A government panel finds there is little evidence that a common prostate-cancer screening saves men’s lives and instead …
Prevention
Fit Versus Fat: Which Matters More for Longevity?
Most of us are all too familiar with how much we weigh — but how many of us know how fit we are? And which matters more?
AIDS Trial Halted: Anti-HIV Pill Fails to Protect Women
AIDS prevention got a boost last year when researchers reported that the daily combination anti-HIV pill Truvada, which is designed to treat the disease, may actually be able to prevent HIV infection among healthy, high-risk gay men.
System Failure: Countries Too Slow to Identify and Treat High Cholesterol
We know cardiovascular disease is a global killer but the numbers still have the power to shock. Heart and circulatory illnesses claim more than 17 million lives every year, almost half under the age of 60.
Statins May Not Prevent Heart Disease in Healthy People
Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins are an undeniable boon for heart patients. Study after study has shown that for those who have had a heart attack or other forms of heart disease, the medications can significantly …
Got Allergies? Be Careful How You Hook Up
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that about 11 million Americans have some type of food allergy, but many more are affected by these conditions — especially the partners of highly allergic people.
President’s panel analyzes environmental cancer impact
Environmental toxins are a greater cause of cancer than previously believed, according to a new report from the President’s Cancer Panel — an advisory group that considers testimony from several cancer researchers to inform the president’s policies on cancer prevention. In the more than 200-page annual report (PDF), the authors say
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Beverage makers voluntarily cut soda sales to schools
Even former President Bill Clinton, not always the model of healthy eating, admitted he was surprised by the results of a three-year program to remove full-calorie soft drinks from schools. At a press conference in New York City on Monday, Clinton announced that since 2006, 88% fewer beverage calories were shipped to U.S. elementary, …
Fish oil may help prevent onset of psychosis
For patients at very high risk for developing a psychiatric disorder such as schizophrenia, taking fish oil supplements may be a way to prevent the onset of psychosis, according to a new study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Due to the controversial nature of using anti-psychotic drugs as a preventive treatment for
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Macho men are less likely to seek preventative health care, study says
Men with a strong sense of masculinity are about 50% less likely than their not-so-macho peers to seek out preventative health-care services, according to a survey of 1,000 middle-aged American men. What’s more, even though people with higher job status are usually more likely to follow health-care guidelines, that pattern doesn’t seem …
Does Prevention Really Cut Health-Care Costs?
If you’ve been trying to follow the debate over U.S. health-care reform, you might be confused about whether Obama’s plan is really going to cut costs, how much it will save, and how on earth there can be so much debate over what seems like accounting. At the heart of this issue, however, is the question of prevention: Can prevention …
