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(Commonwealth Fund) Private fee-for-service Medicare Advantage plans will be paid an average 16.6 percent more in 2008 compared to what the same enrollees would have cost in the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund. Although Congress made significant revisions to policies that affect how PFFS plans operate in 2011 and thereafter, the legislation is expected to slow enrollment in PFFS plans but not stop the overpayment for each enrollee.

(Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health) The rate of suicide in the United States is increasing for the first time in a decade, according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health's Center for Injury Research and Policy. The increase in the overall suicide rate between 1999 and 2005 was due primarily to an increase in suicides among whites aged 40-64, with white middle-aged women experiencing the largest annual increase.

Researchers believe the lack of a specific bacterium in the gut may be a cause of Crohn's disease.

Swapping fried and salty foods for salads could cut a third of the heart attack risk around the world, work suggests.

The federal government released a new set of exercise guidelines a couple of weeks ago, and the basic recommendation was straightforward: Thirty minutes a day, five days a week, at a moderate effort, for basic health; double that and/or make it more intense for more significant health and fitness...

Does Drinking Shrink the Brain? Our brains decrease in size by about 2 percent per decade. And the brains of drinkers may shrink more quickly, according to a study published in the Archives of Neurology. Those who drank most saw the most shrinkage. Women's brains were affected more than men's,...

We gather for dinner, all of us friends of a certain age. We're healthy, busy, enjoying this phase of life when the children are grown and we're free to pursue different dreams. We settle in with food and drink. And talk about the election and the issue of age.

Lots of patients elude doctors' clinical skill and therapeutic cleverness. That's often when the trouble starts.

Do popular dental sealants harbor a dangerous compound?

Nathan Wolfe hopes his research will result in staving off global pandemics before they happen.