By LEE BOWMAN, Scripps Howard News Service

Just before Thanksgiving, officials of the international drug company Novartis will be joined by a gaggle of local, state and federal officials in a business park on the edge of Holly Springs, N.C.

That extra hour of sleep last weekend doesn't begin to make a dent in tired for most Americans.

WASHINGTON - In a move that marks the first federal attempt to aid tens of thousands of homeowners with properties containing potentially toxic Chinese drywall, lawmakers have acted to make them eligible for the same low-interest loans available to disaster victims.

Heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women.

But conventional wisdom has been that older men die of heart attacks, while women die of old age.

Checking in at a doctor's office or hospital increasingly requires at least two documents -- an insurance card and a photo ID.

Don't take it too personally.

The providers are simply trying to protect themselves -- and you -- from joining the growing ranks of medical identify theft victims.

Since bursting onto the world health stage last spring, the novel H1N1 flu has become one of the most-studied pathogens ever.

Scientists have tracked how it spreads, how it infects, how it behaves in animal and human hosts, the symptoms it creates and why some people have much nastier experiences with it than others.

A new government survey published Thursday finds that rates of vaccination for the nation's teens are rising, but are still well below goals in most states.

Estimated vaccination coverage rates, by percentage, nationally and in each state, among 13-17-year-olds according to 2008 National Immunization Survey.

Certainly what we eat affects our weight.

But researchers are finding that when we eat, and with whom, can also have a major impact on our accumulation of pounds.

First there's the timing of meals.

One study, reported recently by scientists at Northwestern University in Chicago, suggests that calories consumed late at night tend to hang around as fat.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the new swine flu vaccine Tuesday. But health officials across the nation have been planning for months on how to best distribute the vaccine.

Around Louisville, Ky., public health officials have long since scoped out banks with drive-up teller stations that might be used to dispense swine flu shots instead of cash.