Smog, tobacco smoke, car exhaust fumes - we all know that pollution is bad, and there's no mystery about where it comes from. Most of us, however, do not stop to consider that not all air pollution occurs outdoors. Indoor air pollution, usually resulting from the use of unclean fuel in traditional cook stoves, is an extremely pressing issue to environmental and personal health in many…

In 1903, the life expectancy of the average man in the United States was 50; for a woman, 55. Fast forward one hundred years to 2013 - now, most of us are expected to live until 80, and plenty of people remain happy and healthy into their 90s. As medical technology advances, we will surely continue to live longer and longer lives, but with this increase in life expectancy…

To circumcise or not is a very personal question for new parents; it is a question with religious, medical, financial and social impacts. For many years, however, American health care institutions have given their opinions on whether or not circumcision is a good idea, and of those institutions, the American Academy of Pediatrics is one of the most important when it comes to making recommendations…

When it comes to stopping gun violence, what is the most important thing that lawmakers can do? Should our legislators focus their attention on violence in video games, and media depictions of the horrors of war? Or, is it better to pass laws restricting access to guns; stronger background checks and more bans on weapons? Or, should our nation think defensively, and work to better arm…

It's the middle of January, which means you should be well on your way to achieving that New Year's resolution; by now, you're running daily, cutting out all saturated fats and spending no more than 20 minutes per day browsing Facebook. Or maybe, like thousands of other Americans, you've made one of the most common New Year's resolutions in the country: quit smoking.

When it comes…

Since 1965, senior citizens in the United States have had access to public health insurance through the federal government. With Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, American citizens aged 65 and older were guaranteed insurance Medicare coverage, including hospital visits, doctor check-ups and prescription drugs. Medicare is not universal health coverage - on average, seniors still…

The patient lies on the operating table, eyes closed, body covered in thick blue plastic. If he were awake, he would be hearing the strangest sound right now - a rustling, clicking sound; a sound of steel fingers softly rubbing together. If the patient were awake, his eyes might fly open in surprise, and before him he would see it: A machine as tall as he, four thick white arms, long slim…

Welcome to 2013! This is a year already fraught with grand predictions: Syria will reach a peace agreement; the economic union of the Euro will finally settle;  the U.S. will encourage a smooth shift of presidential power in Afghanistan. This is also the year in which the U.S. government will fail to agree on spending and tax cuts, and send the nation as well as the entire global economy into…

Seeing as November is Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month, it's only fitting that an intriguing discovery about Alzheimer's and genetics was reported last month. The gene of particular interest to researchers is called TREM2, and people with a variant on that gene appear to have triple the risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease. TREM2 may hold vital clues…

Imagine for a moment that you are Mrs. Ida Jones. You are 68 years old and live with your husband in Tampa, Florida. Like many seniors in the area, you are enrolled as a member of the Medicare Advantage insurance plan through the company UnitedHealthcare, also known as the operating division of the single largest health carrier in the United States. UnitedHealthcare allows you to seek…