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Massage on a par with consumer use of chiropractic and physical therapy services

Massage therapists elicit an impressive level of goodwill and increasing popularity among American adults. Fully two out of five adults have visited a massage therapist and 12% received at least one massage in 2004, putting massage on a par with consumer use of chiropractic and physical therapy services.

28 Feb 2005

Beginning of new wave - first generation to turn 18 since technology and treatments have allowed them to survive to adulthood

More than half a million children with special health-care needs will turn 18 this year, the first generation to reach adulthood since sweeping medical advances ensured an unprecedented number would survive congenital conditions that until recently would have killed them.

27 Feb 2005

South Africa explores faith-based healing

The South African Department of Health met with religious leaders in Johannesburg on Monday (21 February 2005) to discus areas of cooperation between the Department and faith-based organisations in improving health of South African nation.

23 Feb 2005

Health insurance that pays the full cost of smoking-cessation treatments can increase quit rates

Health insurance that pays the full cost of smoking-cessation treatments can increase quit rates, compared to benefit plans that pick up only part of the tab or that offer no cessation benefits at all, according to a new review of studies.

22 Feb 2005

Private health covering more older Australians

Australian Medical Association President, Dr Bill Glasson, said today that the AMA was encouraged that older Australians are taking up private health insurance in greater numbers.

16 Feb 2005

New 3-DCR HIV strain does not respond to three classes of anti-retroviral medication

A highly resistant strain of rapidly progressive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been diagnosed for the first time in a New York City resident who had not previously undergone antiviral drug treatment, according to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).

13 Feb 2005

What can Michael Howard learn from John Howard?

Australia is held up as a model of how to increase use of private health care in the United Kingdom. But experts in this week's BMJ warn that the effects of its reforms are not all beneficial and ask what can British and European conservatives learn from an Australian colleague who has deliberately sought to enhance the role of the private sector?

10 Feb 2005

Whole-body computed tomography (CT) is not a cost-effective screening method

The use of whole-body CT as a screening tool for cancer and other diseases is the focus of an ongoing debate. Proponents of whole-body CT emphasize the potential benefit of early detection of disease, but others caution that the costs, false-positive findings and unnecessary radiation might render the procedure more harmful than beneficial.

25 Jan 2005

Few smokers make use of the help that is available

Antidepressant medicines, nicotine replacement products, and counseling can all help a smoker stick with that New Year's resolution to kick the habit. But a study by American Cancer Society researchers finds that few smokers make use of the help that is available.

17 Jan 2005

Lowering health care costs overall seen as top U.S. health priority

The public favors reducing jury awards in malpractice lawsuits and allowing drugs to be imported from Canada, but ranks them relatively low on a list of 12 health care priorities for President Bush and Congress to address this year, according to a new post-election survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.

12 Jan 2005

First deceleration in U.S. national health spending growth in seven years

The pace of health spending growth slowed in 2003, marking the first deceleration in national health spending growth in seven years, a report by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary shows. The annual report is published in the January/February 2005 issue of Health Affairs.

12 Jan 2005

Elevated glucose levels and diabetes associated with a greater risk for cancer

New research involving more than one million people indicates that having high fasting serum glucose levels and diabetes are risk factors for several major cancers, according to a study in the January 12 issue of JAMA.

12 Jan 2005

Elevated blood sugar levels and diabetes are risk factors for developing several types of cancer and mortality

The researchers followed over 1.2 million Koreans for 10 years, tracking new cancer cases and deaths from cancer. Study participants with diabetes, as well as those without diabetes and higher fasting blood sugar levels, were more likely to develop cancer or to die from cancer.

11 Jan 2005

Fewer children in working families are uninsured, but many still falling through the cracks

Recent strides have been made to increase health care coverage for low income children in California, but a significant number of children in working poor families remain uninsured, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

4 Jan 2005

Dane County patient dumping case unloads costs on consumers

The Wisconsin Hospital Association expressed disappointment with the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision yesterday that allows Dane County and other counties to impose yet another hidden tax on health care consumers.

8 Dec 2004

Life expectancy at 65 is now 81.6 years for men and 84.5 for women

The nation’s medicine cabinets are more crowded than ever, with almost half of all people taking at least one prescription medicine and one in six taking three or more medications, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ annual check-up on Americans’ health.

4 Dec 2004

One in five women with HIV in the United States has no health insurance

One in five women with HIV in the United States has no health insurance. Half of the estimated 460,000 women and men who need lifesaving antiretroviral drugs are not getting them, according to a recent report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences.

29 Nov 2004

New initiatives to stop Americans smoking

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced today a series of initiatives designed to help Americans quit smoking. The initiatives include the opening of a national quitline number (1-800-QUITNOW) that puts users in touch with programs that can help them give up tobacco.

10 Nov 2004

McGuinty Government introduces changes to eye care services

The McGuinty government is making changes to the way OHIP insures routine eye exams, Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman announced today.

1 Nov 2004

Asian children and black children experience higher rates of ruptured appendixes than white children

Asian children and black children experience higher rates of ruptured appendixes than white children, as do uninsured or Medicaid-insured children, compared to children covered by private insurance, according to a study in the October 27 issue of JAMA.

28 Oct 2004