HEALTH & WELLBEING

Close contact with animals puts devoted pet owners at greater risk of contracting life-threatening bacterial infections.

Pregnant Women on Antidepressants Less Likely to Breastfeed

While eyestrain and headaches are a problem for some, we think it's the potential for germs that really should concern you.

Despite advances in robotics that produced such realistic robo-pets like Paro, the robo-seal, many robo-pets are still hindered because they don't look or act like real pets. However a team from the University of British Columbia is set to make robo-pets more realistic with a smart fur that can allow robo-pets to sense their owners' emotional state.

Choosing healthy, quality provisions in a food culture awash in highly processed, overly packaged products, adulterated olive oils and factory farmed meats can be a complicated affair.

A study that highlights the importance of circumcision in New Zealand is pushing for routine practice on male infants in the country, but medical experts in the country disagrees, the New Zealand Herald reports.

This International Women's Day (8 March) the National Heart Foundation of Australia is urging Australian women to join the fight against their number one killer - heart disease.

Does weight lifting have negative psychological effect? In a new study, more than 10 per cent of the participants showed symptoms of a psychological disorder that led them to think that their body is “too small” or “insufficiently muscular”.

In most cases, the best way to restore your body's fluids and electrolytes after exercise is simply with water and food, particularly fruit.

If you take pharmaceutical sleeping pills to help alleviate insomnia, you are very likely putting yourself at serious risk of developing cancer or even dying.

A new marker of Alzheimer's disease can predict how rapidly a patient's memory and other mental abilities will decline after the disorder is diagnosed, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.

Researchers from the University of Bath have found that nano-scale tubes made of carbon could be used to safely penetrate human cells and deliver anti-cancer medicines or modified DNA molecules for gene therapy.

Can the song of a small bird provide valuable insights into human stuttering and speech-related disorders and conditions, including autism and stroke? New research by UCLA life scientists and colleagues provides reason for optimism.

Lady Blackthorne was beginning to look a little spherical. But it took a vet visit for Vryce Hough to take matters into her own hands and help the feline conquer her battle of the bulge.

At a time of growing tensions in the nursing industry, a national survey has shown that poor job satisfaction and a lack of trust in management are widespread in the workforce.

Traditional techniques and ingredients, as well as focusing on simplicity are two of the key culinary trend predictions for 2012, according to international food manufacturer McCormick’s ‘Flavour Forecast’ for 2012, just released.

Medical professionals have always warned people about the negative effects of marijuana on memory but haven't been able to explain why until now. An international team of scientists believe they are closer to finding out why taking cannabis impairs short-term memory.

Risk of Problems Later in Childhood Can Double with Snoring and Apnea

Researchers from the University of Zurich have found a cellular brake that protects cancer cells from chemotherapy - and they demonstrate which medication can be used to render it inoperative.

Teens exposed to alcohol use in films are at risk for binge drinking and other risky behaviors, Cancer Center study shows.

Upon fertilisation, a single cell is formed when egg and sperm fuse.

A 42-year-old obese woman, Marie Eaton, in Britain managed to lose 196 kg to prepare for her wedding day.With her size and weight, she cannot go up the stairs and sleep in the bedroom.

Counting Calories is a complicated business and one that is bound to leave you in midst of a maze.

Do you want to live forever in a robotic body? If Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov is to be believed he already has plans that will allow humans to inhabit robots in the next ten years.

A team of Trinity College Dublin researchers has developed a fully automated system that eradicates bacterial contamination in hospital water tanks, distribution systems and taps.

Neuroscientists show that HDAC2 enzyme could be a good target for new drugs.

Rare genetic diseases, long overlooked because they affect relatively few people, are getting new attention.

UCSF-led Study Shows How Interferon Works to Suppress Virus in Patients With HIV, Hepatitis

The largest ever clinical investigation into whether nicotine patches help pregnant women quit smoking has concluded that standard dose patches do not make a significant difference to the women's chances of giving up during the pregnancy.