"Snoring, sleep apnea, and obesity-related respiratory difficulties are fairly common disorders that affect a large proportion of the population," according to Poul Jennum, Professor of Clinical Neurophysiology at the Center for Healthy Ageing at the University of Copenhagen Faculty of Health Sciences. He is head of the Danish Centre for Sleep Medicine, Glostrup Hospital, which treats patients from all over ...

Based on growth and aging of the U.S. population, medical expenditures for cancer in the year 2020 are projected to reach at least $158 billion (in 2010 dollars. The represents a 27 percent increase over 2010 according to a National Institutes of Health (NIH) analysis. Moreover, if newly developed tools for cancer diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up continue to be more expensive, medical expenditures for ca ...

A large proportion of Medicare expenditures for nursing home residents with advanced dementia, a terminal illness, is spent on aggressive treatments that may be avoidable and of limited clinical benefit, according to a new study by the Institute for Aging Research, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, published in the online version of the Archives of Internal Medicine on Jan. 10, 2011. ...

For most of us, the “placebo effect” is synonymous with the power of positive thinking; it works because you believe you are taking a real drug. But a new study rattles this assumption. Researchers at Harvard Medical School’s Osher Research Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have found that placebos work even when administered without the seemingly requisite deception. The study is publ ...

The death of Elizabeth Edwards is a sad reminder of the importance of annual mammograms to detect breast cancer and the tendency for women to put their personal health at risk because of the many responsibilities they have in the family, according to Avice O’Connell, M.D., F.A.C.R., associate professor of Imaging Sciences. at the University of Rochester Medical Center and director of women’s imaging for the ...

The American College of Physicians (ACP) today made a guide to help inform consumers about the health care law available free for ordering and distribution. Consumer Guide to Understanding Health System Reform is an educational guide written in English and Spanish and organized in a way that clearly explains what the law has changed, why these changes were made, and when the changes will take effect. Includ ...

CNN reported today that a federal judge ruled that government mandated private healthcare insurance, a key and controversial provision in the recent healthcare reform act passed by President Obama and mostly Democratic Congresspersons, is unconstitutional. CNN notes that this contradicts several other rulings that found the same provision to be constitutional. Included in this report is a rebroadcast of the ...

The United States has failed to meet most goals for women's health - largely federal objectives drawn from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2010 agenda - according to a report released today on the status of women's health by the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). Readers can find out more information about how their particul ...

I am pleased to report that Congress has sent legislation to the President halting the 25% Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) cut for one full year through the end of 2011. Thanks to the tireless work of grassroots psychologists and our team in Washington, I am thrilled to inform you that the measure includes a hard-fought one-year extension of the 5% psychotherapy payment restoration. ...

Private insurers appear to be more effective in controlling health care spending differences between two Texas cities than Medicare, according to researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health. Researchers found that sharp disparities in per-capita Medicare healthcare spending between McAllen and El Paso were significantly diminished when private ...