Year: 2013

By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent LONDON (Reuters)- Bangladesh has had 40 years of exceptional progress in health, with infant mortality down, life expectancy up and good disease control, all despite being one of the world’s poorest countries, researchers said on Thursday. Most often in the news for its poverty or natural or manmade disasters, such as a factory fire that killed 1,129 people in April, Bangladesh was described in studies published on Thursday as a “remarkable success story” and one of the “great mysteries of global health”. “Over the past 40 years, Bangladesh has outperformed its Asian neighbors, convincingly defying the expert view that reducing poverty and increasing health resources are the key drivers of better population health,” said Professor Mushtaque Chowdhury from Dhaka’s BRAC University, who co-led a series of studies published in The Lancet medical journal. The rate of women dying in childbirth has dropped by 75 percent since 1980 in Bangladesh, while infant mortality has more than halved since 1990.

DALLAS (AP) — Help yourself to some nuts this holiday season: Regular nut eaters were less likely to die of cancer or heart disease — in fact, were less likely to die of any cause — during a 30-year Harvard study.

By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama's signature health law has helped spur stronger economic growth by contributing to slower increases in healthcare prices and spending, the White House said on Wednesday. The White House's assertion of the economic benefits of the law commonly called Obamacare runs counter to the views of many critics, who say it is raising insurance premiums and chilling job creation. A report by the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), an office within the White House, said that healthcare spending grew at an estimated average 1.3 percent rate per capita over the three years since 2010, the lowest rate on record for any three-year period.

This recipe is delicious and can easily be modified if you choose to add a little lean protein in place of the beans. I also love, for those of us who have the picky eaters in our home, that this recipe invites us to customize our very own potato, choosing our own toppings and sauces.

By David Lawder and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Janet Yellen picked up some more U.S. Senate support Wednesday on the eve of a vote in the Senate Banking Committee that is expected to approve her nomination to lead the U.S. Federal Reserve. Bob Corker, a Tennesee Republican and an influential member of the committee, declared his support Wednesday while three other Republicans indicated they were inclined to back her. "In the end, I do believe she has the qualifications necessary to be the Fed chairman and plan to support her nomination," said Corker, who voted against Yellen's nomination as Fed vice chair in 2010. Corker's support could help persuade a handful of other Senate Republicans to drop their opposition.