health

Microsoft held a meeting with employees today, letting them know that the company plans to make changes to its health care plan, requiring workers to eventually start paying a portion of the insurance costs.

The software maker will continue to pay the full costs for worker health insurance for the next two years, before making workers start to contribute in 2013.

"We can confirm that Microsoft has begun to evolve its employee health care benefit," Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said in a statement. "There will be no changes for the next two years, but in 2013, employees … Read more

SAN LEANDRO, Calif.--While it's unlikely that we can tweet our way out of the obesity epidemic, social media does offer some opportunities to shift some of the factors that have led to our society's expanding waistlines.

Already there are plenty of services aimed at creating online communities for dieters or for people to post their workout successes online. And it's clear that Twitter and Facebook offer opportunities for positive reinforcement, online community and peer pressure to encourage healthier choices. But, despite a lot of innovation, just how to best harness social media is still a tricky … Read more

SAN LEANDRO, Calif.--The U.S. government is adding a new "blue button" to the Medicare and Veterans Affairs Web sites that will allow veterans and seniors on Medicare to download their health records onto their own computers. The program, though live already, is set to be formally unveiled by the White House tomorrow, CNET has learned.

For some time, the government has allowed both Medicare recipients and veterans to view their medical records or claims history, but is only now adding the download option, Health and Human Services department CTO Todd Park said in an interview today … Read more

Keeping track of your system's temperature and operating conditions just makes good sense, especially since today's hardware makes it so easy, with a little help from programs like HWMonitor from CPUID. It's a handy, free tool for monitoring the built-in temperature sensors in your CPU, motherboard, video card, and other devices, as well as your hard drives' S.M.A.R.T. data, system fan speeds, and critical operating data like voltages. It can access most sensor chips and onboard thermal sensors, and it's even compatible with special hardware sensors in some components, including mainboard and … Read more

Looking to lose weight? Lower your cholesterol? Control your diabetes? Prevent cancer? These are among the proven benefits of a vegan diet--meaning one free of all animal products (meat, dairy, etc.). However, starting such a restrictive plan can be a bit of a challenge.

Enter 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, a free app that provides three weeks' worth of meals, complete with recipes. According to experts, that's enough time to drop a few pounds, lower your blood sugar, and just generally start feeling better. And, hey, anybody can manage 21 days, right? At the end, it's up to you to … Read more

Looking to lose weight? Lower your cholesterol? Control your diabetes? Prevent cancer? These are among the proven benefits of a vegan diet--meaning one free of all animal products (meat, dairy, etc.).

OK, but how do you get started? Without your morning cereal, lunchtime Quarter Pounder, and the like, what are you supposed to eat?

Enter 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, a free app that provides three weeks' worth of meals, complete with recipes. Why three weeks? According to experts, that's enough time to drop a few pounds, lower your blood sugar, and just generally start feeling better. And, hey, anybody can … Read more

Some laugh.

They look at Guy Daniel Francis' YouTube videos and can't help themselves. Others can't help thinking this can't be real.

Yet while YouTube has been used by so many to eke out the gory, subjective details of their love lives, Francis, a 31-year-old from the U.K., thought he could use Google's TV for the People to bring something positive to a condition that is sometimes totally debilitating.

Francis has Tourette's syndrome, a condition that has many manifestations. He happens to have the type that causes swear words and weird gestures to emerge … Read more

Google reminded the world that it has a personal-health service Wednesday, announcing it has updated one of its lesser-used sites with a new look and feel.

Google Health is a service that allows users to upload personal health information to track their health status over time and find information on health issues, doctors, and other medical needs. Google has decided to make it easier for users to access their data through an improved dashboard that also lets users set personal health goals for themselves.

Anyone juggling several medications, or parents of children with extensive medical needs, might be interested in … Read more

Jonathan Schwartz, the chief executive who sold Sun Microsystems to Oracle, is once again in charge of a company, a start-up called Picture of Health for the time being.

Schwartz wasn't very forthcoming about the nature of the start-up, saying on his personal blog Thursday little specifically besides that "We're focusing on the intersection of innovation and public health."

Schwartz gradually ascended through Sun's ranks from its 1996 acquisition of his last start-up, Lighthouse Design, through replacing Sun co-founder Scott McNealy as CEO in 2006. However, He wasn't able to restore Sun's fortunes, … Read more