Health Buzz: What Caused U.S. Cancer Costs to Double? Not Pricey Meds, Study Says

May 10, 2010 RSS Feed Print

What Caused U.S. Cancer Costs to Double? Not Pricey Meds, Study Says

Cancer's price tag climbed from $25 billion to more than $48 billion over the last 18 years, according to a new study published in the journal Cancer. But despite speculation, advances in cancer treatment are not what's driving up the cost of the disease in the U.S. At fault is a rise in the number of cancer cases—which may stem from our aging population, the Associated Press reports. Older people tend to get cancer at higher rates than do younger people, lead author Florence Tangka of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells the AP.

Birth Control Pill Turns 50: 7 Ways It Changed Lives

It's a funny coincidence that the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill's own birth happened to fall on Mother's Day. Given how much the pill has changed women's reproductive lives, though, it may be apropos. More babies today are born to women over 35 than to teenagers, according to a study released last week by the Pew Research Center—a clear sign we're taking measures to delay reproduction, U.S. News's Deborah Kotz reports. To no surprise, four out of five Americans in an April poll conducted by Harris Interactive believe that the advent of the pill has been good for society.

One reason may be that the pill has increased a woman's earning potential. By enabling women to delay childbearing, the pill appears to have made women more financially secure, Kotz writes. That's the finding of a recent study from the University of Maryland and the University of California at Los Angeles, which shows that women who gave birth after age 26 were financially better off in their 50s than those who gave birth earlier. The reason is fairly obvious: Women who get their careers going before having kids are more likely to get the education and work experience needed to get and keep better-paid positions, even if they later take time off to raise kids. Interestingly, the researchers also found that those who delay motherhood but eventually have children make as much over the long haul as women who remain childless. [Read more: Birth Control Pill Turns 50: 7 Ways It Changed Lives.]

Infections Don't Seem to Cause Autism

Childhood infections do not appear to cause autism, a new study of more than 1 million children finds. Prior research, however, has linked autism to infections, as have anecdotal reports of children who developed the condition after contracting meningitis, HealthDay reports. In the current study, researchers looked at hospitalizations for infections and autism diagnoses, but they could not find a causal relationship.

Since the cause of autism is still unknown, medicine can't come up with a cure. Unfortunately, most of the treatments out there have not been tested to find out if they work, making it tough for parents to figure out what might help, U.S. News contributor Nancy Shute wrote last year. Those that have been rigorously tested so far have failed to measure up.

Yet treatments for autism do exist. Those proven to work include structured behavioral interventions that teach children social and language skills, as well as medications that reduce disabling symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and gastrointestinal disorders. [Read more: 4 Promising Autism Treatments, From Vitamin B12 to Alzheimer's Drug Namenda.]

Popular Health Articles from USNews.com