Friends of a Washington state woman couldn’t understand how she could elect to remove both her breasts and her ovaries without ever being diagnosed with cancer. Angelina Jolie's revelation re-starts a conversation.

The new DSM-5 has eliminated three different autism-spectrum disorders, including Aspergers. The DSM-IV diagnosises didn't "reflect reality," Bryan King, director of Seattle Children's Autism Center, told Slate. In some states, children who don't have an autism diagnosis do not have access to state services. 

"By the end of this year, half of our state’s medical system will be Catholic-run, as measured by number of hospital beds. That’s the highest share in the nation, and rising fast — up from about 30 percent just last year. Somehow our godless state has become Ground Zero for faith-based medicine."

By 2030, 72.1 million Americans will be 65 or older. But the U.S. may struggle to get the 70 percent more home aides it will need, mainly due to the low salary. So who is going to take care of the elderly? Robots, researchers say. The technology is almost there for robots to take care of, and interact with, the elderly. 

Research shows that immigrants have a higher rate of heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure when they live in the U.S. The assumption is that the U.S. will provide more health benefits and care to immigrants but in reality, research shows as people adopt new behaviors like smoking, drinking, poor diet and lack of exercise, they become unhealthy.

An enormous spreadsheet of federal data helps give a glimpse at the varying amounts charged and paid for some important treatments at hospitals in King, Snohomish and Skagit counties.

In an op-ed for the New York Times today, actress Angelina Jolie explains why she underwent a preventative mastectomy. Jolie has a faulty BRCA1 gene, which means she has a 87 percent higher risk for breast cancer. After the procedures, Jolie's risk dropped to five percent. 

Fallout from the trend of merging hospitals with Catholic hospitals.

The battle is over fluoridation of drinking water.

A new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that in 2010 there were nearly 5,000 more deaths by suicide than car crashes. Suicide rates among adults ages 35 to 64 increased by almost 30 percent.