Hugo Chavez, the pelvic abscess and the mystery cancer -- how long will it take to get back to Venezuela?

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has acknowledged that he's fighting cancer, but he won't say what kind. Chavez, who looked as if he'd...

Diet soda and weight gain: The connection may be, in a way, what you think

Diet soda may indeed be associated with weight gain, as a new study suggests, but the fault may lie in your head, not necessarily your...

Talk Back: CT scans, mammograms, Avastin, Provenge: Who pays?

Widespread screening with CT scans can detect lung cancer. Regular mammograms of all women 40 and older can find breast cancer. Avastin,...

Medicare will pay for Avastin, Provenge -- and try to dodge the piper

Medicare is hemorrhaging money. And yet in the last few days, the program has...

Cities banning fireworks, even 'safe and sane' ones, might see fewer injuries around Fourth of July, study shows

For those of you checking to see if your city allows fireworks for this Fourth of July weekend: Not to rain on the fireworks plans, but take...

Octomom may reveal she doesn't like her kids: Could it be a symptom of single mom stress?

Oh, Octomom. You've been through so much--one minute you're up and the next you're down. This must be a down moment for Nadya Suleman, since...

Sweet potatoes vs. white potatoes: Are both bad for the waistline?

Prostate cancer treatment Provenge to be covered by Medicare, as is Avastin

Medicare said this week it will pay for two cancer treatments with hefty price tags -- and lingering questions: Avastin, the controversial...

Glenn Beck and the psychology of political debate

Glenn Beck's Fox News finale was a jaunt down memory lane of Beck's big issues -- from ACORN to what he referred to as "the caliphate" --...

Epilepsy, psychiatric drug taken in pregnancy may cause developmental delays

Pregnant women who take valproate sodium, a widely used psychiatric and epilepsy medication (sold under the commercial names...

Note to Prince Albert's wife-to-be: Marriage may be good for you

Charlene Wittstock isn't the first bride in history to have cold feet--if indeed she does. The South African intended of Prince Albert of...

Lung-cancer screening via CT -- again, the cost-effectiveness issue

Screening heavy smokers for lung cancer does reduce deaths, without leading to too many dangerous follow-up tests, and researchers now...

Heart transplant patients have much higher risk of skin cancer, study finds

Heart transplant patients are four to 30 times as likely to develop skin cancer as healthy people, depending on where they live and other...

Avastin, the FDA and a question of effectiveness (not hope)

Avastin is known as a cancer fighter, but its biggest battles lately have been with the Food and Drug Administration. In the latest round,...

Beach bacteria cause many illnesses but often aren't blamed

Many of America’s beaches are still contaminated by sewage water and are teeming with bacteria, but many sickened swimmers don’t...

Doctors are encouraged to offer mental-health screening for teens

U.S. healthcare spending far outpaces other countries

Obese patients 12 times as likely to suffer complications from plastic surgery, study finds

Obese patients who undergo plastic surgery are 12 times as likely to develop complications as those of normal weight, researchers from the...

Transplant drug rapamycin may help kids with rare premature aging disease progeria

The antirejection drug rapamycin, commonly used in transplants, may be able to benefit children suffering from the premature aging disease...

Smoking cessation text messages can help smokers quit

Text messages often have little informative or higher value -- :), :(, lol, whats up? But some of those that do just might be able to ...

Tennis great Roger Federer is upset at Wimbledon. Is this the year of the underdog?

Chronic pain affects 116 million Americans, says IOM report

Pain is more than just a complaint -- it’s a public health issue. And the time has come to do something about it. So concludes a new...

Charlie Sheen admits to using steroids while filming 'Major League' -- what are the drug's short-term effects?

Looks like Charlie Sheen isn't the only drug Charlie Sheen has been on. In the new issue of Sports Illustrated the actor admitted to using...

Coalition Against Breast Cancer is targeted in suit

As breast cancer charities go, Coalition Against Breast Cancer may not have the name recognition of, say, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure,...

Most sedentary city in the U.S.? Sorry, Lexington

In terms of sedentary lifestyle, Lexington, Ky., has some explaining to do, or perhaps, some light jogging and yard work. It topped the...

