WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Medicare program for the elderly may offer ways to encourage better care at a lower cost as a big part of reforming the U.S. healthcare system, a leading Senate Democrat said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 2 percent of the U.S. population, more than 5.5 million people, have some kind of paralysis, according to a survey published on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lowering the eligibility age for the federal Medicare health insurance plan for the elderly could reduce racial health disparities and help blacks and Hispanics live as long as whites, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Older men should visit their doctors to check for melanoma because they are less likely to find it themselves in time, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Twenty percent of Americans say they have delayed or postponed medical care, mostly doctor visits, and many said cost was the main reason, according to a survey released on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Soft drink makers should invent and market a new category of semi-sweet beverages that will help wean Americans off their reliance on sugary drinks, nutrition experts said on Monday.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scientists have detected two substances in tobacco smoke that directly cause lung cancer, and they said on Sunday the finding may help one day predict which smokers will develop the disease.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers have found an unexpected genetic mutation that causes a rare type of early childhood cancer, and said on Sunday it represents a whole new mechanism for the development of cancer.

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - When Pang Jianli walked into a Beijing pharmacy to buy medicine for his flu-stricken son, he was greeted by an overwhelming display of boxes and bottles emblazoned with promises of miraculous cures.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New stem cell guidelines released on Friday by the U.S. National Institutes of Health would limit federal funding of the research to embryos left over at fertility clinics and prohibit federal funding of embryos made by cloning or certain other methods.