Most Emailed Health News

BRUSSELS - Helped by a therapist, Rom Houben's outstretched finger tapped with surprising speed on a computer touchscreen, spelling out how he felt "alone, lonely, frustrated" in the 23 years he was trapped inside a paralyzed body.

On the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species, political journalist Dennis Sewell talks to TIME about how the naturalist's big idea has been harnessed for sinister ends

MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Men who bottle up their anger over unfair treatment at work could be hurting their hearts, a new Swedish study indicates.

MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- As many as one in four U.S. teenage girls have had a sexually transmitted disease (STD), many infected soon after their first sexual encounter, a new government report shows.

LONDON - Canadian doctors have been advised not to use a batch of 170,000 swine flu vaccines after six reports of serious allergic reactions among recipients, but there are no similar reports from other countries, pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Tuesday.

SEATTLE - Parents who thought their preschoolers were spending time in home-based day cares, taking naps, eating healthy snacks and learning to play nicely with others may be surprised to discover they are sitting as many as two hours a day in front of a TV, according to a study published Monday.

ATLANTA - Let us give thanks — and pass the Purell.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cases of a drug-resistant bacterial infection known as MRSA have risen by 90 percent since 1999, and they are increasingly being acquired outside hospitals, researchers reported on Tuesday.

Schoolteacher Kinzi Blair makes only $46,000 a year, but she has what many would consider a "Cadillac" health plan, now targeted for a big tax increase by health reformers.

WASHINGTON - A technology originally developed for premature babies may be helping to save some of the sickest swine flu patients by rerouting their blood so their lungs can rest.

THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- A spray touted as the first potential treatment for premature ejaculation has proved effective in a second study, according to the company that developed it.

THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Seniors who eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and who have good cognitive function are much less likely to die from heart disease than those who have poorer cognitive function and eat fewer fruits and vegetables, a new study has found.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The story of a Belgian patient wrongly diagnosed as comatose for 23 years revives the debate on care for those considered in a vegetative state, with the astonishing case far from unique according to a recent study.

MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy or who were exposed to lead have more than double the risk of having attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as other children, new research shows.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - An estimated 33.4 million people worldwide are infected with the AIDS virus, up from 33 million in 2007, but more people are living longer due to the availability of drugs, according to a United Nations report.

SHANGHAI - The virus that causes AIDS is now spreading fastest in China through heterosexual sex, a trend demanding new strategies to stave off a rebound in the epidemic after years of progress in containing it, a United Nations report said.

TUESDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Having children may slow the progression of multiple sclerosis, new research suggests.

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Some people think the most important part of a traditional Thanksgiving meal is the turkey, but others argue it is dessert and the best wine to go with it.

TUESDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Infants exposed to outdoor traffic pollution and indoor endotoxin are at increased risk for asthma, researchers say.

A child's never-ending "why's" aren't meant to exasperate parents, scientists say. Rather, the kiddy queries are genuine attempts at getting at the truth, and tots respond better to some answers than others.

THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- People's genetic makeup has been shown to affect how they respond to asthma medications, but a new study finds that many people respond well to a particular combination treatment regardless of their genes.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - High-cost urban U.S. hospitals may face debt rating downgrades if large cuts to Medicare funding are implemented as part of U.S. health care reform, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.

THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- The less you smoke, the more birthdays you'll have, says the American Cancer Society as it encourages smokers to quit on Thursday, the day of the 34th Great American Smokeout.

BERLIN (AFP) - A Belgian man thought to have been in a coma for 23 years has told of his "second birth" after doctors realised he was in fact conscious, a German weekly reported Monday.

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Herpes, the sexually transmitted disease that causes genital lesions, never truly goes into a dormant state, new research suggests.

THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- While rates of obesity are climbing across America, they are especially high in sections of Appalachia and the Southeast, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports in its first county-by-county survey.

MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. researchers say they've identified a protein that causes nasal and sinus polyps in 15 percent to 30 percent of people with chronic sinusitis.

TUESDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDay News) -- A new study offers yet more proof that smoking is a major risk factor for death from heart disease and cancer.

WASHINGTON - Faced with limited job options, many young adults are turning to an old standby to weather the recession: moving back in with mom and dad.

MONTREAL - A Canadian woman on sick leave for depression said Monday she would fight an insurance company's decision to cut her benefits after her agent found photos on Facebook of her vacationing, at a bar and at a party.