Just 20 conditions make up more than half of all spending on health care in the United States, according to a new comprehensive financial analysis that examines spending by diseases and injuries. The most expensive condition, diabetes, totaled $101 billion in diagnoses and treatments, growing 36 times faster than the cost of ischemic heart disease, the number-one cause of death, over the past 18 years.

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have created a computational tool that can rapidly predict which genes are implicated in an individual's cancer and recommend treatments. It is among the most comprehensive tools of its kind, and the first that incorporates a user-friendly web interface that requires little knowledge of bioinformatics.

Anticholinergic medications, a class of drugs very commonly used by older adults, are linked to an increased rate of emergency department and hospital utilization in the United States, according to an Indiana University Center for Aging Research, Indiana University Center for Health Innovation and Implementation Science, and Regenstrief Institute study of community-dwelling Americans age 65 and older.

Scientists have discovered the mechanism that hijacks the immune system's response to tuberculosis, revealing an important new drug target for the disease that kills more than 1 million people each year. Herman Sintim, Purdue University's Drug Discovery Professor of Chemistry, collaborated with scientists at Johns Hopkins University to determine how tuberculosis turns off a human cell's signal to mount an immune response to the bacteria.

A research group led by University of Helsinki Docent Timo Myöhänen has succeeded in correcting the motor symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease in mice. These results are promising in terms of treatment, since Parkinson's disease is practically always diagnosed only after motor symptoms appear.

Microgreens are sprouting up everywhere from upscale restaurants to home gardens. They help spruce up old recipes with intense flavors and colors, and are packed with nutrients. Now testing has shown that for mice on a high-fat diet, red cabbage microgreens helped lower their risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease and reduce their weight gain.

People deciding between low-carb and low-fat diets should know the research shows a slight advantage for low-carb diets when it comes to weight loss, according to an article published today in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. Physicians from the Mayo Clinic in Arizona found low-carb diets (LCDs), including Atkins, South Beach and Paleo, to be safe for up to six months.