Health Headlines for Friday, December 9

Life Expectancy in U.S. Declines Slightly, and Researchers Are Puzzled

New York Times

American life expectancy is in decline for the first time since 1993, when H.I.V.-related deaths were at their peak. But this time, researchers can’t identify a single problem driving the drop, and are instead pointing to a number of factors, from heart disease to suicides, that have caused a greater number of deaths.

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Cures Act Gains Bipartisan Support That Eluded Obama Health Law

New York Times

With self-congratulatory zeal and smiles all around, huge bipartisan majorities in Congress have just passed legislation to speed the discovery of cures for killer diseases.

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1 Patient, 7 Tumors and 100 Billion Cells Equal 1 Striking Recovery

New York Times

The remarkable recovery of a woman with advanced colon cancer, after treatment with cells from her own immune system, may lead to new options for thousands of other patients with colon or pancreatic cancer, researchers are reporting.

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Keep It Moving

New York Times

By now it is pretty well accepted both that physical inactivity is bad — recently linked to 6 percent of all cases of heart disease worldwide and 11 percent of all premature deaths in the United States — and that exercise is good, because it tends to increase life span and protect against heart disease.

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Repealing Obamacare could cost state billions

WBFO

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act — also known as Obamacare — and replace it with something else.

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