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Study documents impact of behavioural factors on life expectancy

Live longer thanks to fruit, an active lifestyle, limited alcohol and no cigarettes. This is the conclusion of a study by public health physicians at the University of Zurich who documented for the first time the impact of behavioural factors on life expectancy in numbers. The results are to be taken over into prevention and health counselling in primary care.

8 Jul 2014

Lines drawn over San Francisco court-ordered outpatient mental illness treatment

Family members of those who have suffered multiple mental health crises and refuse help or fail to stick with it are begging for a Laura's Law program -- which could court-order the intractably ill into outpatient treatment. Police officers and firefighters who see the same people cycle through hospitalizations and jail want it too. Then there are the mental health consumers who are well enough to speak of the trauma inflicted by coercive care. It doesn't work, they say. It drives people from treatment (Romney, 7/6).

8 Jul 2014

Caregivers of cancer patients can manage end-of-life treatment, decisions with help from support team

Many caregivers of terminal cancer patients suffer depression and report regret and guilt from feeling they could have done more to eliminate side effects and relieve the pain.

8 Jul 2014

Study examines whether men who ride have higher risk of erectile dysfunction, infertility, prostate cancer

Cycling is a popular activity that offers clear health benefits, but there is an ongoing controversy about whether men who ride have a higher risk of urogenital disorders such as erectile dysfunction, infertility, or prostate cancer.

8 Jul 2014

Ill. Supreme Court rules state can't cut retiree health benefits

The Court said the benefits are protected under the Illinois Constitution. The state wants to cut the benefits to save money on the state's pension liabilities.

8 Jul 2014

Alcohol ads can encourage kids to drink

The brands of alcohol popular with underage drinkers also happen to be the ones heavily advertised in magazines that young people read, a new study finds.

8 Jul 2014

Teen dating takes violent turn for nearly 1 in 6 young people

Dating during the teen years takes a violent turn for nearly 1 in 6 young people, a new study finds, with both genders reporting acts like punching, pulling hair, shoving, and throwing things.

8 Jul 2014

Contract for Serco processing center hit by whistleblower allegations is renewed

The $98 million contract extends operations of the facility where employees reported they sometimes slept or played board games for lack of work.

8 Jul 2014

Study: Behavioral weight loss can help manage menopausal hot flashes

Now women have yet one more incentive to lose weight as a new study has shown evidence that behavioral weight loss can help manage menopausal hot flashes.

8 Jul 2014

House Of Representatives lawyers ask judge to reject SEC lawsuit

In what is viewed as an ongoing power struggle between two branches of the federal government, the House lawyers termed the investigation related to Medicare insider-trading allegations to be a "fishing expedition."

8 Jul 2014

Long waits for medical attention are normal in many parts of U.S.

The New York Times reports on what it calls the health care system's "waiting game."

8 Jul 2014

Fungus responsible for outbreak of Greek yogurt can threaten health systems

The fungus responsible for an outbreak of contaminated Greek yogurt last year is not harmless after all but a strain with the ability to cause disease, according to research published in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

8 Jul 2014

LEMIT launches free, online training program to strengthen public health enforcement efforts

Funded by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT) launched a free, online training program to strengthen civil and criminal environmental and public health enforcement efforts at the local, county, state, and tribal levels.

8 Jul 2014

Nonprofit religious groups pose next challenge to contraceptive mandate

The issue in more than four dozen lawsuits from faith-affiliated colleges, hospitals and charities is how far the government must go to accommodate them.

8 Jul 2014

Pending health law legal action threatens premium subsidies and exchanges

One of the key questions, according to The Fiscal Times, is whether the premium subsidies available to people shopping on the federal exchange are legal.

8 Jul 2014

Federal push for electronic health records may make fraud easier

USA Today reports on this development. Meanwhile, in other health IT news, The Fiscal Times reports on how hospitals are getting more involved in big data collection.

8 Jul 2014

Fla. hospitals on the hook for $267 million in Medicaid overpayment

The federal government says the hospitals were paid too much, and it wants the entire overage back this year. That is a tough demand for two of the state's safety-net hospitals. Meanwhile, a Florida teen battling cancer hits Capitol Hill to lobby for funding for Medicaid and other children's programs.

8 Jul 2014

Lack of leisure-time physical activity linked to increased obesity, particularly in young women

Sedentary lifestyle and not caloric intake may be to blame for increased obesity in the US, according to a new analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

8 Jul 2014

New test for TB could improve speed and accuracy of diagnosis for deadliest diseases

A new test for tuberculosis (TB) could dramatically improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis for one of the world's deadliest diseases, enabling health care providers to report results to patients within minutes, according to a study published this week in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

8 Jul 2014

Health law backers brace for new battles over 2015 insurance rates

Politico reports that this round of messaging will be critical because rates are expected to increase and could add to Democrats' midterm election challenges.

8 Jul 2014