A large majority of families who care for someone with schizophrenia are confident that many people with the disease can lead independent, fulfilling lives with the ability to have a part-time job when having optimal control over their symptoms. [click link for full article]

For people with diabetes, the daily decisions they make about food can have an immediate impact on their health. The American Diabetes Association (ADA), together with The HealthCentral Network’s FoodFit.com, launched Diabetes Foodsmart , a new eNewsletter designed to bring the fun back to food for those with diabetes. [click link for full article]

Disease of and injury to the feet and lower legs is a lifelong concern for diabetes patients. They are twice as likely to suffer from these conditions as non-diabetic patients. These problems also affect 30 percent of patients dealing with diabetes who are over the age of 40. However, new research offers more hope for effective treatment of lower extremity disease, as well as prevention of the condition. [click link for full article]

One of the largest studies to investigate the relationship between blood pressure and type 2 diabetes has found that women who have high blood pressure levels are three times more likely to develop diabetes than women with low blood pressure levels. This effect was independent of body mass index and other conditions that are known to predispose people to cardiovascular disease and diabetes. [click link for full article]

Finding a neighborhood spot to get a flu vaccine is just a click away, thanks to the American Lung Association’s fast and free “Flu Clinic Locator” now available at http://www.lungusa.org. Influenza and its complications lead to hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, and tens of thousands of American deaths every year, but an annual flu shot is the key to prevention. [click link for full article]

If you are an enrollee in a Medicaid managed care program the chances are that you will receive lower-quality care than somebody in a commercial managed care program, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), October 10th issue. [click link for full article]

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, discusses House Democrats’ efforts to override President Bush’s veto of SCHIP expansion legislation, a House hearing about tobacco regulation and disability benefits for veterans in this week’s “Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork. [click link for full article]

President Bush on Saturday in his weekly radio address indicated that he is willing to increase funding for SCHIP above his proposed level of $5 billion, the Los Angeles Times reports (Pasternak, Los Angeles Times, 10/7). [click link for full article]

State lawmakers are working to remove barriers that prevent volunteer health care personnel from providing assistance after a disaster in a state in which they are not licensed to work, USA Today reports. The initiative stems from a proposal introduced last year by the [click link for full article]

If you experience chronic job strain after your first heart attack you have approximately double the risk of experiencing another coronary heart disease (CHD) event, such as unstable angina or a heart attack, compared to a person who does not experience chronic job strain after a first heart attack, says an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), October 10th issue. [click link for full article]