An estimated 4,837,000 asthmatics with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) could benefit substantially from antifungal treatment, say researchers from the University of Toronto and Manchester University. Their work, published in the journal Medical Mycology, has also re-estimated the total number of asthmatics worldwide – to reveal a staggering 193 million sufferers.

Policy makers have considerable interest in reducing Medicare spending growth. Clarity in the debate on reducing Medicare spending growth requires recognition of three important distinctions: the difference between public and total spending on health, the difference between the level of health spending and rate of health spending growth, and the difference between growth per beneficiary and growth in the number of beneficiaries in Medicare.

The primary policy issue facing the US health care system is the rate of spending growth in public programs, and solving that problem will probably require reforms to the entire health care sector. The Affordable Care Act created a projected trajectory for Medicare spending per beneficiary that is lower than historical growth rates. Although opportunities for one-time savings exist, any long-term savings from Medicare, beyond those already forecast, will probably require a shift in spending from taxpayers to beneficiaries via higher beneficiary premium contributions (overall or via means testing), changes in eligibility, or greater cost sharing at the point of service.

Cases of type 2 diabetes continue to rise in the US. And while the development of the disease is more commonly associated with risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, and physical inactivity, research has shown that stress can also have a significant impact.

Doctors often diagnose tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) based on the abnormal growths the genetic disease causes in organs around the body. Those overt anatomical structures, however, belie the microscopic and mysterious neurological differences behind the disease’s troublesome behavioral symptoms: autism, intellectual disabilities, and seizures.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who also have allergic disease have higher levels of respiratory symptoms and are at higher risk for COPD exacerbations, according to a new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

When trouble approaches, what do you do? Run for the hills? Hide? Pretend it isn’t there? Or do you focus on the promise of rain in those looming dark clouds? New research suggests that the way you regulate your emotions, in bad times and in good, can influence whether – or how much – you suffer from anxiety. The study appears in the journal Emotion.

People with job stress and an unhealthy lifestyle are at higher risk of coronary artery disease than people who have job stress but lead healthy lifestyles, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Research into the comparative size of the frontal lobes in humans and other species has determined that they are not – as previously thought – disproportionately enlarged relative to other areas of the brain, according to the most accurate and conclusive study of this area of the brain.

The U.S. Department of Justice has signed an agreement with Stewart County, GA, to improve access to all aspects of community life for individuals with disabilities. The agreement is part of Project Civic Access, the department’s effort to make sure that counties, cities and towns comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The county will make changes to the sheriff’s department, health department, senior center, municipal center, recreational vehicle park and polling places.

There are three distinct phases of leadership when attempting to implement change: vision, structure and implementation. This same process can be applied to congressional leadership regarding U.S. financial reform.

Regular marijuana use is linked to advantageous indices related to diabetic control, according to a new study in The American Journal of Medicine. The research found that current marijuana users had considerably lower fasting insulin and had a lower probability of being insulin resistant, even after excluding patients with diabetes mellitus.

Shortly after having a hip replaced in 2011, Paula Spurlock had horrible itching, really bad migraines and intense pain throughout her body.  After many months and several trips to specialists, Spurlock was told it could be anything from food allergies to her medication. But no matter what she changed, the symptoms persisted.

After having a PET scan for a lung issue they found out that she was highly allergic to the metal in her new hip and to the surgical cement often used to hold joints in place.

This problem is sure to get worse in the coming years. By 2030, the demand for hip and knee replacements in the U.S. will skyrocket. More than 11,000 people a day are expected to have implant surgeries by then, an increase of 174 percent for hip replacements and nearly 700 percent for knees.

New Findings Show Inhibiting Powerful Protein with New Agents May Supply Broad Benefit for Lymphoma Patients A soon-to-be-tested class of drug inhibitors were predicted to help a limited number of patients with B-cell lymphomas with mutations affecting the EZH2 protein. However, a research team, led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medical College, now report that these agents may, in fact, help a much broader cross section of lymphoma patients.

CDC provides tools to help all U.S. dialysis facilities reduce potentially deadly infections The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released results of its Dialysis Bloodstream Infection Prevention Collaborative showing a 32 percent decrease in overall bloodstream infections and a 54 percent decrease in vascular access-related bloodstream infections after CDC prevention guidelines were used. Vascular access-related bloodstream infections are those related to devices used to access the bloodstream for hemodialysis.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Xifogo under the priority review program, three months ahead of schedule.   According to an online FDA communiqué published this week, Xofigo is aimed at male patients whose prostate cancer metastasized despite receiving medical or surgical interventions to reduce testosterone levels.

Even as the nation’s policy makers feud over fiscal deficits, they seem largely clueless about another shortfall: the nation’s large, and growing, health gap. A sobering report from the Institute of Medicine, U.S. Health in International Perspective, notes that US life expectancy is decidedly lower than that of at least 16 other countries that we might consider our global peers. What’s more, the report adds, the United States has “a longstanding pattern of poorer health” that is also “strikingly consistent and pervasive over the life course,” from birth to old age.