Your Health

How Our Stone Age Bodies Struggle To Stay Healthy In Modern Times

10:00am October 01, 2013

In The Story of the Human Body, evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman explains how our bodies haven't adapted to modern conditions. The result is "mismatch diseases" — ailments that occur because our bodies weren't designed for the environments in which we now live.

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The audience concentrates on a presentation by Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger's office about the federal health care overhaul at the University of Kansas satellite campus in Overland Park, Kan., earlier this month.

Insurance Exchange 101: Here's What You Need To Know

9:36am September 30, 2013

by Julie Rovner

If all goes as planned, people who don't have insurance will be able to shop for it on online insurance marketplaces starting Tuesday. As long as people sign up by Dec. 15, they'll be covered starting Jan. 1.

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Emily Gorospe, 8, loves to dance and usually can't sit still, so her parents started to worry when she became very tired two years ago. Emily was eventually diagnosed with valley fever, a fungal disease that 150,000 people contract each year.

Health & Safety

Cases Of Mysterious Valley Fever Rise In American Southwest

10:11am September 24, 2013

by Rebecca Plevin

Each year, an estimated 150,000 people in the Southwest contract valley fever. But doctors say they understand little about the fungal disease. There is no cure and no vaccine. Most cases are misdiagnosed or missed entirely.

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Does a glass or two of wine during pregnancy really increase the child's health risks? Epigenetics may help scientists figure that out.

How A Pregnant Woman's Choices Could Shape A Child's Health

8:58am September 24, 2013

by Jon Hamilton

Pregnant women are told not to drink, smoke or stress out. But it hasn't been clear how those choices may affect a fetus. By studying how genes are turned on and off, scientists say they are getting closer to understanding what experiences in the womb really affect a child's health.

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Workers at the eHealth call center outside Sacramento, Calif., get ready to sell health insurance through the marketplaces created under the federal health care law. Sales start Oct. 1.

For-Profit Online Insurance Brokers Gear Up To Sell Obamacare

8:34am September 18, 2013

by Eric Whitney

For online insurance brokers, selling health insurance through the Affordable Care Act presents a new opportunity — and a new competitor. It's unclear who will come out ahead: the businesses, with more experience, or the feds, who won't charge commissions.

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Differences in brain chemistry can affect an individual's likelihood of weight gain.

Calling Obesity A Disease May Make It Easier To Get Help

9:04am September 17, 2013

by Patti Neighmond

If obesity were a disease, would you be more likely to seek medical help because insurance would pay for treatment? Or would you feel stigmatized and just give up? That's the debate surrounding increased efforts to classify obesity as a disease.

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Cooking on gas and electric stoves can create indoor air pollution. The best way to avoid it is to buy a good range hood that vents outside, experts say.

Fixing Stove Hoods To Keep Pollution Out Of The Kitchen

5:22pm September 10, 2013

by Lauren Sommer

Range hoods are designed to capture the pollutants from your stove, but many models are not effective and it's hard for consumers to know how good a hood is. But researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab are developing a new standardized test that manufacturers can use to rate their range hoods.

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Strenuous mental exercise like reading difficult books, solving tricky math problems — or, maybe, playing the right video game — can help keep a healthy brain sharp, research suggests.

Multitasking After 60: Video Game Boosts Focus, Mental Agility

5:22pm September 10, 2013

by Jon Hamilton

The aging brain may be more flexible than we thought, a study of older adults now suggests. After playing a racing car video game an hour a day, thrice weekly for a month, adults age 60 and over were better at multitasking than untrained 20-year-olds.

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Samsung's new Galaxy Gear smartwatch marks a new generation of wearable devices.

Smartwatch Is Next Step In 'Quantified Self' Life-Logging

5:20pm September 10, 2013

by Steve Henn

Smartwatches are capturing imaginations because of what they can measure about their wearers. A watch touches your skin, so it can take your pulse, measure your temperature and record the quality of your sleep.

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The next bed could cost you a lot if the hospital says you're there on observation.

For Hospital Patients, Observation Status Can Prove Costly

9:25am September 05, 2013

by Ina Jaffe

When is an inpatient in the hospital not an inpatient in the hospital? When that patient is on observation status. Patients who are termed on observation can have trouble getting Medicare to pay if they need to go to a nursing home. The practice has sparked lawsuits and legislation.

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