• Coffee buzz: Study finds java drinkers live longer
    MILWAUKEE (AP) — One of life's simple pleasures just got a little sweeter. After years of waffling research on coffee and health, even some fear that java might raise the risk of heart disease, a big study finds the opposite: Coffee drinkers are a little more likely to live longer. Regular or decaf doesn't matter. The study of 400,000 people is the largest ever done on the issue, and the results should reassure any coffee lovers who think it's a guilty pleasure that may do harm.
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  • Scientists hunt ways to stall Alzheimer's earlier
    WASHINGTON (AP) — Look for a fundamental shift in how scientists hunt ways to ward off the devastation of Alzheimer's disease — by testing possible therapies in people who don't yet show many symptoms, before too much of the brain is destroyed. The most ambitious attempt: An international study announced Tuesday will track whether an experimental drug can stall the disease in people who appear healthy but are genetically destined to get a type of Alzheimer's that runs in the family. If so, it would be exciting evidence that maybe regular Alzheimer's is preventable too.
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  • Medicare clinics see patient shortage
    Medicare patients flooded two new clinics targeting the older population when they opened in Anchorage last year -- most other primary care doctors wouldn't take the federal insurance for seniors because they say Medicare pays too little.
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The following documents have been provided to you to inform you of public legislation relevant to Alaska in the medical industry.
 

Open April 24, 2012 2012 Legislative Wrap-up, by APS' Legislative Consultant, Geoff Bullock