Ald. Ed Smith, right center, Mayor Richard M. Daley, left center, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and several other elected officials were on hand recently for the PCC Community Wellness Center's ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new state-of-the-art Austin Family Health Center.

WASHINGTON – Germs in the gut may help drive appetite, says new research into the link between obesity and bacteria.

Diet not working? Blame your genes. That's the pitch behind a new test that claims to show whether people will do better on a low-fat or a low-carb weight loss plan.

WASHINGTON – The time has come to change a policy that imposes a lifetime ban on donating blood for any man who has had gay sex since 1977, 18 senators said Thursday.

WASHINGTON - What could be worse for Americans than health care overhaul? No health care overhaul.

WASHINGTON - Two Illinois universities are receiving federal stimulus money to develop regional centers on health information technology.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Illinois health officials will be holding three public hearings on obesity prevention.

Fish oil pills may be able to save some young people with signs of mental illness from descending into schizophrenia, according to a preliminary but first-of-its-kind study conducted in Austria.

WASHINGTON - Many Americans will get broader coverage for mental illness and substance abuse treatment under rules issued Friday by the Obama administration.

While some were moved to tears by the president's soaring rhetoric, others were moved not at all. Where some saw a new clarity, others saw more vagueness. And while some praised him for reaching out to Republicans, there were those who felt he was overreaching in some ways and not reaching far enough in others.

WASHINGTON - The poverty rate among older Americans could be nearly twice as high as the traditional 10 percent level, according to a revision of a half-century-old formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations in the cost of living.

WASHINGTON – Merck's blockbuster vaccine Gardasil, which is already used to prevent cervical cancer in women, also stops viruses that cause genital warts in men, the Food and Drug Administration said recently.

WASHINGTON – A vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline blocks the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

The American Medical Association has posted a letter on its Web site, urging President Barack Obama and Congress to reach an agreement on health reform.