It seems ironic that just as we eradicated smallpox, a scourge of the early 20th century, a new threat was incubating: HIV. New research shows that those two occurences might actually be related. In the 1950s, the smallpox vaccine was beginning to be withdrawn, as the disease it prevented had been conquered throughout the world. HIV is thought to have begun in the ’50s. But there is more than circumstantial evidence linking the two phenomena.

A recent study demonstrated that immunity to smallpox, triggered by the smallpox vaccine, can actually inhibit replication of the AIDS virus. So foregoing the smallpox immune response may have allowed AIDS to spread freely. While it’s too soon to recommend the long-retired smallpox vaccine to prevent HIV, this research provides the most promising — and ridiculously simple — treatment for early-stage HIV infection to date.

Politics are on full display in states’ decisions to set up required high-risk pools or let the federal government run a program for them. The District of Columbia and 29 other states have told the Department of Health and Human Services that they will set up their own health insurance programs. Another 18 states have declined. Two states, Florida and Arizona – the usual retarded stepchildren — haven’t even formally responded yet.

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A few years ago, Dennis Quaid nearly lost his newborn twins to a massive heparin overdose. A nurse had inadvertently, repeatedly, admininstered adult heparin doses to both infants — they nearly bled to death internally. Now The Quaid Foundation is an outlet for Quaid’s passionate patient safety advocacy, and it has produced a documentary profiling families affected by preventable medical errors to educate the public.

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The results are in. If you want to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease, scientists have a take-home message for you: good clean living is meaningful, just not significant.

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If you are under age 26, you may be wondering where the new healthcare legislation leaves you. The rules for continued coverage under your parents’ plan are complex and convoluted, which aligns them with the healthcare bill as a whole. But there’s good news.

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