Health News

BALTIMORE, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Common drugs for the treatment of asthma in pregnant women as well as pre-term labor may increase autism-spectrum disorder risk, U.S. researchers said.

GENEVA, Switzerland, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Measles deaths worldwide fell by 78 percent 2000-08, but 450 deaths a day are still too many, World Health Organization officials in Switzerland said.

CHICAGO, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Targeted breast ultrasound may reduce the need for biopsies for women under age 40, U.S. medical researchers said.

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, England, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Patients often complain that hospital noise keeps them awake, but British researchers say simple things can lower noise levels by 20 percent.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A unified approach -- implementing small baby guidelines -- for premature infants improved outcomes, U.S. researchers found.

COLUMBIA, Mo., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- An online course helps divorcing parents improve relationships with their children, U.S. researchers say.

TORONTO, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Just because a vaccine is available doesn't mean people will choose to be inoculated, researchers in Canada suggest.

BERKELEY, Calif., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Substituting marijuana for more harmful drugs may be a winning strategy in the fight against substance abuse, a U.S. researcher says.

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers linked congestive heart failure to a gene variant affecting vitamin D activation.

CHICAGO, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- People often set their personal moral compasses according to what they presume to be God's standards, U.S. and Australian researchers found.

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The good news is that fewer Americans are smoking, but the benefits of quitting tobacco will be snuffed out by U.S. adults getting fatter, researchers said.

COLUMBIA, Mo., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Over-the-counter drugs, such as aspirin and Tylenol, that inhibit certain enzymes could impact the effectiveness of vaccines, U.S. researchers said.

SKOKIE, Ill., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- In December 1989, I was taking a sheet of cookies from the oven when I felt a tickle over my bare toes. Looking down, I saw the first bold pioneer in yet another carpenter ant infestation.

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Facebook profiles actually capture a person's true personality, instead of an idealized virtual identity, U.S. researchers say.

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Women at high risk for breast cancer, even if well-informed about the cancer-preventing drug tamoxifen, are unlikely to take the drug, U.S. researchers say.