MEDICINE

Packing on the pounds may be an unintended consequence of the U.S. Food Stamp Program, according to research that shows that getting food stamps may help contribute to obesity, at least among women.

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday it was up to national regulatory authorities to decide whether to extend the shelf life of the flu drug Tamiflu by two years, as recommended by Swiss drug maker Roche.

Baby boomers, now well into middle age, are still turning on to illegal drugs, doubling the rates of illicit drug use for the older generation, according to U.S. government statistics released on Wednesday.

Tobacco plants might yield a cheap and easy-to-administer vaccine against a pesky stomach virus called norovirus, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

Chemicals in cannabis have been found to stop prostate cancer cells from growing in the laboratory, suggesting that cannabis-based medicines could one day help fight the disease, scientists said Wednesday.

Conservative political columnist Robert Novak died at 78 after a year-long battle with brain cancer. His wife of 47 years, Geraldine Novak, told The Associated Press that he died at his home in Washington, D.C. early Tuesday.

A woman from the North African town of Gafsa in Tunisia in Africa, is pregnant with 12 babies, according to a report from the British newspaper The Sun.

A widely used blood pressure drug may hold promise as a treatment for multiple sclerosis, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Binge drinking is usually seen as a problem of college campuses, but many older adults may be overindulging in alcohol as well, a study published Monday suggests.

The new director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, has one main goal for the giant research agency -- getting more money.

Older people poorly understand most of the important warning signs of stroke and factors that increase risk for this medical emergency, researchers from Dublin, Ireland, have found.

Severe sleep apnea raises the risk of dying early by 46 percent, U.S. researchers reported Monday, but said people with milder sleep-breathing problems do not share that risk.

The world must remain on its guard against H1N1 influenza, which has been mild so far but could become more serious as the northern hemisphere heads into winter, the head of the World Health Organization said on Sunday.

Just weeks after quitting smoking, women show major reductions in several markers of inflammation associated with heart disease risk, new research shows.

Older adults in developing countries who regularly eat fish seem to have a lower risk of dementia, a new study suggests.

A slight difference in a person's genetic code could determine whether they respond to a grueling round of treatment for hepatitis C infection or not, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.

When Congress returns September 8, lawmakers will continue work on an overhaul of the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system. There are three different plans in the works, all containing changes that would be phased in over a number of years.

Two existing drugs used to treat osteoporosis may be effective in killing influenza viruses, including the new H1N1 swine flu and the H5N1 bird flu viruses, researchers in Hong Kong have found.

Although seizures are more likely in people with Alzheimer disease (AD) than in the general population, they are not a common feature of AD, new research indicates.

Aging white adults appear to have a greater risk of developing the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation than their black peers, new research suggests.

Retired police officer Bob Ritz has health insurance that covers his medical and dental care in the United States.