Poll: Obesity's a crisis but we want our junk food

WASHINGTON (AP) — We know obesity is a health crisis, or every new year wouldn't start with resolutions to eat better and get off the couch. But don't try taking away our junk food.Americans blame too much screen time and cheap fast food for fueling the nation's fat epidemic, a poll finds, but they're split on how much the government should do to help.Most draw the line at policies that would try...

Read More..

High School Basketball Star Must Tan to Treat Rare Disease

When the Shawnee High School basketball team is down on the scoreboard, players know to throw the ball to Josh Borelli. Borelli is not only the team's star player, but also the player most adept at overcoming adversity. Borrelli, a senior at the Medford, N.J., school, has a condition called Mucha-Habermann, an extremely rare skin disorder that causes lesions to develop all over the body. Borrelli...

Read More..

Racial gaps in access to robotic prostate surgery

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Minority and Medicaid cancer patients are less likely to have their prostates removed at hospitals that use robot-assisted surgery, according to a new study that stops short of suggesting the robotic technique represents better care."People who are poor - frequently Hispanic, African American or black, and Medicaid patients - tend to get what is considered to be less high-quality...

Read More..

Eli Lilly banks on cost controls for higher 2013 profit

Eli Lilly and Co said on Friday it expects profit in 2013 to increase by more than Wall Street had been forecasting, primarily due to cost controls and improved productivity.Lilly, whose shares were up nearly 4 percent on Friday, said 2013 sales will be flat to a bit higher, despite the loss of patent on its $5 billion-a-year antidepressant, Cymbalta, in December.The Indianapolis-based drugmaker is...

Read More..

Researchers Discover New Strategy to Fight Obesity

After decades of achieving little long-term success with medications, Belgian scientists have come up with a new strategy to fight obesity. They're targeting food sensors in the stomach.Researchers from the Catholic University of Leuven have reported that the digestive tract "tastes" what a person eats. It uses signaling devices similar to those found in the tongue to detect bitter, sweet, fat, and...

Read More..

APNewsBreak: Texas cancer probe draws NCI scrutiny

The National Cancer Institute confirmed Friday that federal officials are taking a closer look at a troubled $3 billion cancer-fighting effort in Texas that is under a criminal investigation over a lucrative taxpayer-funded grant awarded by the state agency.The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas touts its status as an NCI-approved funding entity — an exclusive group headlined by the...

Read More..

Mental health toll emerges among Sandy survivors

The image of his brother trapped in a car with water rising to his neck, his eyes silently pleading for help, is part of a recurring nightmare that wakes Anthony Gatti up, screaming, at night.Gatti hauled his brother out of the car just in time, saving his life at the height of Superstorm Sandy. The two men rode out the hurricane in their childhood Staten Island home and survived. But weeks afterward,...

Read More..

GlaxoSmithKline wins U.S. approval for new flu vaccine

U.S. health regulators have approved a new four-strain seasonal influenza vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the company said on Monday.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Fluarix Quadrivalent to immunize children age 3 and older and adults against flu virus subtypes A and B contained in the vaccine.It is the first intramuscular vaccine to protect against four influenza strains. Three-strain...

Read More..

Inherited colon cancer risk tied to certain foods

Among people who have a genetic susceptibility to colon cancer, those whose diets are heavy in junk food have an even higher risk, according to a new study."These patients have this very high risk because of this (genetic) mutation they have, but it might be that they could reduce the number of (tumors) by having a more healthy lifestyle," said Akke Botma, the lead author of the study.Botma's study...

Read More..

Global malaria battle stalls as financing gets tight

Global funding for the fight against malaria has stalled in the past two years, threatening to reverse what the World Health Organisation (WHO) says are "remarkable recent gains" in the battle to control one of the world's leading infectious killers.After rapid expansion between 2004 and 2009, funding for malaria prevention and control leveled off between 2010 and 2012 - meaning there were fewer life-saving...

Read More..

The Importance of Being Self-Reliant in Retirement

Most baby boomers are at various stages of preparing for retirement, depending on whether they were born at the beginning or end of their generation. The smart ones realize that effective planning starts well before retirement age. Important calculations need to be made to determine what it will take to survive financially throughout the retirement years. Post-work lifestyles and passions also need...

Read More..

Trio of chefs nominated in 'Time' magazine's 100 most influential people list

Chefs René Redzepi, David Chang and José Andrés have been nominated in Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.The trio of world renowned chefs joins a pool of politicians, heads of state, actors, musicians and human rights activists as candidates in the publication’s Time 100 list.Last year, Chef Grant Achatz was the only food personality among nominees like Jamie...

Read More..

How to Avoid a High Tax Bracket in Retirement

We spend many years saving and investing in our retirement portfolios. And when we retire, there is still more work to be done. You probably have many accounts in your retirement portfolio including a 401(k), traditional IRA, Roth IRA, after-tax brokerage account, annuity, Social Security benefits, and perhaps even a traditional pension. You will need to use all of these sources of income efficiently...

Read More..

Is a Rural Retirement Right for You?

Would you be willing to exchange Thai restaurants and unwavering wireless Internet for homegrown produce and birdsong?If so, a rural retirement may suit you well. The bonus: Rural acreage is a rare segment of the real estate market that weathered the Great Recession.[See 10 New Retirement Hotspots.]According to a report from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, residential land values in the United...

Read More..

Keeping Cartier contemporary: the jewelry house discusses modern art, mass market collaborations and the revival of classics

Ahead of the launch of Cartier, Jeweler of the Arts, the latest expo from Cartier's art museum the Fondation Cartier, which begins April 3 in Paris, Relaxnews met up with Cartier Europe's managing director Cyrille Vigneron to discuss how a prestigious maison stays ahead in an ever evolving luxury market.Relaxnews: Cartier, Jeweler of the Arts brings together four artworks commissioned by Cartier...

Read More..