American casualties in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan steadily climb. More than 5,000 of our military have been killed and many thousands more wounded.

Congressional debate over reform of health care has centered most recently upon the public option. So far, the issue has generated a lot of heat and not much light in Congress and in the media. The public option is essentially a Medicare-like plan for people who are under 65 years old. This plan would compete with private health insurance plans in an exchange, or managed, marketplace.

The recent concussion suffered by University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow highlights the risk of this injury for football players at all levels of the game.

What should I eat? How much should I eat?

Media coverage of American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan focuses upon issues of strategy, cost, and political implications for wars have been underway for eight years.

Medical technology is so sophisticated that the lives of elderly Americans theoretically can be extended indefinitely. Mechanical ventilation, cardiac assist devices, feeding tubes or intravenous nutrition, dialysis for kidney failure -- these tools can tide us through a severe illness or give us a chance to recover from major surgery or injury.

For decades Mayo Clinic has enjoyed a worldwide reputation for outstanding health care. After reading in a June issue of The New Yorker that Mayo-Rochester managed to care for its Medicare population at costs below the national average, I contacted the clinic to determine how cost and quality are balanced there.

Health care for most Americans suffers from fragmentation, poor coordination and needless expense. Kaiser Permanente (KP), the nation's largest not-for-profit health plan, merits study as an alternative to costly inefficiency.

Overuse of technology is a major factor in runaway health costs. Any effort to limit the use of technology immediately raises the threat of rationing, which opponents of health-care reform use relentlessly in their campaigns.

Unless the cost of health care is controlled, any reform passed by Congress will ultimately fail.

Overuse and inappropriate prescribing of narcotics (opioids) places millions of Americans at risk of addiction.

Hospice of Chattanooga is seeking state approval to open two new locations, one in Cleveland, Tenn., and one at the Health Center at Standifer Place.

Because of special relationships I have with books, I am reluctant to part company with them. The creaks from overloaded bookshelves told me such a moment was at hand. It was time to send old medical textbooks to the library’s used book sale.

Episodes of deadly violence seem almost commonplace in recent weeks.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My goal is to increase bat speed with strength exercise. Should I simulate my swing with weights heavier than my bat or with bat-weight weights and a faster swing? — R.C.