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Officials have informed that the U. S. government has allocated $250 million for fiscal year 2010 for several health prevention programs.

Surgeon General Regina Benjamin said in a statement, "Our current healthcare system leaves many Americans without the preventive care that stops disease and illness before they start. What we need is an approach to healthcare that keeps people from getting sick in the first place, and that addresses the underlying drivers of chronic disease."

Researchers in Austria have found that say rheumatoid arthritis remission provides superior outcomes across socioeconomic categories such as productivity and quality of life.

It has been reported that lead author Dr. Helga Radner of the Medical University Vienna and colleagues found significant improvements in quality of life in those in remission vs. those with low disease activity. The study said that overall activity impairment and physical disability were greater in those with low disease activity.

Five infants have died of whooping cough this year in what may be the state's worst epidemic in 50 years, California health officials have revealed.

As of June 15, the state of California recorded 910 cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, four times the number from the same period last year when 219 cases were reported, said Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health. Horton further said that in addition, 600 possible cases of pertussis are being investigated by local health departments.

Being deprived of rapid eye movement sleep might play a role in migraine, U. S. researchers have said.

Led by Paul Dunham, researchers at Missouri State University's Center for Biomedical & Life Sciences in Springfield have found that sleep deprivation lead to changes in the levels of key proteins that in turn make possible events that may bring on migraine.

An Australian researcher has said that tests may help predict who with Parkinson's disease may be more likely to fall.

It has been reported that study leader Graham Kerr of Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, cautions falls are a major problem for people with Parkinson's disease and can lead to injuries and reduced mobility, which can result in increasing weakness, loss of independence and increased use of nursing homes.

The U. S. Commerce Department has that said that sales of new single-family homes fell sharply in May compared to April.

According to the official reports, sales plummeted 32.7 percent in the month after two consecutive months of gains that is generally attributed to a federal tax credit for home-buyers that ended April 30.

The annual rate of home sales in May declined to 300,000, down from an upwardly revised figure of 446,000 for April.

Sales in May were 18.3 percent below the same month a year ago.