The common cold coughs up a $40 billion annual price tag

Chances are you or someone you know is battling with a nasty cold right now. The cold bug is definitely biting its way into work places and schools all across the country, forcing millions of people to stay home. Catching a cold isn’t cheap. A new study published in the February 24th edition of Archives of Internal Medicine reports that the cost to the U.S. economy is $40 billion a year – substantially more than other conditions such as asthma, heart failure and emphysema.

Shortage of vaccines leaves many doctors scrambling

An ongoing national shortage of a vaccine that prevents meningitis and pneumonia in children has left doctors scrambling to provide even the minimum number of shots, and has exposed gaps in the nation’s “patchwork” vaccine system, the first-ever in-depth study of the problem finds.

Study links yo-yo dieting to poor post-menopause heart health

The quest for a fashion model’s figure leads many girls and women to a cycle of weight loss and weight gain called yo-yo dieting. Some women never succeed in achieving or maintaining their desired weight, although some do. Researchers at the VA/Ann Arbor Healthcare System and the University of Michigan Health System are cautioning all women who yo-yo diet. Those who gain and/or lose at least 10 pounds in a yearlong period at least five times over a lifetime may be setting themselves up for heart problems after menopause.