Scientists have identified electroencephalogram EEG patterns - brain electrical activity - that indicate when patients under the general anesthetic propofol lose and regain consciousness. The findings were published in the latest edition of PNAS Early Edition...

Older adults who play video games are more likely to be happier and have better emotional health. The finding came from a new study by experts from North Carolina State University and was published in Computers in Human Behavior. According to the results, seniors who play video games reported increased levels of emotional well-being...

Expectant mothers who have a pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) of 40 have an increased risk of cesarean section (c-section) deliveries. This new finding was published in the journal Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, and suggests that females with more than 16 kg (30 lbs...

New mothers suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms more than the general population, according to new research carried out by Northwestern Medicine and published in The Journal of Reproductive Medicine...

A bedside device that expertly analyzes eye movements could one day save lives by helping doctors determine whether stroke is the cause of a patient's disabling, severe, continuous dizziness, or a more benign condition like vertigo...

The risk of developing heart failure tripes for people who suffer from insomnia. The finding came from a new study, the largest yet to examine the association, and was published in the European Heart Journal. Previous research suggested that insomniacs have a moderately higher risk of having a heart attack (27 to 45% greater) than people who rarely have problems sleeping...

More evidence has been revealed that untreatable, antibiotic-resistant infections from a rare but life-threatening superbug are on the rise in U.S. hospitals, creating a growing public health concern, officials said Tuesday...

A simple test that analyzes the chemical signature of a patient's exhaled breath could help diagnose stomach cancer, according to new research by scientists from Israel and China reported online in the British Journal of Cancer this week...

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has just announced that the UK is developing a new plan to tackle cardiovascular disease (CVD) which could save up to 30,000 lives over the next several years. The UK is behind a lot of other Western countries in managing cardiovascular diseases...

The most common surgery in the United States is cesarean delivery (c-section), and it is performed on 1.67 million women every year. Surprisingly, hospital cesarean rates now vary widely across the U.S. according to a new study by the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health...

Colonoscopy screening reduces the risk of advanced colorectal cancer by about 70% in average-risk adults. The finding came from a new study led by a researcher at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine...

After sixty years of free universal health care, considerable increases in health care spending, and the introduction of several nationwide health initiatives, the United Kingdom has fared badly when compared to its Western European neighbours and Australia, researchers reported in The Lancet...

Two mutated genes lead to the destruction of nerve cells in ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease or Motor Neuron Disease in the United Kingdom, researchers from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital reported in the journal Nature. They added that the mutations are also linked to the development of other related degenerative diseases...

Certain sleeping pills raise the risk for hip fractures in nursing home residents. The medications associated with this elevated risk are known as nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic drugs, a class of sleeping medications that includes Lunesta, Sonata, and Ambien. The finding came from new research conducted by experts from Harvard Medical School, led by Sarah D. Berry, M.D., M.P.H...

Electronic medical test results have turned out to be much like email: doctors receive a large volume of them, therefore some get lost by the wayside. The new finding came from a study conducted by a group of researchers at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston and was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association...

Overdosing on narcotic pain relievers resulted in over 15,500 deaths in the USA in 2009, the FDA informed, a 300% rise over the last two decades. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it has joined other health professional organizations in encouraging doctors to seek training in how to safely prescribe opioid pain medications...

Life expectancy among some women in the U.S. is steadily declining, according to the latest research published in the journal Health Affairs. The study indicates that in almost half of the country's counties, women under the age of 75 are dying at rates higher than before...

HIV infection is linked to a 50% increased risk of heart attack. The finding came from a new study that involved data from over 82,000 veterans and was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine...

The World Health Organization estimates that there are over 360 million people in the world living with disabling hearing loss. As people are living longer than they did in the past, the prevalence of hearing loss has also gone up. Close to a third of people above the age of 65 live with hearing loss...

A gene associated with obesity and overeating is also linked to the most fatal skin cancer, malignant melanoma. The finding came from a new study conducted by Cancer Research UK experts at the University of Leeds, England, and was published in Nature Genetics...