Popular Health

Loneliness Is Bad for Your Health

Loneliness Is Bad for Your Health, Study Suggests — Feeling lonely? New research suggests you might want to reach out. Not only is loneliness an unpleasant condition, it can harm the body's immune system. The new study, presented Saturday (Jan. 19) here at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, reveals that people who are lonely experience more reactivation of latent viruses in their systems than the well-connected. Lonely people also are more likely than others to produce inflammatory compounds in response...

Dental Assistant Fired For Being 'Irresistible' Is 'Devastated'

Dental Assistant Fired For Being 'Irresistible' Is 'Devastated' - After working as a dental assistant for ten years, Melissa Nelson was fired for being too "irresistible" and a "threat" to her employer's marriage. "I think it is completely wrong," Nelson said. "I think it is sending a message that men can do whatever they want in the work force." On Friday, the all-male Iowa State Supreme Court ruled that James Knight, Nelson's boss, was within his legal rights when he fired her, affirming the decision of a lower court. "We do think...

Autism Risk May Be Revealed By Pitch Of Babies' Cries

Autism Risk May Be Revealed By Pitch Of Babies' Cries - The pitch of babies' cries may provide clues as to whether they are at risk for autism as early as 6 months old, a new study suggests. The researchers recorded cries from 39 6-month old infants, 21 of whom were at risk for autism because they had an older sibling with the condition. The others were healthy babies with no family history of autism. A computer-aided analysis showed the cries of babies at heightened risk for autism were higher and more variable in pitch than those of...

Inside the Lives of Kids With Progeria

Inside the Lives of Kids With Progeria - At times, Lindsay Ratcliffe is just like any other first grader, who loves ponies, Legos and running the bases at the T-Ball game in her hometown of Flat Rock, Mich. But at 20 pounds and 36 inches, she is not an ordinary six-year-old. Lindsay has a rare and fatal disease called progeria -- comes from the Greek word for "prematurely old" -- which makes her body age eight to 10 times faster than normal children. Only 68 children in the world currently have the condition, according to the Progeria Research...

Flu Has Little to Do With Cold Weather

Flu Has Little to Do With Cold Weather - Although most children grow up hearing that they'll catch the flu if they play in the snow without a scarf, weather has very little to do with which regions get more flu, doctors say. "It's actually not that predicable," said Dr. Jon Abramson, who specializes in pediatric infectious diseases at Wake Forest Baptist Health in North Carolina. Mississippi has had the most reported cases of influenza-like illness in the United States so far this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control...