THURSDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- Will the new health-reform legislation mean higher taxes for the middle class? Will panels decide what care very sick, older people should receive?

Not sure? Join the crowd.

A new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll shows confusion still reigns when it comes to the health-reform bill signed into law by President Barack Obama back in...(click link above to read more)

THURSDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- Weight loss has been noted among patients who've had a knee or hip replacement, a new study says.

The research focused on 196 patients, mean age 67 years, who had knee or hip replacement surgery (arthroplasty) at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City between 2005 and 2007.

The researchers found that, after their surgery, nearly 20...(click link above to read more)

THURSDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- Even in so-called "good" neighborhoods, there's a significantly increased risk of violence if teens gather with nothing to do and no adult supervision, a new study suggests.

It included 842 young people who took part in a long-term study of Chicago neighborhoods. The participants were first interviewed when they were between the ages of 8 and 13...(click link above to read more)

THURSDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- Children adopted by gay or lesbian parents develop as well as those adopted by heterosexual couples, a new study has found.

Researchers looked at 106 adoptive preschool-age children living in different parts of the United States and found that all were developing well, regardless of whether their parents were gay, lesbian or heterosexual. In...(click link above to read more)

THURSDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- Among black teens, vitamin D deficiency is associated with arterial stiffness -- a risk factor for heart disease and stroke -- but adequate supplementation may resolve the problem, a new study has found.

Sunlight triggers the body to produce vitamin D, but nearly all of the 44 male and female black teens in the study were vitamin D deficient even...(click link above to read more)

WEDNESDAY, July 28 (HealthDay News) -- For the first time, scientists have been able to grow an entire joint from stem cells, albeit in rabbits not humans. And the joints worked.

"The rabbits were able to hop and walk and bear weight, virtually like normal rabbits," said Dr. Jeremy Mao, senior author of a paper published online July 29 in The Lancet. "This was the first...(click link above to read more)

THURSDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- New research finds that two widely prescribed diabetes drugs may raise the risk of broken bones in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes.

There was also a fracture risk seen among men who had been prescribed either Avandia or Actos plus a loop diuretic.

This isn't the first time such an association has been seen, raising doubts as to...(click link above to read more)

WEDNESDAY, July 28 (HealthDay News) -- Enzymes associated with Huntington's disease may offer targets for the development of new drugs to treat the neurodegenerative disease, a new study suggests.

These enzymes, called matrix metalloproteinases(MMPs), play a role in the breakdown of proteins that modify the production of toxic fragments that contribute to Huntington's disease, said...(click link above to read more)

WEDNESDAY, July 28 (HealthDay News) -- People with higher levels of education are better able to cope with dementia-related brain changes, which may explain why better-educated folks have a lower risk of developing dementia, researchers say.

Previous research has shown that each additional year of education is associated with an 11 percent reduced risk of developing dementia. But it...(click link above to read more)

WEDNESDAY, July 28 (HealthDay News) -- Obesity is associated with early puberty in young girls, according to a researcher who analyzed more than 100 reports on the issue.

Some experts have concluded that early puberty increases the risk for metabolic syndrome and diabetes, but these diseases are linked to obesity, not early puberty, according to review author and pediatric...(click link above to read more)