For all those who fuel their mornings with coffee… The Washington Post (11/16, Huget) reports in “Eat, Drink & Be Healthy” that recent studies have highlighted potential health benefits of coffee. While the beverage can cause insomnia, heart palpitations, and acid reflux in some people, epidemiologist Alberto Ascherio, MD, DrPH, of the Harvard School of Public Health, “says that…strong evidence exists for coffee’s protective effect against type 2 diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. In the former, it appears that it may be something in coffee other than its caffeine that offers protection, as decaffeinated coffee has also been found to reduce risk. With regard to Parkinson’s and many other diseases and conditions, caffeine may be the key component,” he explained

Making mental health care accessible is a critically important mental health initiative… looks like it’s been affordable in Oregon: Study: Mental Health Parity Laws May Not Lead To Higher Costs. The Portland (OR) Tribune (9/23, Korn) reports that four years ago, “Oregon instituted one of the country’s most ironclad mental health parity laws,” and new data reveal “that, despite the concerns of insurers, the increased mental health and addiction coverage has resulted in very little increased cost.” The research, “published in the September issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, compared more than 100,000 Oregonians between 2005 and 2008 whose insurance companies were subject to the new parity laws with almost 20,000 who were in self-insured plans, which are not…
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