• Limit on cold remedies for kids was FDA's idea 10/10/2008, 5:59 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — When drug makers made a surprise announcement this week that they no longer recommend cough and cold remedies for youngsters under 4, they didn't let on that it was the government's idea.

• 1 in 4 US teen girls got cervical cancer shot 10/9/2008, 3:54 p.m. EDT
ATLANTA (AP) — One in four teen girls have rolled up their sleeves for the relatively new vaccine against cervical cancer, federal health officials said Thursday.

• German doing well after 1st double arm transplant 10/8/2008, 9:03 p.m. EDT
MUNICH, Germany (AP) — A German farmer who received the world's first complete double arm transplant said Wednesday that incredulity gave way to joy when he woke from surgery to discover he had arms again.

• German doing well after 1st double arm transplant 10/8/2008, 6:04 p.m. EDT
MUNICH, Germany (AP) — A German farmer who received the world's first complete double arm transplant said Wednesday that incredulity gave way to joy when he woke from surgery to discover he had arms again.

• Stem cells from testicles an option to embryos 10/8/2008, 1:00 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cells taken from men's testicles seem as versatile as the stem cells derived from embryos, researchers reported Wednesday in what may be yet another new approach in a burgeoning scientific field.

• University: Stem-cell study used falsified data 10/8/2008, 1:59 a.m. EDT
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The University of Minnesota has concluded that falsified data were used in a 2001 article published by one of its researchers on adult stem cells. The school is asking that the article be retracted.

• Drug companies: No cold medicines for kids under 4 10/7/2008, 8:58 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Don't give over-the-counter cold remedies to kids under 4, drug companies said Tuesday. What sniffling little ones need, doctors said, are plenty of fluids and lots of tender, loving care.

• Get moving: Guidelines set healthy activity levels 10/7/2008, 8:58 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Get moving: New exercise guidelines released Tuesday set a minimum sweat allotment for good health. For most adults, that's 2 1/2 hours a week. How much physical activity you need depends largely on age and level of fitness.

• Fan use linked to lower risk of sudden baby death 10/7/2008, 8:58 p.m. EDT
CHICAGO (AP) — Using a fan to circulate air seemed to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in a study of nearly 500 babies, researchers reported Monday. Placing babies on their backs to sleep is the best advice for preventing SIDS, a still mysterious cause of death.

• Drug companies: No cold medicines for kids under 4 10/7/2008, 5:10 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Don't give over-the-counter cold remedies to kids under 4, drug companies said Tuesday. What sniffling little ones need, doctors said, are plenty of fluids and lots of tender, loving care.

• Get moving: Guidelines set healthy activity levels 10/7/2008, 4:05 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Get moving: New exercise guidelines released Tuesday set a minimum sweat allotment for good health. For most adults, that's 2 1/2 hours a week. How much physical activity you need depends largely on age and level of fitness.

• Drug companies: No cold medicines for kids under 4 10/7/2008, 11:06 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Children under 4 should not be given over-the-counter cough and cold remedies, drug companies said Tuesday in a concession to pediatricians who doubt the drugs work in kids and worry about their safety.

• Get moving: Guidelines set healthy activity levels 10/7/2008, 10:53 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Get moving: The nation's new exercise guidelines set a minimum sweat allotment for good health. For most adults, that's 2 1/2 hours a week.

• Fan use linked to lower risk of sudden baby death 10/7/2008, 9:19 a.m. EDT
CHICAGO (AP) — Using a fan to circulate air seemed to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in a study of nearly 500 babies, researchers reported Monday. Placing babies on their backs to sleep is the best advice for preventing SIDS, a still mysterious cause of death.

• Fan use linked to lower risk of sudden baby death 10/7/2008, 7:40 a.m. EDT
CHICAGO (AP) — Using a fan to circulate air seemed to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in a study of nearly 500 babies, researchers reported Monday. Placing babies on their backs to sleep is the best advice for preventing SIDS, a still mysterious cause of death.

