AP - Sen. Olympia Snowe, the only Republican to support the Finance Committee's health care bill, said Wednesday she could foresee a government-run plan that would "kick in"if private insurers failed to live up to expectations.

  AP - Hardware store owner and heart attack survivor Leo Aeikens spent most of his life with a hankering for meat, cheese and ice cream. But an ambitious effort aimed at making his entire southern Minnesota town healthier has Aeikens calling himself a vegan and weighing 25 pounds less than just 10 months ago.

  AP - Female soldiers and others in dangerous roles that once were behind front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan have long complained about how hard it is to prove their combat experience when applying for disability due to post-traumatic stress disorder.

  AP - Increased contraceptive use has led to fewer abortions worldwide, but deaths from unsafe abortion remain a severe problem, killing 70,000 women a year, a research institute reported Tuesday in a major global survey.

  AP - A new study suggests less-invasive keyhole surgery for prostate cancer may mean a higher risk for lasting incontinence and impotence when compared with traditional surgery.

  AP - The largest U.S. analysis of hospitalized adult swine flu patients has found almost half were healthy people who did not have asthma or any other chronic illnesses before they got sick.

  AP - Grilled chicken replaced the hot dogs. Strawberries instead of cookies at snack time. No more fruit juice — water or low-fat milk only. This is the new menu at a Delaware day care center, part of a fledgling movement to take the fight against obesity to pudgy preschoolers.

  HealthDay - TUESDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Heightened risks for post-operative incontinence and impotence may outweigh any benefits from minimally invasive "keyhole"surgery for prostate cancer, a new study suggests.

  HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Pain-relieving medications offer relief for many people with sudden or chronic pain. But these drugs have their own risks and potential side effects.

  HealthDay - TUESDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Children who experience frequent stomach aches can use their imagination to reduce their pain, new study findings suggest.

  HealthDay - TUESDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- A new look at some old data adds convincing evidence that high body fluid levels of the antioxidant urate slow the progressive nerve damage of Parkinson's disease.

  HealthDay - TUESDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- The latest study focusing on a possible cell phone-brain tumor connection finds a weak potential link between the two.

  Reuters - Men who have less invasive prostate cancer surgery -- often done robotically -- are more likely to be incontinent and have erectile dysfunction than men who have conventional open surgery, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

  AFP - Swine flu is killing fewer people than seasonal flu but is causing greater alarm due to its impact on children and higher healthcare costs, according to a topdisease surveillance expert.