Health and Fitness for Friday October 1, 2010

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Healthcare costs to rise 6 percent a year BALTIMORE (UPI) -- U.S. healthcare spending is projected to reach nearly $4.6 trillion by 2019, growing at an average annual rate of 6.3 percent, U.S. government officials say. Economists at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimate that by 2019, healthcare is projected to account for 19.6 percent of the gross domestic product -- 0.3 percentage points higher than anticipated before healthcare reform. In 2010, healthcare spending is projected to reach $2.6 trillion and account for 17.5 percent of GDP, up 0.2 percentage point from pre-reform estimates. The increase is driven by the postponement of cuts to Medicare physician payments and legislative changes to COBRA premium subsidies for the unemployed, the economists say. "In the aggregate, it appears that the Affordable Care Act will have a moderate effect on health spending growth rates and the healthcare care share of the economy," lead author Andrea Sisko, an economist at CMS, says in a statement. In 2011, public and private health spending is expected to grow more slowly as reductions in Medicare physician payment rates are implemented and COBRA premium subsidies expire. Health spending is estimated to increase in 2014 when health insurance coverage is expanded to the uninsured Americans, and expected to increase by 9.2 percent, but out-of-pocket spending by consumers is projected to decline by 1.1 percent instead of rising 6.4 percent as initially expected, the study says. The findings are published in the journal Health Affairs. Copyright 2010 by United Press International
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Obesity, underweight, greater colon risk MINNEAPOLIS (UPI) -- Underweight or obese post-menopausal women, prior to a colon cancer diagnosis, may have a greater risk of dying, U.S. researchers say. Anna E. Prizment, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota, Masonic Cancer Center, and colleagues used data from the Iowa Women's Health Study, which included 1,096 women diagnosed with colon cancer who were observed during a maximum 20-year period, during which 493 died -- 289 died from colon cancer. Women classified as obese, with a body mass index of at least 30 kg/m2, had a 45 percent increased overall mortality rate, while women with a BMI less than 18.5 kg/m2, (underweight) had an 89 percent increased mortality rate compared to those with normal BMI. "Maintaining a healthy body weight is beneficial for post-menopausal women. This may also be beneficial for those diagnosed with colon cancer later in life. It looks like abdominal obesity may be a useful indicator of higher colon cancer mortality," Prizment says in a statement. "It is too early to say whether a decrease in weight characteristics after diagnosis will also decrease mortality risk; at that point it may be too late. Therefore, it's best to maintain a normal, healthy body weight throughout life." The findings are published in the Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Copyright 2010 by United Press International
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Study: Almost all cats will wear a collar COLUMBUS, Ohio (UPI) -- Fewer than 2 percent of missing cats are reunited with their owners, mainly because the cats don't wear any identification, U.S. researchers say. Lead author Linda Lord of Ohio State University says many cat owners may never try to get their cats to wear collars because they assume the cats won't tolerate it. The study, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, finds almost three-quarters of the cats would wear a collar. The researchers recruited 338 cat owners and their 538 cats were randomly assigned to wear plastic buckle collars -- designed to detach if they become caught on something -- or elastic stretch safety collars. Almost 400 of the cats, 72.7 percent, wore their collars for the entire six-month study period. Owners of the 115 cats that did not successfully wear collars for the six-month period said the cat lost the collar (7.1 percent); scratched excessively at the collar (4.8 percent); collars came off and the owners chose not to replace them (3.3 percent); or cats got collars stuck in their mouth or on another object (1.5 percent). "Part of the success of a cat wearing a collar is the expectation of the owner" Lord says in a statement. "For some owners, if a collar came off once, they were done. Some put the collar back on their cat five or six times." Copyright 2010 by United Press International
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Vitamin D may help control asthma VANCOUVER, British Columbia (UPI) -- A review of 60 years of studies suggests vitamin D added to an asthma action plan may improve asthma control, U.S. and Canadian researchers find. Lead author Dr. Manbir Sandhu, a Vancouver allergist, and colleagues conducted a review of the research on asthma and vitamin D and found vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased airway hyper-responsiveness, lower lung functions and inferior asthma control. In addition, the researchers say vitamin D deficiency is more common in those who are obese, have African-American ethnicity and are from westernized countries -- reflecting a higher-risk population for asthma. "There is a possible cause-and-effect relationship between vitamin D deficiency and uncontrolled asthma," Sandhu says in a statement. "Evidence suggests that vitamin D has a number of biologic factors that are important in regulating key mechanisms in asthma." The findings are published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Copyright 2010 by United Press International
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