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Daily Rounds: Gates Boosts Global Fund; Health Coverage, Costs Rising; High-Heeled Dangers; Libido Supplements Flawed

Bill Gates injects $750 million into troubled AIDS fund (Reuters) "Microsoft chairman and philanthropist Bill Gates pledged a further $750 million to the troubled global AIDS fund on Thursday and urged governments to continue their support to save lives. "These are tough economic times, but that is no excuse for cutting aid to the world's poorest," he said in Davos at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum." Mass. health insurance law: More coverage, more expensive - Boston.com (articles.boston.com) "Between fall 2006 and fall 2010, emergency department use fell 3.8 percent overall, and the use of emergency departments for non-emergency conditions also dropped 3.8 percent. At the same time, health care costs were an important issue for many families in Massachusetts in fall 2010. About half adults surveyed reported their family was spending more on health care in 2010 than in the prior year and a quarter were not confident in their ability to afford care in the coming year, the survey found."

Phys Ed: The Dangers of High Heels - NYTimes.com (well.blogs.nytimes.com) "In results published last week in The Journal of Applied Physiology, the scientists found that heel wearers moved with shorter, more forceful strides than the control group, their feet perpetually in a flexed, toes-pointed position. This movement pattern continued even when the women kicked off their heels and walked barefoot. As a result, the fibers in their calf muscles had shortened and they put much greater mechanical strain on their calf muscles than the control group did."

Herbal supplements marketed as libido aids: The Healthy Skeptic - latimes.com (Los Angeles Times) "A few specific ingredients do seem to have some sexual effects, Lue says, although not necessarily the effects that companies claim. He says horny goat weed works "like Viagra, only it's not as powerful." Viagra, a prescription drug, improves blood flow to the penis during arousal. But as Lue points out, it has never been shown to improve desire or arousal in the first place. Ginseng, found in Steel-Libido Red, has a longstanding reputation for improving energy. But Lue says he can personally attest that it has no effect on libido. "My mother used to make me take ginseng whenever I got sick," he says. "So I know."

This program aired on January 26, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

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