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Health

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2. Health News
3. Health Research
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News

1. Bush Supports Equity for Mental Health Insurance Coverage (USA Today)
   "President Bush threw his weight Monday behind the idea — if not the details — of legislation guaranteeing equitable insurance coverage for mental health services." 5-02
2. Cancer Cure Approved (Dallas Morning NEws)
   Describes the research on the new drug, STI-571 or Gleevec, which has been shown to attack only cancer cells and provide a very high rate of cure in leukemia. The FDA approved its use. 5-01
3. Diabetes Can Be Prevented With Diet and Moderate Exercise (USA Today)
   "Those who trimmed their weight by 5% to 7%, dropping an average 10 to 15 pounds, and exercised about 30 minutes a day, reduced their risk of progressing to diabetes within the three-year study period by 58%." Diabetes is a devastating disease that costs over 90 billion dollars a year in health care costs.
4. HIV and AIDS - Child Activist Dies (CNN)
   Provides news of the death of 12-year-old Nkosi, who has provided world leadership in the fight to stop discrimination against children who have contracted the disease. 2-01
5. Heart Muscle Regenerates (National Institutes of Health - Roberts)
   Provides a very technical description of a major medical finding, that a heart can repair itself after a heart attack. Before this, scientists and doctors believed that heart muscles could not be restored after they were damaged in a heart attack. 6-01
6. Obesity Is Now the Top Preventable Health Problem (Rand - Cook)
   Provides results from a study that shows that more people are now have health problems as a result of excess fat than from smoking, drinking, or conditions related to poverty. 6-01
7. Worker Health and Safety Repealed by Congress (Philadelphia Enquirer - Gartner)
   Provides the opinion that Congress made a mistake by removing health and safety protections for workers. 3-01

Papers

1. Diabetes Can Be Prevented With Diet and Moderate Exercise (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
   Researchers have found that moderate exercise (30 minutes a day) and a small loss of weight (5 - 7 percent) can result in a 58 percent reduction in Type 2 diabetes for those who are most at risk. "At least 10 million Americans at high risk for type 2 diabetes can sharply lower their chances of getting the disease with diet and exercise..." Diabetes is a devastating disease that costs over 90 billion dollars a year in health care costs.
2. Health Care - Alternative Cash Program for Home Care (IndependentChoices)
   Describes an alternative to institutional care from Medicaid. In the Arkansas state program, cash can go to the person with the medical or personal care needs and the person can actually hire the services that they specifically need. Expenses for this approach has so far shown to be less than for conventional Medicaid care and recipients seem to find the program much more useful. 1-01
3. Heart Muscle Regenerates (USA Today)
   Provides a summary of a major medical finding, that a heart can repair itself after a heart attack. Before this, scientists and doctors believed that heart muscles could not be restored after they were damaged in a heart attack. 6-01
4. Managed Health Care Reform (Center for Responsive Politics)
   Summarizes efforts to reform managed health care and also reveals contributions by special interest groups to Republicans and Democrats. 3-01
5. Medicine and the Genome Projects (CNN - Feig)
   Summarizes implications of the human genome project, considered a major milestone for medicine. 2-01
6. Physical Education in the USA in 2001 (PE4Life.com)
   Provides results from the report of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) for 2001 on the status of physical education in the American educational system. Includes recommendations for schools. 3-02
7. Spirituality and Compassion Linked to AIDS Survival (ReutersHealth.com - Huggins)
   "Having faith in God and a sense of peace, as well as showing compassion toward others, may help people with AIDS to live longer, a team of Florida researchers reports." 3-02
8. Stem Cells Guide (National Institutes of Health)
   Defines basic terms in stem cell research, such as pluripotent and totipotent, and explains why stem cell research is so important for curing some of the most devastating human diseases and deteriorating conditions. 8-01

Research

1. Fitness Research (PE4Life.com)
   Provides over a dozen studies on obesity, fitness, and heatlh. 3-02
2. Stem Cells May Repair Heart Damage (Nature.com)
   Provides a summary of research using bone marrow stem cells to repair a damaged heart, such as after a heart attack. The results were very favorable in mice and represent a possible breakthrough in improving heart function, as well as reducing future difficulties caused by a heart attack. 4-01
3. Virus May Fight Bacterial Infections (applesforhealth.com)
   Describes a research study that shows promise for fighting Strep throat, pneumonia, and other infections that are normally resistant to antibiotics. The virus is engineered to destroy only one type of bacteria, an effective and possibly healthier solution compared to use of conventional antibiotics. Conventional antibiotics attack useful as well as infectious bacteria. 3-01