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Critics Escalate Attacks On Health Care Overhaul
Tensions are showing as health reform continues to be center stage on the President"s and Congress" domestic policy agenda. The Associated Press reports that "President Barack Obama has learned the lessons of Bill Clinton"s failed bid to overhaul the nation"s health care system. Too well, in fact, say fellow Democrats angry over [Obama"s] refusal to intervene while a conservative proposal advances in the Senate," feel Obama has "over-learned the lessons of 1993 and is bending over too far to attract GOP support in the Senate." Obama supports a public option for health insurance, but "wants to avoid issuing nonnegotiable demands early in the legislative process," say White House aides. "Insurance companies oppose the public option proposal. Their cause was hurt this week when congressional investigators said two-thirds of the U.S. health insurance industry used a faulty database that overcharged patients for seeing doctors outside their insurance network, costing Americans billions of dollars in inflated medical bills" (Babington, 6/26).
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Bed Bugs' Own Chemistry Used Against Them
Scientists here have determined that combining bed bugs" own chemical signals with a common insect control agent makes that treatment more effective at killing the bugs.
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Protecting Against Obesity And Atherosclerosis By Blocking A Muscle Growth-Limiting Hormone
Knockout of myostatin, a growth factor that limits muscle growth, can decrease body fat and promote resistance against developing atherosclerosis, or "hardening" of the arteries, according to a new study conducted in mice. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society"s 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
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The Mood Of Depressed People Improves With Weight Loss

Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), July 28 - August 1, 2009, the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, finds that after a 6-month behavioral weight loss program, depressed patients not only lost 8% of their initial weight but also reported significant improvements in their symptoms of depression, as well as reductions in triglycerides, which are a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. The results of this study highlight the need for further research into the effects of weight loss in individuals suffering from psychiatric disorders. "This research is novel because clinically depressed individuals are not usually included in weight loss trials due to concerns that weight loss could worsen their depression," said Dr. Lucy Faulconbridge, lead author of the study. "These concerns, however, are not based on empirical evidence, and the practice of excluding depressed individuals from clinical weight loss trials means that we are learning nothing about this high-risk population." The latest findings suggest that depressed, obese individuals can indeed lose clinically significant amounts of weight, and that weight loss can actually reduce symptoms of depression. Fifty-one depressed and non-depressed subjects were recruited into the study to follow a supervised weight loss program that included lifestyle modification and meal replacements. Both depressed and non-depressed subjects lost significant amounts of weight, with depressed individuals losing 8% of their initial body weight, compared with 11% loss by non-depressed individuals. After 6 months on the weight loss program, depressed subjects also showed significant improvement of their depressive symptoms, based on a questionnaire. Additional significant improvements in glucose, insulin and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were observed in both depressed and non-depressed subjects, and depressed individuals showed reduced levels of triglycerides in the blood, which have been linked to risk of heart disease and stroke. "Depression and obesity are independently associated with increased risk of heart disease and stroke, and so reductions in both body weight and symptoms of depression are likely to improve long-term health outcomes" said Faulconbridge. Supported by NIDDK:DK069652-04 and National Institute of Health Lead author: Lucy Faulconbridge, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA Co-authors: TA WADDEN, LS JONES-CORNEILLE, DB SARWER, M PULCINI, L BERGELSON. University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA Jamie Price Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior


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