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What role coffee drinking might play in a woman’s risk of breast cancer has long puzzled researchers. Some chemicals in coffee might promote cancer cell growth, while otherssuch as antioxidantsmay help prevent it. Studies looking at coffee drinkers have shown conflicting results, finding either a higher or lower risk of breast cancer, or no difference in risk at all.

One explanation for these inconsistent findings might be that coffee affects the risk of only certain types of breast cancer. This was the basic premise explored in the new study.

The researchers looked at two main subtypes of breast cancer: those that respond to the hormone estrogen (estrogen receptor-positive cancers) and those that don’t (estrogen receptor-negative cancers).

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On the surface, it appears to be a no-brainer. Healthcare costs in the U. S. are twice as high as any other industrialized country. Most large corporations still pay a big chunk of their employees’ health care insurance premiums. Some are obligated by union contracts to pay an even larger percentage and to provide coverage for retirees. Many operate profitably in countries with national health care systems where they pay far less towards healthcare costs than they do in the U.S..

So, from a straight bottom line business perspective, corporations should be leading the fight to replace our dysfunctional, overpriced, for-profit private insurance system with a single-payer, Medicare-for-All model. Y

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Allowing a family member or friend to become an authorized user of your credit card is a common way to help him or her establish credit. Granting access is easy, but authorized users should be aware that they won’t be able to make changes to the card’s limit or other terms.

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You might associate vitamin D mainly with strengthening your bones, but it could also play a role in both psoriasis and pneumonia, suggests two studies published this week.

One report, out today in the journal Science Translational Medicine, shows that vitamin D helps counteract the bodys response to inflammation associated with the red, scaly patches of psoriasis. The findingbased on analysis of genetic material in skin biopsies from psoriasis patients and healthy volunteerscould lead to new therapies, report the team of researchers from the U.S. and Germany.

The other study, released on Tuesday in the journal Respirology, found that adult pneumonia patients hospitalized in winter with were more likely to die within 30 days if they were severely deficient in vitamin D.

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On May 5 the Vermont House followed the Senate in passing the final version of a health reform bill that creates a path for a universal, publicly financed health care system in Vermont. Governor Peter Shumlin has confirmed he will sign the bill into law.

This makes Vermont the first state in the country to move toward a universal health care system that will provide health care as a public good for everyone. Legislators and advocates alike have compared Vermont’s role to that of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, which half a century ago spearheaded the establishment of universal health care in Canada.

The bill states that Vermont will create a publicly financed health care system, Green Mountain Care, to provide comprehensive, high-quality coverage as a public good for all Vermont residents, regardless of income, health status, or employment. G

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