HEALTH

When Desiree Rosado's daughter got the flu last month, she took a week off without pay; just an hour after finally returning to work Rosado had to leave again to take her feverish son home.

The state of US emergency departments has been called a growing national crisis, and a report out today shows the situation is only getting worse.

Africa faces a surge in cancer deaths unless action is taken in the next decade to stem rising smoking levels in a continent where anti-tobacco laws remain rare, U.S. scientists said Wednesday.

Extreme temperatures and heavy air pollution boost heart attack risk, according to a major new study.

Older people with stronger muscles are at reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease compared to their weaker peers, a new study shows.

Women with dense breasts who have had lumpectomies for breast cancer are at a higher risk of a recurrence, according to a new study.

A potentially devastating outbreak ofswine flu among the Yanomami Indians in Venezuela's Amazon rain forest appears to be contained for now after a rapid medical response in the remote zone.

Americans infected by the H1N1 flu virus would be guaranteed paid sick leave under emergency legislation U.S. Senator Chris Dodd plans to unveil on Tuesday in response to the swine flu pandemic.

The popular blood-thinner Plavix prevents heart attacks and strokes in both women and men, but the benefits differ slightly by gender, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

After a landmark win in the House of Representatives, President Barack Obama's push for healthcare reform faces a difficult path in the Senate amid divisions in his own Democratic Party on how to proceed.

Overuse of antibiotics in Europe is building widespread resistance and threatening to halt vital medical treatments such as hip replacements, intensive care for premature babies and cancer therapies, health experts say.

Parents may be setting their daughters up for weight problems simply by allowing them to drink two or more sweetened drinks daily while young, study findings hint.

Do you have an unchallenging job with little control over what you do? You may be more likely to be a couch potato in your leisure time, a new study shows.

People who think they may have H1N1 flu need to stay away from work, avoid sneezing on their spouses and children and now, they have someone else to worry about infecting too -- their pets.

Working conditions must be improved for older people if governments and companies are to persuade them to continue contributing to economic growth into their old age, according to Swedish and British scientists.

Injecting tiny polymer spheres into rats right after a spinal cord injury helped the animals recover movement and prevented secondary nerve damage that often follows such injuries, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.

The House of Representatives voted on Saturday to tighten a ban against using federal funds to finance abortions under the proposed Democratic healthcare reform legislation.

Want to know your entire DNA sequence? A California company has done it for as little as $1,700.

Obesity causes more than 100,000 cases of cancer in the United States each year -- and the number will likely rise as Americans get fatter, researchers said on Thursday.

U.S. regulators warned 10 companies for violating a recently enacted ban on sales of flavored cigarettes, letters released on Friday showed.

Some countries have been ambushed by sudden severe outbreaks of disease and death from the H1N1 flu pandemic, and have gone over the top in their response, a European flu specialist said on Friday.

The H1N1pandemic flu virus could kill up to 40,000 people across Europe and be followed by seasonal flu waves that could kill the same number, European health experts said on Friday.

Home heart rate monitors are dangerous in the hands of untrained mothers according to new information published by the BMJ say the Telegraph.

An experimental vaccine cured nearly half of women with pre-cancerous growths on their genitals, producing major improvement in nearly four out of five, researchers in the Netherlands reported on Wednesday.

Women who smoke while pregnant risk having hyperactive preschoolers who can't pay attention, a large study from the UK hints.

Democrats in the House of Representatives scrambled on Wednesday to iron out lingering concerns over abortion in a healthcare reform bill that was headed to a close and potentially historic weekend debate.

Nearly a third of Americans who die are in the hospital at the time and their last treatments cost the U.S. economy $20 billion, according to a report released on Wednesday.

States and counties will be struggling to vaccinate people against the swine flu pandemic well into December and January -- long after the first peak of the virus in the United States, officials said on Wednesday.

Americans are more likely than people in 10 other countries to have trouble getting medical treatment because of insurance restrictions or cost, an international survey of primary care doctors released on Wednesday found.