| HEALTH NEWS |
Cancer
|
| Regimens: No Cancer Benefits Seen in Supplements |
| A new study testing B vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids for cancer prevention has found no beneficial effect and — at least for women — some possibility of harm. |
| Soy supplements don’t prevent and may link to an increase in breast cancer |
| THE QUESTION Eating a lot of soy-based foods is believed to help prevent breast cancer. Might soy supplements also help? |
| Aspirin’s role in cancer mystery explained by scientists |
| Australian scientists have discovered how anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin prevent tumors from spreading. |
| Neurological Disease |
| The Best Foods for Thought, Literally |
| We’ve long known that the Mediterranean diet is good for the heart. Now, it may be good for the brain as well. |
| Cardiovascular Disease |
| Pet owners’ hearts may cope better with change |
| Pet owners with chronic diseases appear to have healthier tickers than people living without an animal companion, a new study shows. |
| Stem Cell Treatment Might Reverse Heart Attack Damage |
| Stem cell therapy’s promise for healing damaged tissues may have gotten a bit closer to reality. In a small, early study, heart damage was reversed in heart-attack patients treated with their own cardiac stem cells, researchers report. |
| Obesity |
| Trimming super-size with half-orders, plate colors |
| Giant portion sizes are one of the culprits behind the epidemic of bulging waistlines, and nowhere is the portion-creep more evident than in restaurants with French fry-heavy meal deals or plates overflowing with pasta. Now scientists are tapping into the psychology of eating to find ways to trim portions without people feeling cheated – focusing on everything from the starchy sides to the color of the plates. |
| Other News |
| Obama’s ’13 budget to increase healthcare savings |
| President Barack Obama on Monday proposed more aggressive deficit reductions through savings from Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs than the White House put forward just five months ago. |
| What’s New? Exuberance for Novelty Has Benefits |
| Do you make decisions quickly based on incomplete information? Do you lose your temper quickly? Are you easily bored? Do you thrive in conditions that seem chaotic to others, or do you like everything well organized? |
| Screening Children for Cholesterol |
| It doesn’t have a particularly snappy title, but the Summary Report of the Expert Panel on Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents makes for surprisingly accessible and interesting reading. |
| In a Squeaky-Clean World, a Worm Might Help Fight Disease |
| Some bugs are good for our health, and a pig parasite called the whipworm appears to be one of them. |
| Obama Allies Seek to Reframe Birth-Control Debate |
| The debate over President Barack Obama’s policy on contraceptive coverage is likely to persist, with the two sides struggling to frame the issue as either one over access to birth control or of religious freedom. |
| INDUSTRY NEWS |
| Could your Valentine’s kiss give you lead poisoning? |
| If you’re going to be on either end of a kiss this Valentine’s Day, you might want to consider smooching bare-lipped. Most lipstick contains lead. |
| Obama asks for hike in industry funding for FDA |
| President Barack Obama asked on Monday for a 17 percent hike in the Food and Drug Administration’s budget, but much of the increase would come from companies, not tax dollars. |
| New Drug Approved to Treat Glaucoma |
| The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a new Merck & Co. solution to treat a common eye condition. |
| MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY NEWS |
| The Therapist May See You Anytime, Anywhere |
| The very idea of psychotherapy seems to defy the insta-access, video screen chatter of popular digital culture. |
| UnitedHealth to Launch Cloud-Based Data Platform |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. plans to launch a new cloud-computing platform aimed at health-care providers and insurers, one of a growing number of efforts toallow more sharing of medical data among industry players. |
