Month: September 2013

By David Lawder and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Republican plan aimed at averting a government shutdown in less than three weeks ran into a wall of opposition on Wednesday from conservatives in the U.S. House of Representatives, and leaders delayed any votes on it until at least next week. …

TV ads tout testosterone treatments for "low T," but surprising new research shows a different hormone may play a role in less sex drive and more fat as men age. Estrogen — the female hormone — is needed by men, too, and the study gives the first clear evidence that too little of it can cause certain "male menopause" symptoms.

By Kevin Murphy JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (Reuters) – Missouri's Democratic governor on Wednesday won a high-profile battle with the state's Republican-controlled legislature over tax cuts that he vetoed out of concern they would gut funding for education and other services. Supporters of the tax cuts, including the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, had said they were necessary to help Missouri compete with other states in drawing investment – notably neighboring Kansas, which in 2012 passed major tax cuts. …

(Reuters) – The data system supporting President Barack Obama's healthcare reform has been tested and certified as secure for millions of Americans who will seek health coverage beginning on October 1, meeting a critical deadline for launching the program, the administration said on Wednesday. Concerns over whether consumer information would be secure in time were raised last month, when a government report said it could take until September 30 to sign off on the system's data protections, leaving little room for error before Obamacare is due to go live. …

By Gene Emery NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Low testosterone production can reduce strength, muscle size and lean mass. If the testosterone isn’t being converted to estrogen, men may see an increase in body fat. And a deficiency of either can spark a decline in sexual function, according to a new study of hundreds of volunteers. The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, comes at a time when testosterone supplements are being widely advertised to men in the U.S., for example, in commercials urging them to be treated for “Low T.” From 2001 to 2011, the number of U.S. …