A cap on medical school enrollment in the 1980s and 1990s is being blamed for the shortage of doctors in the U.S. The medical personnel shortage is felt severely in rural areas.

For 25 years, American medical schools kept their enrollment flat at 16,000 new enrollees each year, while the country's population increased by over 70 million. The schools were following the advice of several national advisory groups, including the Institute of Medicine and the Council on Graduate Medical Education that with managed health care, there will be a glut of physicians

A group of scientists concluded from their study that a daily habit of reading contributes to the increase in health literacy, the capacity to understand health-related information, enough for one to make decisions.

Experts from the Canadian Council of Learning drew their findings from an experiment that revealed that 60 percent of Canadians are without the proper reading and analytical skills needed for them to be better equipped with information regarding possible health concerns

The brain functions of today's senior Americans 70 years and above have lower risk of memory loss and dementia than seniors 10 years ago.

Dr. Kenneth M. Langa, an associate professor of medicine at University of Michigan said that seniors in 2002 might got protection from memory loss because they had more education and pays much attention to cardiovascular risk factors that damages brain and heart

The European Union has pledged health care aid to Iraqi refugees in Syria amounting to $13.2 million. The EU and Syria's Ministry of Health and State Planning Commission signed an agreement that will help the country modernize its health care facilities in areas that have become safe-havens for Iraqi refugees.

The aid will be used to equip 50 healthcare centers and several hospitals with badly needed medical equipment, such as mobile X-ray and ultrasound machines, cardiology and laboratory equipment, as well as power generators

The problem of overweight individuals and the health concerns that follow is something that is as big a threat as the climate change problem, according to the chairman of the International Obesity Task force.

At an annual meeting held in Boston, Professor Philip James of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said that the obesity problem was in need of a global commitment, and that international collaboration was needed to fight off the threat