During discussions of the Affordable Care Act, there was concern that some procedures would be harder to obtain. There was even worry about 'death panels' such as in the United Kingdom National Health Service.

It will be just the opposite in the short term, based on how utilization changed after earlier insurance reform in Massachusetts, according to an article by Chandy Ellimoottil, M.D., of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and colleagues.

By looking at insurance expansion and utilization of discretionary and non-discretionary surgical procedures in one state, they project that surgery will go up - at least until taxpayers start getting the bill.

Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are seizures that resemble epilepsy but are instead a psychological condition. It is not the result of abnormal brain electrical activity.

Because it looks like epilepsy, but isn't, it can be made worse by anti-epileptic medications. Diagnoses is subjective so there are claims that up to 20 percent of civilians and as many as 25 percent of veterans diagnosed as having epilepsy actually have PNES. 

A clinical trial found a reduction in seizures and improvement in related symptoms, including depression and anxiety, in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures who were treated with cognitive behavioral therapy informed psychotherapy (CBT-ip) with and without the medication sertraline.

The "green building" trend is often associated with helping the environment by using eco-friendly materials and energy-saving techniques, but these practices are designed to improve people's health, too. Now scientists are reporting evidence that they can indeed help people feel better, including those living in low-income housing. Published in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology, the study found that certain health problems of public housing residents who moved into green buildings noticeably improved.

Squid tentacles are loaded with hundreds of suction cups, or suckers, and each sucker has a ring of razor-sharp "teeth" that help these mighty predators latch onto and take down prey. In a study published in the journal ACS Nano, researchers report that the proteins in these teeth could form the basis for a new generation of strong, but malleable, materials that could someday be used for reconstructive surgery, eco-friendly packaging and many other applications.

More than one quarter of children with two copies of a high-risk variant in a specific group of genes develop an early sign of celiac disease by age 5.

The findings are from The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in Youth consortium, TEDDY, also found that participants in Sweden had higher rates of celiac disease than participants in the United States, Finland and Germany, even with the same genetic risks.

I am fortunate enough to own a small cottage on Fire Island.

The island is a barrier beach, located about five miles off the south shore of Long Island. It is a wonderful, unique place. There are no roads or cars. And no stress, which is especially astounding, since it is only 50 miles (and a short ferry trip) from Manhattan.

We may not have cars, roads or stress, but we have mosquitos— plenty of them.

In 2002, President George W. Bush authorized funding for human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) using federal money for the first time - but he limited that federal funding to existing lines.

Researchers have identified the genes in wheat that control tolerance to a significant yield-limiting soil condition found around the globe; boron toxicity.

A new study has discovered that microRNAs (miRNAs), small RNA molecules that play important roles in regulation in many types of tissue, play a major role in the distribution and determination of fat cells and whole body metabolism. The study also finds that microRNAs influence the development of lipodystrophy (abnormal fat accumulation) which affects many people with HIV receiving anti-retroviral therapy.