HEALTH

South Africa, with the world's highest HIV caseload, will roll out life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs to significantly more people infected with the virus from next year, President Jacob Zuma said on

People who smoke skunk -- a potent form of cannabis -- are almost seven times more likely to develop psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia than those who smoke hash or cannabis resin, according to research.

The second storey of this nondescript building in Fuyang city in China's central province of Anhui houses HIV-positive orphans, but unlike many other similar establishments, there are no signboards outside.

The guns are gradually falling silent in Iraq as a fragile stability takes hold, turning the spotlight on a stealthier killer likely to stalk Iraqis for years to come.

French scientists have found a way to create human skin rapidly from stem cells, a discovery that could save the lives of many burns victims who are vulnerable to infection and now wait weeks for a skin graft.

Millions of unemployed U.S. workers face sharply higher health insurance premiums and loss of coverage as temporary federal subsidies expire, a healthcare advocacy group said on Tuesday.

The World Health Organization, which has been stressing the safety and importance of H1N1 shots, on Monday had its own staff vaccinated against the pandemic virus.

People who work in detergent factories are at increased risk of developing respiratory problems, including asthma, probably from exposure to chemicals contained in detergent, two new studies hint.

With the help of their doctors, women planning to become pregnant should take an inventory of the medications they take, researchers from Canada advise.

he annual Muslim haj pilgrimage has ended without the major flu outbreak feared by some experts and with only five deaths from the H1N1 flu virus out of 73 recorded cases, the Saudi health minister said.

Countries should phase out the use of Stavudine, the most widespread antiretroviral, because of long-term, irreversible side-effects in HIV patients including wasting and a nerve disorder, the World Health Organization said on Monday.

The 2008-09 Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act 1997 tabled in Parliament today shows that the Rudd Government is delivering more funding for more aged care services to more older Australians.

Women who smoke may have a higher risk of developing seizures than non-smokers do, a new study suggests.

Some herbal supplements may boost the levels of lead in the blood of women, new research shows.

Women with the highest heart disease risk were the most likely to quit taking hormone therapy after it was shown to offer no protection against cardiovascular disease, a new analysis of national data shows.

In people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS, high-risk behavior, HIV infection itself, as well as late initiation and early discontinuation of anti-HIV therapy all contribute to substantial decreases in life expectancy, United States researchers report.

Tamiflu resistance in some H1N1 patients with badly weakened immune systems does not seem to reflect a major change in the virus' susceptibility to the frontline drug, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

People in China living with HIV and AIDS face widespread discrimination and stigma, with even medical workers sometimes refusing to touch them, according to a U.N. survey released on Friday.

By 2034, nearly twice as many Americans will have diabetes and spending on the disease will triple, further straining the U.S. health system and testing the viability of Medicare and other government health insurance programs, U.S. researchers said on Friday.

The price of garlic in China has nearly quadrupled since March, propelled by its very pungency to rank ahead of gold and stocks as the country's best-performing asset this year.

Though the use of fertility drugs does not seem to generally increase uterine cancer risk, a Danish study identified small increases in risk from certain fertility drugs used for longer duration.

In a study in older adults, dietary intake of vitamins C and E was linked with muscle strength, leading the researchers to suggest at a meeting in Atlanta this past weekend that a diet high in antioxidants could play an important role in preserving muscle function in older adults

Walking away or letting things pass may be an unhealthy way to deal with unfair treatment on the job, research from Sweden shows.

Exercise seems to simultaneously make people hungrier, yet more readily satisfied by a meal -- and differences in these responses from person to person may help explain why some exercisers shed pounds more easily than others, researchers say.

China must be alert to any mutation or changes in the behavior of the H1N1 swine flu virus because the far deadlier H5N1 bird flu virus is endemic in the country, a leading Chinese disease expert said.

It's a crime so profitable that even dead people are in on the act.

The World Health Organization is looking into reports in Britain and the United States that the H1N1 flu may have developed resistance to Tamiflu in people with severely suppressed immune systems, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is looking into reports in Britain of the likely spread of a drug-resistant strain of swine flu, the U.N. agency said on Tuesday.

Novartis will officially open the first next-generation flu vaccine plant in the United States on Tuesday, but it will be years before it makes its first vaccine.