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Patti Neighmond Award-winning journalist Patti Neighmond is NPR's health policy correspondent. Her reports air regularly on NPR newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition.
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Patti Neighmond

Older Patients Can Benefit From Lung Cancer Surgery

When Morton Pollner was diagnosed with lung cancer at age 76, he thought it was a death sentence. Michael Rubenstein for NPR hide caption

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Michael Rubenstein for NPR

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Older Patients Can Benefit From Lung Cancer Surgery

Lung cancer affects mostly older people, but they're often not offered surgery as a treatment. A study finds that most older people can tolerate surgery, and that it extends lives.

Older Patients Can Benefit From Lung Cancer Surgery

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Hey, Baby, Meet Peanuts: How And When To Safely Introduce The Food

Peanuts and straight peanut butter are a choking hazard for infants, doctors say, but a bit of watered-down puree of peanut butter, starting at around 6-months-old, can help prevent peanut allergies. Brian Hagiwara/Getty Images hide caption

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Brian Hagiwara/Getty Images

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Hey, Baby, Meet Peanuts: How And When To Safely Introduce The Food

Giving infants peanut puree as one of their first solid foods can help prevent peanut allergies, research has shown. To do that safely, start early — and only after checking with your doctor.

Hey, Baby, Meet Peanuts: How And When To Safely Introduce The Food

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Lack Of Child Care Rating Systems Leaves Parents In A Bind
Vivian Shih for NPR

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Lack Of Child Care Rating Systems Leaves Parents In A Bind

About 20 states are in the process of creating a system for rating child care providers. But it's hard to decide which standards best measure quality and which are most useful to parents.

Lack Of Child Care Rating Systems Leaves Parents In A Bind

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Poll: Cost Of Child Care Causes Financial Stress For Many Families
Maria Fabrizio for NPR

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Poll: Cost Of Child Care Causes Financial Stress For Many Families

The most common challenge parents face when looking for child care is the high cost. At an average cost of $10,000 a year, infant child care rivals a year's tuition at a state college or university.

Poll: Cost Of Child Care Causes Financial Stress For Many Families

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Children's Health

Why Parents Don't Get Their Children Vaccinated For The Flu

Parents decline to vaccinate kids against the flu because they don't think they need it. Influenza leads to more hospitalizations and deaths among children than any other vaccine preventable disease.

Why Parents Don't Get Their Children Vaccinated For The Flu

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How California's 'Paid Family Leave' Law Buys Time For New Parents

Iris and Eli Fugate with their 6-month-old son Jack, at the family's home in San Diego. Thanks to California's paid family leave law, Iris was able to take six weeks off when Jack was born, and Eli took three weeks, with plans to take the remaining time over the next few months. Sandy Huffaker for NPR hide caption

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Sandy Huffaker for NPR

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How California's 'Paid Family Leave' Law Buys Time For New Parents

The state's 2002 law offers six weeks' leave at a little over half-pay to eligible workers after the birth of a child. Ninety percent of businesses say the law's had a "neutral or positive" impact.

How California's 'Paid Family Leave' Law Buys Time For New Parents

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Children's Health

Parents May Be Giving Their Children Too Much Medication, Study Finds

The biggest mistake parents make is overdosing. Part of the problem is that the spoons and measuring cups the parents use are not accurate. Researchers suggest using a syringe instead.

Parents May Be Giving Their Children Too Much Medication, Study Finds

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Bariatric Surgery Can Help People Keep Weight Off Long Term

A new study counters the presumption that bariatric surgery is just a short-term fix for severe obesity. Hero Images/Getty Images hide caption

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Hero Images/Getty Images

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Bariatric Surgery Can Help People Keep Weight Off Long Term

Earlier studies suggested that most people put the pounds back on, but a large study that followed people for a decade after bariatric surgery found that the vast majority avoided gaining weight.

Bariatric Surgery Can Help People Keep Weight Off Long Term

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Health

What's The Best Way To Stop Taking Powerful Prescription Drugs?

With all the concern about opioid addiction, some patients are worried and want to stop taking powerful medication. Tapering the drugs gradually may be a better way to do that than going cold turkey.

What's The Best Way To Stop Taking Powerful Prescription Drugs?

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Wellness Programs Take Aim At Workplace Stress
Katherine Streeter for NPR

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Wellness Programs Take Aim At Workplace Stress

A recent poll shows stress tops the list for people concerned about the impact of their job on their health. Workplace wellness programs often address stress, but many employees don't sign up.

Wellness Programs Take Aim At Workplace Stress

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Overworked Americans Aren't Taking The Vacation They've Earned
Jeannie Phan for NPR

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Overworked Americans Aren't Taking The Vacation They've Earned

And they're not unplugging from email and text messages when they do get away, an NPR poll finds. "So they're taking their stress along with them wherever they go," says a Harvard scientist.

Overworked Americans Aren't Taking The Vacation They've Earned

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Hidden Heart Disease Is The Top Health Threat For U.S. Women

Tracy Solomon Clark didn't realize that the shortness of breath and dizziness she felt at age 44 was actually serious heart disease. Benjamin Brian Morris for NPR hide caption

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Benjamin Brian Morris for NPR

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Hidden Heart Disease Is The Top Health Threat For U.S. Women

Many women and even doctors underestimate a woman's heart attack risk, research shows, as they focus on weight and breast health instead. Tiny damaged arteries in the heart may not show up in scans.

Hidden Heart Disease Is The Top Health Threat For U.S. Women

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Your Health

Working Past Retirement Benefits Your Health, Study Says

Researchers from Oregon State University find that when healthy adults work one year past the typical retirement age of 65, they increase their odds of living longer.

Working Past Retirement Benefits Your Health, Study Says

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What's Good For The Heart Is Good For The Brain
Katherine Streeter for NPR

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What's Good For The Heart Is Good For The Brain

Choosing a heart-healthy lifestyle can help protect your brain as you age, research suggests. And it's not just memory skills that benefit. Problem-solving abilities and judgment are preserved, too.

What's Good For The Heart Is Good For The Brain

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