A new research paper published in PLoS Medicine suggests that preventing obesity might result in increased public spending on medical care. Many countries are currently developing policies aimed at reducing obesity in the population. However, it is not currently clear whether successfully reducing obesity will also reduce national healthcare spending or not.

Heart disease deaths in American women continued to decline in 2005, and for the first time, have declined six years consecutively, covering the years 2000-2005, according to newly analyzed data announced today by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. NHLBI experts analyzed preliminary data for 2005, the most recent year for which data are available.

Women who smoke and have a specific genetic makeup are at significant risk for the development of breast cancer, according to a recent study published by the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. A research group led by

A new study by researchers in the US has found that cigarette smokers don’t sleep as well as non smokers: they are four times more likely to report feeling unrested after a night’s sleep than non smokers.

President Bush on Monday will release a $3 trillion fiscal year 2009 budget request that would significantly reduce or eliminate spending for dozens of health and other programs but would significantly increase spending for SCHIP, the New York Times reports.

Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday during an address to a meeting of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said human embryonic stem cell research, artificial insemination and the possibility of human cloning have “shattered the barriers meant to protect human dignity,”

Some Congressional Democrats have proposed removing abstinence program spending requirements and a mandatory pledge against commercial sex work in the upcoming reauthorization of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the AP/Yahoo! News reports (Abrams, AP/Yahoo! News, 2/2).

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) on Thursday unveiled a $70 billion state budget for fiscal year 2009 that would reduce spending on health care by $132 million and that includes new initiatives to expand health coverage, the Orlando Sentinel reports (Kennedy/Deslatte, Orlando Sentinel, 2/1).

An innovative research approach has identified a previously unsuspected protein as a key player in the resistance to particular forms of breast cancer therapy. The study, published by Cell Press in the February issue of Cancer Cell, significantly advances the understanding of the molecular response to breast cancer therapies that target estrogen signaling.Most breast tumors express estrogen receptor and are dependent on estrogen signaling.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the world’s largest charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research, has announced that it is partnering with Plureon Corporation, a biotechnology company based in Winston-Salem, N.C. that focuses on developing therapeutic applications of stem cells.