Health and wellness

Against a groundswell of state-based unrest, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act continues to churn forward under a blanket of contention.

Scientists know that being overweight increases the risk of breast cancers fed by estrogen, but being too fat may also increase the risk of triple-negative breast cancers, a less common and far more deadly type, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

People with diabetes in the United States and several other countries do not get effective treatment to control their disease, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday, and health insurance, not personal wealth, plays a big role in determining which diabetics get good care.

People who receive one-on-one counseling over multiple years are no more likely to avoid gaining weight than those who simply check in with their regular doctors once in a while, new study findings report.

People who have to make treatment decisions for a seriously ill family member may suffer emotional consequences as a result, according to a study published Monday.

President Barack Obama extended an olive branch on Monday to states struggling to implement his health care law, offering support for a proposal that would give them some flexibility in carrying out its key parts.

I don't mean to brag (OK, maybe I do just a little), but health insurance premiums for Kalamazoo County, Mich., employees didn't increase this year - not one penny.

Health risk assessments are used by most wellness program providers and employers as the key to opening the door to employee health improvement.

In recent years, a growing number of forward-thinking employers have taken a more up-front role in providing chronic care management to their employees.

Despite great advances in treating cancer - the five-year survival rate has improved to 68% - an estimated 1.52 million new cancer cases were diagnosed in the United States in 2010, and nearly 570,000 people were expected to die from the disease.

Days after delivering what he called a "little speech" (also known as the State of the Union address), President Obama vehemently defended the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, rallying the audience at a Families USA conference in Washington, D.C., that "we are moving forward."

Employers like to look over one another's shoulder when it comes to benefits programs, and benchmarking data provides this opportunity.

This article is the first in EBN's year-long BeneFIT Success series, which will chronicle employers and employees in their individual and organizational wellness triumphs.

Girls who get migraines appear more likely than their peers to gain extra weight during adulthood, scientists say.

U.S. health officials are considering including tests for sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis and hepatitis B for the elderly and disabled covered under Medicare.

NEW YORK | Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:28pm EST - Women who take bone drugs for several years have a slightly increased chance of suffering an unusual type of thigh fracture, according to a large Canadian study.

A study of the two most popular weight-loss surgeries found obese diabetics who had gastric bypass surgery lost 64 percent of their excess weight after a year, compared with 36 percent in those treated with Allergan Inc's Lap-Band device, researchers said on Monday.

A new survey of mostly middle-aged adults reveals that among people aged 45 to 54, one in nine shows signs of hearing impairment.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has triggered considerable angst about the fate of group health insurance coverage since its passage, but recent research suggests that it’s not expected to affect non-medical benefits.

Employers just can’t get enough of wellness. In 2010, nearly 75% of 147 mid- to large-size employers offered 19 or more health promotion programs, finds a study by Fidelity Investments and the National Business Group on Health.