Smart move: Tiger Woods says he won't golf until healed

Tiger Woods said Tuesday that there's "no timetable" for returning to competitive golf while he recovers from injuries to his knee and...

Your new exercise Rx from the American College of Sports Medicine: Get out of that chair and move

New exercise guidelines released by the American College of Sports Medicine Tuesday may...

Duct tape can even be used in the fight against infectious disease

Duct tape – is there no end to its usefulness? Apparently not. Now we learn that using duct tape in hospitals could be a tool in the...

Avastin's approval for breast cancer could be revoked; FDA is pondering

Whether the cancer drug Avastin should be revoked as a treatment for advanced breast cancer is the subject of both passion and debate....

Mammograms can find breast cancer, true, but cost-benefit question remains

Lightning strikes men more often than women

Getting stuck by lightning might seem like one of the ultimate random acts of natural violence. But perhaps it's less random than you think;...

Toss drop-side cribs, parents are urged; they're illegal now anyway

As parents are urged to trash their old cribs to make way for a new generation of safer, sturdier cribs, they may naturally be wondering...

Rinderpest officially eradicated -- and why it matters

It’s official. The "cattle plague" known as rinderpest has been eradicated, the only other disease besides smallpox to achieve the...

New website to help patients compare doctors, hospitals

Consumers looking to compare doctors and hospitals are getting a new resource as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation launches an online...

Dieting teens may turn into dieting adults

Teens who diet may not be going through a phase -- they could be continuing that behavior into adulthood, a study finds.

Addiction and age 21

Addictions are largely problems of people who begin smoking, drinking or using other drugs before age 21, according to a report published...

Sprouts might be linked to small salmonella outbreak, FDA says

Sprouts, again. The Food and Drug Administration announced Monday that consumers should avoid eating alfalfa sprouts or spicy sprouts from...

Neurontin study was a sham designed to boost drug sales, researchers say in medical journal

The maker of Neurontin disguised an effort to promote the anti-seizure drug to physicians as a clinical trial and failed to inform...

'Mystery shoppers' will help government make healthcare diagnoses

Spy, snoop, survey, assess, analyze, quantify — pick your favorite verb to describe the Obama administration's plan to send out...

Study: BPA exposure might make male mice undesirable to females

For consumers, a major problem with judging the threat posed by the chemical bisphenol A -- a chemical used in the manufacture of many...

Serena and Venus Williams lose at Wimbledon: Were they motivated to win?

Tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams were both ousted by less experienced players at Wimbledon on Monday -- Serena by France's Marion...

Impulsive behavior gets kids in trouble, but science is honing in on the problem

"Teenagers are often impulsive." That's the opening sentence of a new scientific paper. Raise your hand if you're a parent of an...

Radiation should follow a mastectomy for advanced cancer but often doesn't

Radiation after a mastectomy for advanced breast cancer is part of the standard treatment guidelines. But more than a decade after the...

Australia's plans for cigarette packaging rankle tobacco company

Cigarette packages in the U.S. are about to be emblazoned with graphic, bordering on gory, images highlighting the dangers of smoking. But...

TV fast-food ads encourage childhood obesity, pediatricians say

TV advertisements for sugary and fatty foods are playing a role in childhood obesity and ought to be taken off the air, a leading group of...

British researchers develop "cure" for Type 2 diabetes: starve yourself

British researchers have developed what they say is a "cure" for Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease. And all you have to...

Is BCG a cure for diabetes? The long road to acceptance

The first trial in a handful of humans has suggested that injecting patients with Type 1 diabetes with an inexpensive vaccine normally...

Diabetes prevalence worldwide has more than doubled since 1980, study finds

The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes worldwide has more than doubled since 1980, climbing from an estimated 153 million three decades ago to...

Is New York's gay-marriage debate good or bad for LGBT adults' health?

As New York's state Senate considers making the state the sixth to allow gay marriage, now might be a good time to put aside the political...

'Biggest Loser' nutritionist says all calories are not created equal