Health | featured news

Flu activity remains high across the United States, but there are signs this year's bad season may be waning in some areas, government health officials said Friday.

Beta blockers, a venerable class of blood pressure drugs that has fallen from favor in recent years, may help protect the aging brain against changes linked to Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia that rob memory and mental function, new research indicates.

Totally blind mice have had their sight restored by injections of light-sensing cells into the eye, UK researchers report.

Health officials say 2012 was the nation's worst year for whooping cough in nearly six decades....

The fake Avastin that surfaced in the U.S. this year grabbed headlines, but was just one example of a growing problem in the pharmaceutical world: the rise of counterfeit cancer medications.

Flu season in the United States is having its earliest start in nearly a decade and health officials say this season could be a bad one. Although flu is always unpredictable, the early nature of the cases and the predominant type circulating this year could make this a severe flu season, said officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Worldwide, tea is the second-most-popular drink, after water. But in this coffee-crazed nation, it's long been a subordinate brew. Until now. Tea's popularity is growing across America as scientists and the public learn more about its bountiful health benefits. An ever-growing body of research that includes more than 5,000 studies says tea can help block cholesterol, prevents cardiovascular disease and cancer and burns calories.

A stroke-preventing pill from Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb won approval from U.S. health regulators, setting the stage for a fierce fight among drug makers to replace the widely used bloodthinner warfarin.

Self-described neurotics who also have high levels of conscientiousness (organized, plan ahead, and are extremely self-controlled) experience lower levels of a disease-fighting biomarker, according to research.

Shortages of a chemotherapy drug probably led to higher rates of cancer relapse among young patients, hospital records show. The finding raises questions about the impacts of recurring drug shortages.