Is it mere coincidence, or do people with blue eyes really run a higher risk of being alcoholics? A new study out of the University of Vermont suggests that the link not only exists, but it appears to be a genetic one.Reporting in the…

Roughly half of first-time mothers in the U.S. gain too much weight during pregnancy, about the same proportion who are overweight at the start, a study finds. Researchers compared data on more than 2 million American women to a group of about 1,650 of their…

Cuba has become the first country in the world to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced in a news release Tuesday. “This new validation process will play a critical role in tracking and understanding progress in the fight to end…

Chicken nuggets, crackers and macaroni and cheese may be the only foods you can get your kids to eat, but experts agree, the sodium from these and other foods— not to mention the calories and fat— is setting the stage for a lifetime of health…

A teenage girl in India is recovering from a surgery during which doctors removed a 5-foot-long hairball from her stomach, Metro.co.uk reported. Kavita Kumari, 15, was diagnosed with a rare disorder called Rapunzel syndrome, which is marked by an addiction to eating hair. According to…

It hasn't been easy, but I have stepped up my exercise and gone back to meditation and yoga: techniques I had done regularly in the past. I am a believer in the importance of sleep, yoga and meditation, but I can't remember how or when…

A study underway at 50 U.S. hospitals is taking an alternative approach in investigating how to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease— a condition that affects an estimated one in nine people age 65 and older, and one for which there is no cure. In…

Who doesn't love picnics and barbecues? Thing is, if you don't practice safe food preparation, outdoor eating can also set the stage for foodborne illness.Every year approximately 1 in 6 Americans gets sick, and 128,000 are hospitalized from foodborne diseases, according to the CDC.…

A form of "virtual reality" therapy might help treat alcohol addiction, suggests a preliminary study from South Korea.The study involved only 10 patients with alcohol dependence. But senior researcher Dr. Doug Hyun Han of Chung-Ang University Hospital in Seoul and colleagues think the approach…

Small, specialized fitness studios are changing the way people work out, fitness experts say, as young, peripatetic exercisers prize variation over routine.Whether it is anti-gravity yoga or underwater cycling, trampoline training or Pilates, exercisers are spoiled for choice for ways to keep fit, and…