Health News

HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Pennsylvania will begin enforcing a federal clean-air rule to cut emissions of smog-forming pollutants generated by power plants, officials said.

BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- A doctor who prescribed an antidepressant over the Internet to a student who later killed himself was unconscionably negligent, the boy's father said.

ATLANTA, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Black U.S. women born after the mid-1960s have been shrinking with each new generation, while their white counterparts have been growing, a study indicates.

MANHATTAN, Kan., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Gardening is a great way for older adults to meet the physical activity recommendations for those age 65 and older in summer, U.S. researchers said.

NEW YORK, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Maintaining optimal blood sugar levels, even in the absence of diabetes, may help in preserving cognitive health in the elderly, U.S. researchers suggest.

BONNER SPRINGS, Kan., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Prescription-drug abuse is rising in parts of the United States as the economy falls, drug-rehabilitation and law-enforcement officials said.

NEW YORK, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Using the "Stay Quit Monday" concept, smokers can renew their commitment to quit smoking by trying to quit each week, U.S. researchers suggest.

PEACEHAVEN, England, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- A British man says he hopes to return to his garden to plant tomatoes, four months after surgery to reattach an arm he accidentally cut off with a chainsaw.

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- At least 11 people were killed by an Ebola virus outbreak in western Congo, the country's health minister said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Most drugs work for only about half the people who take them, spurring a push to improve healthcare through "personalized medicine," U.S. researchers say.

SPRINGDALE, Ark., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The air around 435 U.S. schools is saturated with carcinogens more than 50 times higher than state standards allow, a newspaper investigation found.

CHICAGO, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Moderate drinkers often have lower risks of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive loss, U.S. researchers said.

BALTIMORE, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Many think weight gain is inevitable as days grow colder but a group of U.S. dietitians says this does not have to happen.

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- The pain reliever acetaminophen is not free of gastrointestinal side effects at high doses, researchers in Turkey found.

LAS VEGAS, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Young adult Democrats, who voted in large numbers for Barack Obama for U.S. president, are most confident that 2009 will be happier, a survey indicates.