Health Care

As of 2009, 33.4 million people worldwide were living with HIV, with some 2.7 million new infections each year, according to the World Health Organization. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than one million people in the United States alone are HIV positive, and that one in five of those individuals is unaware of his or her infection. Given the scope of the problem, slowing the spread of HIV remains a public policy issue of enormous importance.

Type 2 diabetes remains one of the fastest-growing conditions in the United States. A number of studies have found connections between moderate alcohol consumption and reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes, compared with abstention or excessive consumption. However, most of these studies only measured alcohol consumption at one point in time and then assumed relatively stable consumption rates.

As America’s population ages and questions over Social Security’s financial health persist, the issue of retirement age remains a subject of public policy debate. The issue also has a personal health dimension. It has long been believed, but unproven, that early retirement can be detrimental to one’s cognitive function, whereas a longer working life has been thought to promote healthy brain function.

Retirement planning decisions are growing increasingly complex in America, and older workers are facing critical financial choices in the latter years of their professional lives. Making optimal choices, however, requires an increasing level of financial literacy and knowledge.

The costs of health care directly related to smoking in the United States are estimated to be in the range of $97 billion. This figure typically takes into account treatment for ailments such as lung cancer and emphysema, with the combined costs representing more than 10% of all U.S. medical expenses. New research is adding to this total estimated health cost by also assessing secondary effects, such as how smoking affects recovery time from other medical procedures.

The approval system for medical devices by the Food and Drug Administration has two tracks: Pre-Market Approval (PMA), which involves clinical trials and inspections; or, alternatively, the fast-track 510(k) approval, which only requires a device to be “substantially equivalent” to an existing one. Although the 510(k) process has come under criticism, the precise extent of the risks involved with “fast-tracking” medical device approval has not been studied comprehensively.

Between 1966 and 2003, the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup and glucose syrup through beverages increased more than 11-fold in the United States. Because soft drinks now account for almost 50% of the added sugars present in U.S. diets, understand the broad range of physiological impacts that these beverages have on their consumers is essential.

Studies have consistently shown that younger adults perform better than older, more experienced adults on decision-making tasks, lending credence to the belief that senior citizens suffer from age-related cognitive declines. These studies, however, have typically measured one type of decision-making focused on individual choices, and have not addressed how interconnected decisions — in which one decision predicates future options — are made.