In April, Alison Kodjak, Health Policy Correspndent for the NPR Science Desk wrote about her mother's experience after a fall. "This is a story of how money, outdated laws and federal budget rules can interfere with patient care and leave elderly patients vulnerable." There are words that trigger fear in us all, but to deal with the maze of medicare rules and regulations and what is and what is not covered even a well informed science journalist can get caught. When Ms. Kodjak brought her mother to the hospital, "An ER doctor there examined her, saw that she couldn't move...

 New research published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation, finds five lifestyle habits have been shown to increase life expectancy at age 50 by 12 to 14 years. The study begins with some sobering facts: "Americans have a shorter life expectancy compared with residents of almost all other high-income countries. We aim to estimate the impact of lifestyle factors on premature mortality and life expectancy in the US population.the first comprehensive analysis of the impact of adopting low-risk lifestyle factors on life expectancy in the U.S." Using data from several long term studies they concluded that: Adopting a healthy lifestyle could substantially reduce premature...

The wonderful and deservedly Notorious Ruth Bader Ginsberg gives us the best possible new meaning to Superman's credo "Truth, Justice and the American Way". This physically tiny 84 year old women is a superhero of monumental proportion. The new documentary RBG by directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West is a fitting tribute to a unique life well lived.  Just after graduating from Cornell, Ruth Bader married Martin Ginsberg in 1954. Their daughter Jane was born in 1955.  There are astonishing details of her intellectual prowess and tenacity; while one of 9 women in her Harvard Law School class of 500. Her husband, Marty,...

Hours before her death it was announced that Barbara Bush had decided to suspend any further medical intervention that might prolong her life.  Bill Hutchinson reported for ABC News on April 15, 2018 "Former First Lady Barbara Bush, who has been battling congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, has decided not to seek additional medical treatment and go home from a hospital to be "surrounded by a family she adores," according to a statement released Sunday by the office of former President George H.W. Bush. Mrs. Bush, 92, has been hospitalized several times in Houston, Texas, over the past...

The remarkable Glenda Jackson is back on Broadway. At 81 , she is returning to her first career. Not exactly the retirement from two decades of public service that most people would imagine. In his New York Times article about Ms. Jackson, Ben Brantley writes, "When Ms. Jackson — who is returning to Broadway for the first time in three decades, in a starry new production of Edward Albee’s “Three Tall Women” — says “no,” it often has a conclusive tone that effectively shuts the door on a subject."  But,when she says yes ,as she has to starring in "Three...