Good health means more than being treated only when you’re sick. It also means taking steps to stay healthy in the first place.

The American Academy of Family Physicians offers these examples of preventive services:

Screenings to evaluate your health and check for medical problems. Some tests differ for women and men, [...]

Dry mouth usually affects older adults, often as a side effect of a health condition or certain drugs including decongestants, antihistamines, pain relievers and diuretics, says the American Dental Association.

Symptoms of dry mouth may include a sore throat, a burning sensation, hoarse voice, nasal dryness and difficulty speaking and swallowing. If [...]

President Barack Obama’s attempt to jump-start health care reform by holding a bipartisan summit on the issue seemed to be falling short of its stated goal Thursday, with Obama asking legislators to focus on what both parties can agree on and Republicans responding with calls for scrapping the current effort [...]

Based on the results of preliminary research in rats, researchers say that doses of vitamin B3 — also known as niacin — could help people recover brain function after a stroke.
Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital found that rats who suffered induced ischemic strokes showed signs of blood vessel growth and [...]

Competition in the health insurance industry is vanishing, according to an American Medical Association report that looked at data from 43 states and 313 metropolitan markets.
In 24 of the states, the two largest insurers had a combined market share of 70 percent or more. Last year, 18 of 42 states [...]

Higher levels of obesity and inactivity, especially among women, explain why arthritis is more common in the United States than in Canada, according to a new study.
Researchers at the Toronto Western Research Institute analyzed 2002-03 data from both countries and found that the prevalence of arthritis in the United [...]

The seemingly miraculous recovery from rabies of a 17-year-old Texas girl — diagnosed months after a suspected bat bite — is leaving doctors scratching their heads and wondering if such cases might be less rare than is believed.
The case “suggests the rare possibility that abortive rabies can occur in humans [...]

All Americans 6 months of age and older should get a flu shot each year, a panel of U.S. advisers is recommending.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted Wednesday to expand the current recommendations on who should get a flu shot to include almost [...]

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A man who says he recovered from sex addiction says he prayed for Tiger Woods and his wife when the scandal broke.

(CNN) — When Jack Rogers first heard media reports of Tiger Woods’ multiple extramarital affairs, the first [...]

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Spark friends Rebecca Coats and Eve Rasmussen run in the Surf City marathon in Huntington Beach, California, February 7.

(CNN) — Becki Coats was embarrassed, so embarrassed that she didn’t want to show pictures of [...]

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In 32 years, Former Vice President Dick Cheney has survived [...]

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Local vaccine drives have low turnout, and a recent poll [...]

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San Diego, California (CNN) — When mothers speak to children, it’s often in a singsong tone. That’s no coincidence, scientists say, [...]

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Rep. Anthony Weiner says the Republicans he knows are “a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry.”
Washington (CNN) – The House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to repeal the antitrust exemption currently granted to health insurance companies.
The vote was 406-19 to repeal the exemption, which has been [...]

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Former Vice President Dick Cheney worked on a chapter of a book he is writing while hospitalized, sources said.

Washington (CNN) — Former Vice President Dick Cheney was released Wednesday from a Washington hospital after suffering a mild heart attack, a spokesman said.
“Former Vice President [...]