On the front lines of chronic Lyme disease

Dr. Bernard Raxlen arrived at Manhattan's glamorous Gotham Hall on a cool autumn night in 2008 to receive a humanitarian award.

Cooling caps tested to help cancer patients keep hair

A handful of San Francisco breast cancer patients are donning frigid skullcaps to test a device designed to keep hair tightly rooted...

A very high risk Rx

One of my doctors gave me a prescription and left a blank slip attached below it. One of my other doctors had stopped giving me a certain...

Teen birthrate at lowest point in seven decades

Teenagers are giving birth at the lowest rates noted in seven decades of record-keeping, according to statistics from the federal government...

Californians continue to kick the cigarette habit

The percentage of California adults who smoke has continued to drop more than the national average, according to new data released Monday by...

Breast-feeding benefits academic performance 10 years later

Breast-feeding infants for at least six months appears to give kids' an advantage in school, according to a...

Dairy component shows promise in cutting diabetes risk

Move over, ...

The Healthy Skeptic: telomerase activators

We all know what aging looks like from the outside: wrinkled skin, gray hair, a growing need to turn up the volume on "Jeopardy." But in...

Holistic nutrition is weak on science, strong on selling supplements

"Holistic nutrition." You may not know the term, but you've surely heard its claims. Among other things, holistic nutritionists (or HNs,...

Vaginal steam bath finds a place among Southern California spa options

Pungent steam rises from a boiling pot of a mugwort tea blended with wormwood and a variety of other herbs. Above it sits a nude woman on an...

Lower-cost substitute for Zegerid

My doctor prescribed Zegerid for acid reflux. It contains omeprazole plus sodium bicarbonate. My pharmacist says I can take OTC...

Proximity to freeways increases autism risk, study finds

Children born to mothers who live close to freeways have twice the risk of autism, researchers reported Thursday. The study, its authors...

Rodent of the Week: A pathway to better memory

Researchers have identified a protein that appears to play a major role in strengthening memories. The protein, called neuropeptide S, has...

Breast-feeding opportunities will increase under healthcare reform

Breast-feeding at work should become a lot easier as employers adhere to a provision of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. In a report...

Diabetes affects one in 16 women who give birth

Diabetes is a major problem. If you don't think so, consider the latest statistic from the federal government. One in 16 U.S. women who give...

Alzheimer's disease cause needs to be reconsidered, researcher says

Alzheimer's disease research in the last two decades has focused on the theory that beta-amyloid plaque accumulates in the brain and leads...

Life expectancy has grown, but we're spending more time sick

Life expectancy soared over the last part of the 20th century as treatments for major diseases improved and infectious diseases were quelled...

Ovarian cancer screening reduces death rate only modestly

Ovarian cancer is one of the most feared diseases because the tumor often produces no symptoms and the disease is often detected at an...

Folic acid levels are high enough in most people -- except the right people

Folic acid has been added to grain products for more than a decade in order to boost intake among women of reproductive age. The...

Weighing effectiveness versus risk in obesity drugs

In their quest to find drugs to curb obesity, scientists have had about as much success as long-term dieters who want to stay thin —...

A Closer Look: Weight-loss drugs

For many people who carry excess pounds, lifestyle changes don't do enough or are too hard to maintain day in and day out.

Rates for adult vaccinations remain low

The United States already does a pretty good job immunizing kids — roughly 90% of them get the vaccines they need, thanks to federal...

Father's death linked to use of heart drug, avocados touted for lowering cholesterol

My dad recently died after going into the hospital for pneumonia. It was discovered he had lung disease due to taking amiodarone for many...

Enriched eggs, milk may not be best source for omega-3s

Milk and eggs have earned their place in the American diet because they're good sources of calcium and protein, respectively. These days,...

The Unreal World: A brain injury, then a nightmare in the ambulance

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

Rodent of the Week: Drug prevents post-traumatic stress disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder affects almost 8 million Americans, according to surveys. It can be difficult to treat, and may require long-...

Breast cancer drug combination with pertuzumab is effective

The breast cancer drug pertuzumab when added to Herceptin improved the treatment of women with early-stage, HER-2 positive breast cancer,...

Researcher: Estrogen-only therapy may prevent breast cancer in some women

Estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy may benefit younger postmenopausal women who do not have a uterus, a Canadian researcher said...

Mammogram guidelines fail to persuade women

Mammography guidelines are still not well followed despite many years of public-health campaigns to bring the issue into prominence....

FDA can't regulate e-cigarettes as drug devices, appeals court rules

RICHMOND, Va. — A federal appeals court says electronic cigarettes should be regulated as tobacco products by the Food and Drug...