Routinely sleeping 6 hours or fewer a night significantly increases the risk of stroke symptoms among middle-age to older adults, U.S. researchers say. Lead author Megan Ruiter of the University of Alabama at Birmingham said the study involved 5,666 normal-weight adults who were at low risk...

A study involving college students found half who reported having poor sleep also reported a fear of the dark, researchers in Canada said. Lead author Taryn Moss and principal investigator Colleen Carney of Ryerson University in Toronto measured blink responses to sudden noise bursts in light...

Death attributable to smoking is declining, with 200,000 such deaths anually for U.S. men, and 180,000 for women, researchers said. Brian Rostron of the Center for Tobacco Products at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said smoking is the leading cause of preventable mortality in the United...

U.S. researchers suggest if men wait until they were older before having children, their children and grandchildren may have comparatively long lives. “If your father and grandfather were able to live and reproduce at a later age, this might predict that you yourself live in an...

Getting more money — such as a pay raise — may not make one happier, especially if the recipient is neurotic, British and U.S. researchers say. Dr. Eugenio Proto of the University of Warwick and Aldo Rustichini of the University of Minnesota said the results of their study...

Eating more fruit and vegetables may help smokers who want to quit and stay tobacco-free for longer, U.S. researchers say. Gary A. Giovino of the University of Buffalo's School of Public Health and Health Professions and colleagues surveyed 1,000 smokers age 25 and older nationwide. The...

Suggestion — a rabbit's foot or a lucky coin — can influence how people perform on learning and memory tasks, New Zealand and U.S researchers said. Maryanne Garry and Robert Michael of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and Irving Kirsch of Harvard Medical School...

Sleep loss exaggerates the degree to which people anticipate impending emotional events, particularly among those highly anxious, U.S. researchers say. Lead author Andrea Goldstein, a graduate student in the Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, and...

Students and staff at a Canadian school were awaiting test results to determine if they contracted HIV or hepatitis from improperly administered diabetes tests. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported 80 students and staff at the aboriginal Southeast Collegiate high school in Winnipeg,...

Celebrity TV chef Jamie Oliver exposed unhealthy food in school lunches, but his efforts may have inadvertently led to worse food, a British official said. Prue Leith, the restauranteur and former British government food adviser, told the Hay Festival the idea behind the chef's campaign...

The sight of junk food in sleep-deprived people activates reward centers in their brains, but not in those who are well-rested, U.S. researchers say. Marie-Pierre St-Onge, the study's principal investigator, and colleagues at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center and Columbia...

A program in Canadian elementary schools designed to rid schools of bullying behavior directed at students who stutter is effective, researchers say. Marilyn Langevin, acting executive director and director of research at the Institute for Stuttering Treatment and Research at the University of...

Many respondents to a U.S. survey on sweet beverages said drinking “sugary drinks” was a part of all-American culture. The survey by Interlex Communications, Inc., in partnership with the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity and other groups questioned 1,894 U.S....

The “sandwich generation” — Brits who care for children and elderly parents — might get a break in the form of “respite” holidays, a government official said. “Caregivers are treated as second-class citizens compared to those whom they support, yet if...

A 2-year-old British boy who had a heart attack and was kept alive by CPR has recovered after his heart stopped for 39 minutes, his mother said. Trudy Hilary said she found her toddler Zach collapsed on the floor Jan. 26 and performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on him for 10 minutes until...

The portion of uninsured U.S. young adults ages 18-25 from 24.5 percent in the first quarter of 2012 year to 23 percent in the second quarter, a survey found. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index found the uninsured rate for those ages 18-25 first began to decline in the fourth quarter of...

People who have to sit for long periods, such as on long flights, can take steps to reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis, a U.S. physician says. Dr. Phyllis Kozarsky of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said when a blood clot forms in an arm or leg, if a part of the...

Routine screening of veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder or depression can ease “any perceived stigma” attached to the illnesses, medical officials say. Col. Charles Engel, M.D. — the RESPECT-Mil program director at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and...

Current marijuana use among U.S. high-school students was more common than current cigarette use — 23 percent compared to 18 percent, federal officials say. The 2011 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta found U.S. teen cigarette...

Brain injuries so subtle they're detected only by a very sensitive scan may predispose combat soldiers to post-traumatic stress disorder, U.S. researchers say. Lead author Dr. Jeffrey J. Bazarian of the University of Rochester Medical Center said the nature of the interaction between...

New Mexico and Montana have the highest rates of injury-related deaths, about three times higher than those of New Jersey and New York, a non-profit group says. The Facts Hurt, a report by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found about 50 million...

Some vaccines stored in offices that provide free immunizations were stored improperly or at inappropriate temperatures, U.S. health investigators said. The Department of Health and Human Service Office of the Inspector General's report — Vaccines for Children Program:...

People who ignore gum disease may end up having knew trouble, U.S. researchers discovered. Dr. Nabil Bissada of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland said bacteria might link the mouth and the knee. Bissada and colleagues analyzed data on 36 patients with gum disease and arthritis of...

Affordability, rather than a belief that they do not need insurance, is major barrier to U.S. young adults obtaining health insurance coverage, researchers say. Sara R. Collins, Ruth Robertson, Tracy Garber and Michelle M. Doty of the Commonwealth Fund in New York said a survey of young adults...

Dogs respond to a person who is crying regardless of whether it is their owner or an unfamiliar person, researchers in Britain found. Dr. Deborah Custance and Jennifer Mayer, both of the Department of Psychology at the University of London, developed a procedure to examine whether domestic...

Children living in rural areas of the United States have fewer food allergies than children who live in urban areas, researchers found. Lead author Dr. Ruchi Gupta — an assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and a physician at the Ann...

Sexually active women age 25 and younger should be tested for the sexually transmitted disease Chlamydia every year, U.S. health officials advise. Karen Hoover is an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said sometimes Chlamydia symptoms of are...

Children can't get hoof and mouth disease — that's a disease of livestock — but they can get something that sounds similar, U.S. health officials said. Eileen Schneider of the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention in Atlanta, said all children can get hand, foot and...

One-third of U.S. high school students say they texted or e-mailed while driving a car in the past month, but almost all teens wear seat belts, officials say. The National Youth Risk Behavior Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported although motor vehicle crashes...

Eleven newborn males in New York City had confirmed herpes simplex virus after a rare circumcision ritual from November 2000 to December 2011, officials said. Officials at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and a report published in the Centers for Disease Control and...