicare Weekly Picks

Trick-or-Treat? How about treat? Today we will start doing a post every Saturday on GovGab. Instead of our normal posts though, we will take turns posting about important government information from the previous week and even preview some things we find interesting for the upcoming week. With no further ado here are our inaugural weekly picks: Make a Difference Day took … Read more

Medicare, Independent panel discourages routine use of treatment regimen for premature infants

Premature infants often suffer from respiratory problems due to their underdeveloped lungs. Over the past decade, many of these infants have been treated with inhaled nitric oxide — a treatment designed to ease breathing by widening blood vessels in the lungs. This week, an independent panel convened by the National Institutes of Health determined that … Read more

Changing My Address

I was at the bank last week, and not surprisingly, the teller asked me for identification. As I passed my driver’s license to her, I noticed that the address on my license is out of date. How many other important records have my old address I wonder? I didn’t move, but my address changed. I … Read more

Severe sepsis associated with later cognitive, physical decline

Older adults who survive hospitalization involving severe sepsis, a serious medical condition caused by an overwhelming immune response to severe infection, are at higher risk for cognitive impairment and physical limitations than older adults hospitalized for other reasons, researchers have found.