Humans

A program based at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore offers a two-day series of assessments for older surgeons, evaluating "physical and cognitive" function.

When Should Surgeons Stop Operating?

11:44am June 19, 2015

by Nadia Whitehead

A quarter of U.S. physicians are older than 65, and there are no national guidelines for assessing late-career skills. Some say the lack of oversight, especially for surgeons, is cause for concern.

Hospital bills can be as painful as the injury that lands you there — especially if insurance doesn't cover the costs.

Surprise! Some Job-Based Health Plans Don't Cover Hospitalization

11:51am June 18, 2015

by Jay Hancock

Better read the fine print of your health insurance policy. An unlucky woman in Minnesota learned her policy was woefully skimpy only after she fell while walking her dogs, and faced a $19,000 bill.

Cambrian Genomics says that what it calls a DNA printer is essentially a DNA sorter — it quickly spots and collects the desired, tailored stretch of DNA.

DNA 'Printing' A Big Boon To Research, But Some Raise Concerns

9:40pm June 17, 2015

by Rob Stein

Companies are assembling and churning out tailored stretches of DNA faster and more cheaply than ever before. The tool speeds research into diseases of plants and people. But what about eugenics?

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Hawaii ranks 49th in the nation for use of home health care services during the last six months of someone's life. Videos from ACP Decisions show patients what their options are at the end of life.

Videos On End-Of-Life Choices Ease Tough Conversation

9:39pm June 17, 2015

by Ina Jaffe

A program in Hawaii aims to reduce the number of older people who spend their final days of life in a hospital. Hawaii has one of the highest rates of hospital deaths for those over age 65 in the U.S.

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Ryo Ishikawa, one of Japan's biggest golf stars, demonstrates his swing on the pro tour in February.

Take A Swing At This: Golf Is Exercise, Cart Or No Cart

1:29pm June 17, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

American adults play more golf than any other sport. So how much exercise do you get from an afternoon on the links? Players clipped on pedometers and Fitbits to help us find out.

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When health care providers have the latest information on various birth control methods, research suggests, more of their patients who use birth control choose a long-acting reversible method, like the IUD.

Updated Training Of Birth Control Counselors Boosts Use Of IUDs

9:35pm June 16, 2015

by Lisa Aliferis

And when the use of intrauterine devices and hormonal implants by young women goes up, the number of unplanned pregnancies sharply drops, researchers find.

Primal posture: Ubong tribesmen in Borneo (right) display the perfect J-shaped spines. A woman in Burkina Faso (left) holds her baby so that his spine stays straight. The center image shows the S-shaped spine drawn in a modern anatomy book (Fig. I) and th

Lost Posture: Why Some Indigenous Cultures May Not Have Back Pain

6:08pm June 16, 2015

by Michaeleen Doucleff

There are a few populations in the world where back pain hardly exists. One woman thinks she has figured out why, and she's sharing their secrets. Have Americans forgotten how to stand properly?

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Joy (left, voiced by Amy Poehler) and Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith) catch a ride on the Train of Thought in Pixar's Inside Out. The movie opens in theaters nationwide June 19.

Science Of Sadness And Joy: 'Inside Out' Gets Childhood Emotions Right

2:26pm June 15, 2015

by Jon Hamilton

Pixar's animated fantasy takes viewers inside the mind of an 11-year-old girl named Riley. Psychologists say the film offers an accurate picture of how emotions and memories help make us who we are.

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Kids and teens should get two to three quarts of water per day, via food or drink, research suggests.

Got Water? Most Kids, Teens Don't Drink Enough

11:19am June 13, 2015

by Richard Harris

More than half the young people in a recent study were at least mildly dehydrated — maybe enough to affect energy and concentration. Roughly 25 percent said they never drink water.

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Renee Mitchell says even though she has health insurance she'll have trouble paying for the eye surgery she needs to save her vision.

Some Insured Patients Still Skipping Care Because Of High Costs

11:18am June 13, 2015

by Jim Burress

Research shows that, even with health insurance, many people put off expensive surgery, medicine and tests because they can't afford the high deductibles or copays. A few states hope to change that.

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