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As rates of syphilis infections in the United States continue to rise, doctors should increase screening for the disease among high-risk individuals, according to new recommendations from a government-backed health panel. People with the highest risk of infection, including men who have same-sex partners and people living with HIV, should be tested every three months, rather than once a year, according to recommendations released Tuesday by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). (Bowerman, 6/8)

Doctors should offer testing for syphilis to men who have sex with men, people living with HIV and others at an increased risk of the sexually transmitted disease, a U.S. government-backed panel recommended on Tuesday. (6/7)

Uncle Sam wants you to turn over your health records. And Dr. Robert Califf, the cardiologist who now runs the Food and Drug Administration, is determined to make that happen. The Obama administration has set a goal of recruiting 1 million volunteers to hand over their genetic and health data, as part of the $215 million Precision Medicine Initiative. (Keshavan, 6/7)

The most widely quoted study, according to the National Eating Disorders Association, shows men represent 25 percent of all anorexia and bulimia nervosa cases, and 36 percent of binge eating disorders. Dr. Brad E.R. Smith, medical director of the multi-location Rogers Memorial Hospital behavioral health system, agrees research is needed on numbers. (McCarthy, 6/7)

As rates of melanoma rise, scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine are suggesting a possible solution: screenings at primary care physicians’ (PCP) offices. In a study presented Tuesday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago, researchers found that, on average, participants screened for skin cancer at their PCP had melanomas that were nearly twice as thin as those who were not screened by their doctor. (6/7)

More than one-third of all adults in the U.S. say they have fair or poor dental health — and low-income people suffer the most from lack of treatment. The main reason is cost, according to a survey conducted by the American Dental Association Health Policy Institute and Families USA. (Ehley, 6/8)

Customers responded with enthusiasm when Antoine Dow first added a healthy choices menu to his grocery store in 2007. The owner of A & Ms. Dot's Grocery, at 1600 Druid Hill Ave., began offering protein smoothies and fresh lemonade sweetened with honey to provide an affordable and healthy alternative, he said. He said that same drive motivated him to testify in front of the City Council Health Committee on Tuesday, in support of a bill that would require warnings about sugar-sweetened beverages on advertisements, menus and other locations where the beverages are sold. (Massey 6/7)