ScienceDaily  Men who come to the hospital with pneumonia generally are sicker than women and have a higher risk of dying over the next year, despite aggressive medical care, according to a study being presented May 20, at the 104th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in Toronto.
“It is well known that women live longer than men. We have always assumed that these differences occur because men engage in riskier behaviors and have a greater burden of chronic diseases,” said Sachin Yende, M.D., study co-author and assistant professor in the Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “Our study showed that men were more likely to die up to a year after pneumonia, despite adjusting for health behaviors and chronic conditions. Further, our findings indicate this may be linked to differences in immune response.” Read more
Shows that Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati are among the 10 worst metropolitan areas in America when it comes to women’s heart health.
The worst piece of news in the Heart Friendly Cities survey? Women in Cleveland and its suburbs have a higher body mass index – that’s a measure of how fat we are – than women in any other of America’s 200 major metropolitan areas.
We also have high rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and deaths from heart disease.
However, there are eight other cities worse off than we are when it comes to women’s heart health. And one of them is Pittsburgh.
The rankings were compiled for the American Heart Association by Sperling’s Best Places, which calculates the best places to live, work and retire in America.
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Mercurynews The community leaders meeting Friday emphasized the need to “bootstrap” health care solutions rather than wait for state or federal action.
About 140 people attending a forum at the Cocoanut Grove organized by the Health Improvement Partnership of Santa Cruz County learned:
• Many more county children under 17 now have health insurance thanks to programs supported by public and private funds, with only 2 percent uninsured, compared to 10 percent statewide. That reduces the “hidden tax” paid by people with insurance to cover those without.
 ¢ About 43 percent of area adults have an “advance directive,” a document that allows people to explain what kind of care they want in a medical crisis. That compares to 36 percent statewide and 29 percent nationwide. End-of-life treatment is a factor driving up health care costs.
â₉ About 46 percent of local physicians are using electronic medical Read more
ScienceDaily (May 19, 2008)  Researchers have developed what they believe is the first new mechanism in nearly 20 years for inhibiting a common target used to treat all HIV patients, which could eventually lead to a new class of AIDS drugs.
Researchers at the University of Michigan used computer models to develop the inhibiting compound, and then confirmed in the lab that the compound does indeed inhibit HIV protease, which is an established target for AIDS treatment. The protease is necessary to replicate the virus, says Heather Carlson, U-M professor of medicinal chemistry and principal investigator of the study.
Carlson stresses this is a preliminary step, but still significant.
“It’s very easy to make an inhibitor, (but) it’s very hard to make a drug,” said Carlson, who also has an appointment in chemistry. “This compound is too weak to work in the human body. The key is to find more compounds that will work by the same mechanism.” Read more
As you age, your levels of growth hormone and melatonin (which control sleeping and waking) decline. This can make you go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier, sleep more lightly or wake up several times during the night.
Like younger adults, you still need seven to eight hours of sleep a night. Something besides normal aging may be causing your problem if:
* You depend on pills to sleep
* You haven’t slept soundly in over a month
* You often become sleepy at times when you should be alert (such as behind the wheel)
Common causes of insomnia in seniors
Several health conditions that affect older people can interfere with sleep, including:
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