• Task force: Colon cancer screenings can stop at 75 10/6/2008, 9:23 p.m. EDT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Most people over 75 should stop getting routine colon cancer tests, according to a government health task force that also rejected the latest X-ray screening technology.

• Fan use linked to lower risk of sudden baby death 10/6/2008, 7:42 p.m. EDT
CHICAGO (AP) — Using a fan to circulate air seemed to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in a study of nearly 500 babies, researchers reported Monday.

• Task force: Colon cancer screenings can stop at 75 10/6/2008, 5:01 p.m. EDT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Most people over 75 should stop getting routine colon cancer tests, according to a government health task force that also rejected the latest X-ray screening technology.

• Unclear how much pounding new hips, knees can take 10/6/2008, 3:43 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — One in 75 patients who gets a knee or hip replaced must get it replaced again within three years, new research finds, although the studies underscore a question: Just how much pounding can a new joint take if you want it to last?

• 3 share Nobel prize for work on AIDS and cancer 10/6/2008, 11:26 a.m. EDT
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Three European scientists shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for separate discoveries of viruses that cause AIDS and cervical cancer, breakthroughs that helped doctors fight the deadly diseases.

• 3 European scientists share Nobel medicine prize 10/6/2008, 7:44 a.m. EDT
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Three European scientists shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for separate discoveries of viruses that cause AIDS and cervical cancer, breakthroughs that helped doctors fight the deadly diseases.

• Doctors: No hamsters or exotic pets for young kids 10/6/2008, 7:43 a.m. EDT
CHICAGO (AP) — Warning: young children should not keep hedgehogs as pets — or hamsters, baby chicks, lizards and turtles, for that matter — because of risks for disease.

• Jump seen in staph-linked flu deaths in kids 10/6/2008, 12:08 a.m. EDT
CHICAGO (AP) — More children have died from flu because they also had staph infections, according to a new government report that urges parents to have their kids get the flu shot.

• Recent winners of the Nobel Prize in medicine 10/5/2008, 11:19 a.m. EDT
(AP) — Recent winners of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, and their research, according to the Nobel Foundation:

• Medicine award kicks off Nobel Prize announcements 10/5/2008, 11:19 a.m. EDT
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Two scientists who have won acclaim for research into the growth of cancer cells could be candidates for the Nobel Prize in medicine when the 2008 winners are presented on Monday, kicking off six days of Nobel announcements.

• Salmonella sickens people in 12 states 10/5/2008, 10:56 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is urging consumers to thoroughly cook frozen chicken dinners after 32 people in 12 states were sickened with salmonella poisoning.

• Rabid Iraqi dog arrives in US; warning issued 10/3/2008, 11:58 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal health officials have issued a public health warning against rabies after an Iraqi puppy with the disease arrived in the United States.

• FDA: Tiny bit of melamine OK in most foods 10/3/2008, 4:28 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tiny traces of melamine, the chemical that has set off a global food safety scare, are not harmful in most foods, except baby formula, government experts said Friday.

• Largest study of US children to begin in January 10/3/2008, 2:23 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The largest study of U.S. children ever performed — aiming to track 100,000 from conception to age 21 — will start recruiting mothers-to-be in North Carolina and New York in January.

• As economy sags, faces do too, cosmetic docs say 10/3/2008, 8:10 a.m. EDT
CHICAGO (AP) — The economy isn't the only thing that's sagging — so are faces, breasts and bellies as would-be cosmetic surgery patients increasingly opt against costly nips and tucks because of tough financial times.

• As economy sags, faces do too, cosmetic docs say 10/3/2008, 7:33 a.m. EDT
CHICAGO (AP) — The economy isn't the only thing that's sagging — so are faces, breasts and bellies as would-be cosmetic surgery patients increasingly opt against costly nips and tucks because of tough financial times.

