HEALTH

Occupational therapy for kids who are over- or under-sensitive to sound, touch or other senses could help improve their symptoms -- but parents and doctors should be careful not to miss an underlying disorder in those children, pediatricians said today.

Health-conscious Californians may mostly oppose smoking for its costs to public health and the economy but an aggressive tobacco industry campaign and general anti-tax sentiment may block a measure to raise taxes on smokers.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday showed near-unanimous support for a bill that helps fund the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a regulatory powerhouse with sweeping influence over the foods Americans eat and the medicines they take. The bill, which passed by a vote of 96 to 1, aims to speed approval of new drugs and devices and ensure food safety.

A U.S. health advisory panel on Thursday issued a split vote on data for Pfizer Inc's drug to treat a rare neurodegenerative disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel voted 13 to 4 that the drug did not show that it met the main goal in a study in treating the fatal condition.

The gag rule, which bans funding for non-profits that provide information about abortion services, has had a shaky history since it was enacted by the Reagan administration in 1984.

The mother of a toddler who was videotaped being put inside a washing machine, has spoken out against her baby sitter, saying she should be punished and put in jail

It turns out that men aren?t looking for beauty with brains when it comes to finding a woman. A new study says that traits such as stupidity, drunkenness, and sleepiness have been rated as attractive.

A record-low 41 percent of Americans identify themselves as pro-choice when it comes to abortion rights, according to Gallup.

The Republicans in the recently formed Women's Policy Alliance don't actually support legislation intended to aid women.

In addition to sick Americans, more than 80 percent of the general public said health-care costs are exorbitant.

When Malaysian cyclist Azizulhasni Awang opted to postpone his Ramadan fast until after the London Games, the decision was all about going for Olympic gold. Anything that might jeopardize the chance of a medal for the 24-year-old at his second Olympics had to be dealt with sensibly, he says.

The percentage of U.S. teenagers with pre-diabetes or full-blown type 2 diabetes has more than doubled in recent years -- though obesity and other heart risk factors have held steady, government researchers reported Monday.

Doctors know that drinking, drugs and risky sex go together in young people -- and a new study suggests loud music should be added to that list.

A Michigan teen found his usual Arby's roast beef sandwich a little chewier than usual, only to discover it contained an extra ingredient: an employee's finger.

Marijuana is the most commonly used drug among men arrested in 10 cities in the United States, while cocaine use among arrestees is on the decline, a federal report revealed Wednesday.

Adding Johnson & Johnson's advanced prostate cancer drug, Zytiga, to hormone therapy before surgery has been shown for the first time to eradicate tumors in some men with high-risk forms of the disease.

The Obama administration forged ahead with healthcare reforms on Wednesday, announcing a November 16 deadline for state governments to submit proposals showing how they intend to operate health insurance exchanges in 2014.

Alina Sarag, a 15-year-old teenager from the UK died of tuberculosis after five doctors incorrectly diagnosed her with 'lovesickness' and bulimia, even though she had previously been treated for the disease.

The Slurpee is getting a slimdown.

While young adults say they are committed to avoiding pregnancy, 40 percent of respondents in a new study said birth control was not important because when it is your time to get pregnant, it will happen.

The number of kids treated in emergency rooms after swallowing batteries -- or lodging them in their noses and ears -- has almost doubled over the past 20 years, a new study suggests.

Behind the glass meat counter at Casey's Market in a Chicago suburb, the butchers pick up their blades and carry on a generations-old tradition. Piece by piece, the men use knives to cut meat and fat off beef carcasses, and grind them into mounds of hamburger.

Flesh-eating bacteria, or necrotizing fasciitis, has made its way into the news recently after Aimee Copeland, a 24-year-old from Georgia, contracted the disease while riding a homemade zip line and lost her left leg due to the condition.

Another 'tanning mom' has emerged just as her predecessor Patricia Krentcil has been banned from at least 63 salons in the tri-state area.

Many psychiatrists believe a new edition of a manual designed to help diagnose mental illness should be shelved for at least a year for further revisions, despite some modifications which eliminated two controversial diagnoses.

A pill used to treat HIV is a step closer to getting the approval of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a drug used to prevent the spread of the virus that causes AIDS.

As states propose new laws intended to sway women from getting an abortion, a new study concludes the strategy is ineffective.

Teen Mom star Jenelle Evans has been nothing but a role model to young MTV viewers. The show has displayed the 21-year-old fighting with her mom over child custody and crying over not being able to smoke pot, but fans are seeing a lot more off the camera. When the cameras aren't rolling, Evans is getting arrested, fighting, getting a boob-job and releasing disturbing before and after topless photos all over the web. What exactly is MTV trying to tell young viewers about being a Te...

Louisiana health officials are recalling oysters and closing an oyster harvesting area in Terrebonne Parish after 14 people became ill eating oysters at a New Orleans restaurant.