Cancer patients without health insurance are more likely to die, according to a new study forthcoming in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians (AP).

HRS has released the following products:

Income and Wealth Imputations for HRS 2006 Core - Early Release

2001 Consumption and Activities Mail Survey (CAMS) - Final v2.0

HRS 2006 Post-Exit - Final v1.0

Biomarker 2006 Data - Early Release

PRI researchers may request the above data from the Data Archivist.

A new report from the Commonwealth Fund makes policy recommendations for reducing health care costs (Bending the Curve: Options for Achieving Savings and Improving Value in U.S. Health Spending).

New & Noteworthy in Nutrition, a newsletter that got its start as a World Bank staff publication, has been revived and is now published by the Population Reference Bureau. The first PRB issue is available for download.

42.5 million adults lacked health insurance during the first half of 2007, according to estimates from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) released by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

The average cholesterol level for US adults has dropped below 200, into the range experts say is ideal, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The findings are from data collected by the National Health and Nutrition Annual Survey (NHANES).

The decreases occurred mainly in older adults, leading experts to conclude that the decline can be attributed to effective drug treatment, as reported by the Associated Press.

Detailed findings from the survey are available in the NCHS data brief High Serum Total Cholesterol – An Indicator for Monitoring Cholesterol Lowering Efforts: U.S. Adults, 2005–2006 (PDF).

NCHS has released the following new and updated NHANES data:

2003-2004 Data
- Urinary Total Arsenic and Speciated Arsenics - Lab 6 (new)
- Housing Characteristics Questionnaire (updated)

2001-2002 Data
- Dietary Interview Data - Exam (updated)

PRI researchers may request the above data from the Data Archivist.

NCHS has announced the 2005-2006 NHANES data release. The Demography files and some of the Exam and Questionnaire files are available on PopNet and SodaPop.

PRI researchers may request additional Exam files, as they become available, from the Data Archivist.

After a quarter century of increases, obesity prevalence has not measurably increased in the past few years but levels are still high –- at 34 percent of US adults aged 20 and over, according to a new study released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The report, Obesity Among Adults in the United States — No Change Since 2003-2004 (PDF) is the latest analysis based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), conducted by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.

The PRI Library has received an announcement from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the National Congress on the Un and Under Insured.