Fifty years since the introduction of the oral birth control pill, it is still the preferred method of contraception for American women, used by 10.7 million women between the ages of 15 and 44. The second most popular method of contraception is female sterilization, with 10.3 million users.
More women are also using birth control …
With an international health group declaring indoor tanning booths carcinogenic in 2009, you might think that studies connecting indoor tanning and skin cancer are pretty well established.
We all know that exercise is good for us, but do we know why? How do those hours of sweating it out on a treadmill or pushing yourself in a weight training regimen actually help your cells and tissues to get healthier?
Two papers by separate groups may provide some intriguing answers. One team, led by researchers at the …
Despite the fact that sharks do not tend to get cancer, it turns out that their cartilage does not contain any magical cancer-fighting agent that could help patients battling the disease.
That’s the conclusion of the latest research from a government-funded study on the subject. Reporting in the Journal of the National Cancer …
A new survey released by AAA and Dorel Juvenile Group shows that while most parents acknowledge the importance of car seats in keeping their children safe, most don’t know how to use them properly. (Dorel is the leading manufacturer of child safety seats.)
The report, which includes data from 649 adults living with at least one …
We’re a stressed out society, and between the faltering economy and juggling the pressures of everyday life, it’s no wonder that 65 million of Americans suffer from hypertension.
High blood pressure is a combined product of stress, obesity, a high sodium diet, and some genetic factors that keep the pressure on blood vessels …
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) loosened its position on swimming lessons for toddlers younger than 4 years old.
Until now, the national pediatricians group has recommended against swimming lessons for very young children on the grounds that there was no evidence that early aquatic lessons reduced the risk of drowning or …
A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may provide some explanation for why the obesity rate among youngsters continues to climb.
According to the report, released by the government agency, most Americans don’t live in communities where they are encouraged — by parks, sidewalks and playgrounds — to become …
With experts predicting that the spring and summer allergy season will be one of the worst in recent years, researchers at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting in New Orleans presented some intriguing …
More than one-third of the world’s population lives in an area at risk for transmission of dengue fever, but the Florida Keys haven’t traditionally been among them.
Federal health officials report, however, that 28 residents and visitors to Key West, Fla., were infected with dengue fever between July 2009 and April 2010 — the …
It took nearly six months but the General Medical Council (GMC) in the U.K. has pulled Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s license to practice medicine in the United Kingdom.
Wakefield is the researcher who nearly single-handedly fueled parental concerns about the link between vaccines and autism. In 1998, he published a paper in the medical …
In a bit of welcome news on infant mortality rates worldwide, researchers at University of Washington are reporting a lower death rate for children under five than previous UNICEF estimates had calculated.
According to a new assessment of data, including birth and death records, as well as census and survey results, the authors found …
Surviving cancer is definitely a good thing, and no group of patients has benefited more from recent advances in cancer care than the youngest patients. Among cases of the most common childhood cancers, five year survival rates have jumped from 25% in the 1970s to 80% today.
But because young survivors are more likely to live years, …