• FDA: No quick decision on cold medicines for kids 10/2/2008, 7:22 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top government health official Thursday rejected pediatricians' calls for an immediate ban on over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for young children, saying it might cause unintended harm.

• FDA urged to recall cold medicines for youngsters 10/2/2008, 7:48 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — With a new cold season coming, the government is trying once more to decide what to do about over-the-counter medicines for kids' coughs and sniffles. Doctors question the drugs' benefits and worry about their risks.

• Computers help docs spot breast cancer on X-rays 10/1/2008, 9:02 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — A computer is as good as a second pair of eyes for helping a radiologist spot breast cancer on a mammogram, one of the largest and most rigorous tests of computer-aided detection found.

• Computers help docs spot breast cancer on X-rays 10/1/2008, 6:17 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — A computer is as good as a second pair of eyes for helping a radiologist spot breast cancer on a mammogram, one of the largest and most rigorous tests of computer-aided detection found.

• Mailmen might deliver meds in next anthrax attack 10/1/2008, 3:42 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — If there ever is another anthrax attack, the mailman may deliver your antibiotics. Federal health officials are beginning a project in Minneapolis-St. Paul to let letter carriers stockpile a personal supply of emergency antibiotics so they are protected and ready to go deliver aid to the rest of the city at a moment's notice.

• Study traces AIDS virus origin to 100 years ago 10/1/2008, 3:35 p.m. EDT
NEW YORK (AP) — The AIDS virus has been circulating among people for about 100 years, decades longer than scientists had thought, a new study suggests. Genetic analysis pushes the estimated origin of HIV back to between 1884 and 1924, with a more focused estimate at 1908.

• Faster genetic test for flu virus approved 10/1/2008, 2:19 a.m. EDT
ATLANTA (AP) — The government approved a new genetic test for the flu virus Tuesday that will allow labs across the country to identify flu strains within four hours instead of four days.

• Study: Voting could be hazardous so be careful 9/30/2008, 5:12 p.m. EDT
CHICAGO (AP) — Could voting for president be hazardous to your health? An analysis of Election Day traffic deaths dating back to Jimmy Carter's 1976 win suggests yes, but the authors say that's no reason not to go to the polls.

• Faster genetic test for flu virus approved 9/30/2008, 3:25 p.m. EDT
ATLANTA (AP) — The government approved a new genetic test for the flu virus Tuesday that will allow labs across the country to identify flu strains within four hours instead of four days.

• Group calls for free malaria treatment in Africa 9/30/2008, 9:22 a.m. EDT
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — Making tests and treatment for malaria free dramatically increases the number of people who seek treatment for the disease that kills 1 million people a year, an international medical aid group said Tuesday.

• Heart patients should be screened for depression 9/29/2008, 7:10 p.m. EDT
DALLAS (AP) — Heart patients should be regularly screened for signs of depression, the American Heart Association recommended Monday.

• Heart patients should be screened for depression 9/29/2008, 5:50 p.m. EDT
DALLAS (AP) — Heart patients should be regularly screened for signs of depression, the American Heart Association recommended Monday.

• More foods getting labeled as US or foreign-grown 9/29/2008, 2:51 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — No more wondering where your hamburger came from, or where your lettuce and tomatoes were grown: Starting this week, shoppers will see lots more foods labeled with the country of origin.

• More foods getting labeled as US or foreign-grown 9/29/2008, 2:35 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — No more wondering where your hamburger came from, or where your lettuce and tomatoes were grown: Starting this week, shoppers will see lots more foods labeled with the country of origin.

• Health clubs gear programs for those with ailments 9/29/2008, 4:23 a.m. EDT
DALLAS (AP) — When Patti Kiernan found out she had osteoporosis, she decided it was time to find a more focused workout.

• Mexico pushes national campaign to lose weight 9/28/2008, 10:54 a.m. EDT
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Abraham Leon was getting a checkup when he found out he had high blood pressure and was at risk of developing diabetes.