NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older black adults are less likely than whites to have their blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar under control, even if they belong to a high-quality Medicare plan, researchers reported Tuesday.

The findings, published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, show that racial disparities are common throughout the Medicare system.

"This is not a limited problem within a few health plans," said lead study author Dr. Amal N. Trivedi of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. "It's something they'll all have to address."

The extent to which patients have their blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar under control is considered a key indicator of health plan quality .....Full Story

Researchers have uncovered a new way in which the aging process is linked to DNA damage--which occurs normally as a result of cell metabolism and environmental influences--and the various ways in which cells repair that damage. In the new work, researchers found that cells in young fruit flies make use of a different mix of molecular DNA-repair mechanisms compared to cells in older flies. The findings are reported by William Engels and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin and appear in the October 24th issue of the journal Current Biology, published by Cell Press.

DNA repair is essential for the accurate preservation of genetic information and to ensure the healthy functioning of cells, and a connection between aging and DNA damage has long been suspected. One line of evidence supporting the connection is that defects in certain genes needed for DNA repair produce maladies that mimic those of accelerated aging .....Full Story