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December 18, 2012 KHNIn a switch, Medicare began covering smoking cessation counseling for smokers without symptoms of disease back in 2010. Beneficiaries are eligible for up to two four-session smoking cessation counseling attempts a year.

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December 17, 2012 Are we getting "Jack'd"? A surge in new caffeine-containing foods leads to new questions about just how much caffeine we're getting in our daily lives. Some advocates are calling for labeling, and they raise concerns about children's and teens' consumption.

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December 17, 2012 Children in third through sixth grade consume more calories when snacking on potato chips, and fewer when they snack instead on raw broccoli, peppers, carrots and cheese combinations, according to a recent study. This adds to evidence that foods high in fiber and protein help us feel fuller.

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December 13, 2012 Commercial space travel is becoming a reality. Now people who have longed to go into space can buy a ticket, if they've got the cash. But are they healthy enough to make the voyage?

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December 13, 2012 Nearly a third of pedestrians crossing some of Seattle's most dangerous intersections were doing something distracting at the same time. People texting were four times more likely to cross the street without looking both ways.

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December 12, 2012 Would you ride a bike while wearing a helmet made of cardboard? What if its design was inspired by nature — specifically, a woodpecker? You'll have a chance to do just that next year — meaning you could outfit yourself in a full-cardboard biking kit, if you also go for the $20 cardboard bicycle we wrote about in October.

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December 12, 2012 A roundup of the medical evidence by a group of independent researchers suggest that giving babies sugar water before injections can help comfort them. But the latest analysis is less enthusiastic about the approach than a previous review.

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December 10, 2012 Stroke is usually a problem that comes with age, but a surprising number of children have strokes, too. Many kids have conditions that put them at higher risk. But surgeons have developed a technique that cuts the risk in some of these kids by giving part of the brain a new blood supply.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

December 7, 2012 The flu is back early this season. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cases

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December 6, 2012 Researchers found a surprising number of mutations, including several associated with disease, in the genes of normal healthy people. Their study raises questions about whether widespread genetic sequencing could end up scaring people for no good reason.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

December 6, 2012 Although we can usually smell when food goes bad, humans just don't have the fruit fly's direct path from nose to brain that alerts it to food poison. But the detection of this pathway could someday lead to more research that could help us develop better bug repellants.

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December 5, 2012 To raise vaccination rates, some states have made it much harder for parents to get exemptions for their children from immunizations based on personal beliefs. One doctor says restrictions could backfire.

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