Health

Virginia's General Assembly is the first in the nation to approve legislation that bucks federal health care reforms by banning mandatory health insurance coverage.

Stromectal -- a pill containing ivermectin, a drug used to prevent heartworm in dogs -- kills head lice resistant to first-line treatment better than malathion-based lotion.

An NIH panel of outside advisors urges a change to hospital rules and doctor guidelines that keep many women who've had a C-section from opting for a natural birth in later pregnancies.

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday a nerve stimulating implant from Medtronic failed to significantly reduce seizures in epilepsy patients.

A severe diarrhea-causing germ once thought to only affect the elderly or seriously ill is now affecting a growing number of healthy children

Platelet-rich plasma -- injections of a patient's own blood platelets -- heals of tennis elbow better than cortisone shots, a study finds.

Dear Dr. Gott: I have a heart condition and take both Plavix to prevent blood clots and Prilosec for stomach acid.

A street vendor prepares papaya for her daily customers in Yangon. Researchers say that papaya leaf extract and its tea have dramatic cancer-fighting properties against a broad range of tumours, backing a belief held in a number of folk traditions.

The Houston Department of Health and Human Services is asking people to avoid buying or using a brand of clay tableware imported from Mexico that was sold in Fiesta Mart stores because it may contain lead.

Drug and medical products company Abbott Laboratories said Tuesday it will buy Facet Biotech Corp.

One in six Americans between the ages of 14 and 49 have genital herpes and close to 1 in 2 black women are infected, new figures from the CDC reveal.

Good health may not only help you live longer, it could help you enjoy a longer, more satisfying sex life as well, a study shows.

While some researchers suggest the rising rates of melanoma may simply reflect a change in how doctors diagnose melanoma and the increased availability of skin cancer screenings, a leading dermatologist says the increase is real.

Most companies lack meaningful policies to curb the marketing of high-fat and high-sugar junk food to children, according to a report by a consumer watchdog group.

New York congressman Eric Massa resigned his House seat this week under a sexual harassment cloud, claiming fellow Democrats forced his ouster to keep him from voting against their health care bill.

New research confirms that giving flu shots to large numbers of school-age children can protect the community at large.

Kidney donors fare just as well as non-donors over the long term, according to a new study.

A moisturizing cream whose active ingredient is the extract that gives Indian curry its distinctive flavor, smel,l and deep orange color may help fade fine facial lines, wrinkles, and aging spots.

Reovirus is harmless to normal cells -- but it destroys many kinds of cancer cells. A new study in patients with prostate cancer takes the virus closer to being a new cancer treatment.

By Jeni Harvey AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after a pharmacist refused to give the contraceptive pill to a South Yorkshire woman, saying it was "against her religion." Janine Deeley was turned away by the female chemist at Lloyds pharmacy in Duke Street, Sheffield, when she went to pick up her prescription.

Sleep problems and sleep habits vary among different ethnic groups, according to a new national survey. But among all ethnicities, there remains a common denominator: Many of us simply don't get enough sleep.

Legislation extending unemployment insurance for the long-term jobless faces a key test vote in the Senate, its momentum helped by about 60 popular tax breaks for individuals and businesses that expired at the end of last year.

Nicotine builds up gradually in smokers' brains rather than spiking after each puff, according to a study that might help point to new ways to help people quit smoking.

Watch a live webcast of surgery for esophageal atresia (a problem in infants) on March 11 at 5:00 p.m. EST. Also, browse through links to prerecorded webcasts of surgical procedures. These are actual procedures performed at medical centers in the United States.

Vitamins are substances that your body needs to grow and develop normally. Visit the new MedlinePlus Health Topic pages on:

Visit the new MedlinePlus Health Topic page on fatigue.You‘re tired, weak, exhausted, weary, worn out. You have a lack of energy and as a result you feel distressed. You’re not functioning as well as you should. It’s called fatigue, and everyone feels it at times...

Visit the new MedlinePlus Health Topic page on finger injuries and disorders.You use your fingers and thumbs to do everything from grasping objects to playing musical instruments to typing on a keyboard. When there is something wrong with them, it can make life difficult...

There's one thing you can be absolutely sure of when it comes to frozen dinners: They don't look like the picture.And that convenience you crave may be costing your health."When something is processed, they're going to be adding the sodium.

If the drug Enbrel stops working, people with psoriasis have two effective options, new research suggests.