On Disabilities

Elder abuse is underestimated, researchers say, and includes physical, emotional and sexual abuse as well as financial exploitation. Doctors, lawyers or banks are often the first to spot problems.

"You can evaluate the person as a whole," says Dr. Roberta Miller, who has been a home care physician for more than 20 years. The traditional house call may be the future of medicine.

The National Institutes of Health has promised to put more money into research on an illness that many people feel has been dissed by the medical establishment.

Sometimes neck pain just doesn't go away. Complementary treatments like acupuncture and Alexander Technique can help reduce the pain, a study finds, though they are not miracle cures.

An online portal to manage chronic kidney disease sounds great, but poor, older or black people were less likely to use it. That means the shift to e-health could make health disparities worse.

For $10 anyone can buy a cardboard headset, download a free iPhone app, slide in a phone and explore virtual worlds from a wheelchair, bed or couch.

Jail is too dangerous for many defendants found incompetent to stand trial because of illnesses like schizophrenia, judges say. But psychiatric hospitals are now overcrowded and violent, too.

People with Parkinson's and related forms of dementia improved dramatically when they took a leukemia drug called nilotinib. Researchers say the drug seems to help brain cells eliminate toxins.

Most people don't need scans or surgery, but they do want relief from lower-back pain. Physical therapy isn't a cure, a study finds, but it did help some people regain mobility more quickly.

Now that California has legalized aid in dying, doctors there need to know what to say to patients. They're getting help from doctors in Oregon, who have been answering these questions for decades.