Health News Headlines

New research suggests doctors are contacting patients on Internet dating sites and engaging in other unprofessional online behavior — and sometimes getting caught.

Told she was too fat to be a model, Danielle Segal shed a quarter of her weight and was hospitalized twice for malnutrition. Now that a new Israeli law prohibits the employment of underweight models, the 19-year-old must gain some of it back if she wants to work again.

Allergy season has come early and hit with a wheezing vengeance in parts of the South and Midwest this year, thanks largely to an unusually warm winter. Abundant pollen is causing watery eyes, sniffles and sneezing.

(Reuters) - Patricia Rief-Heskett purchased long-term care insurance 15 years ago because she was worried about the rising cost of nursing home care. Now that the Omaha, Neb., retiree is 67, she worries that coverage won't be available if and when she needs it. Rief-Heskett recently received notice from John Hancock Financial …

Members of Congress investigating shortages of crucial drugs are targeting fake pharmacies allegedly set up solely to buy and resell the drugs at huge markups.

WEDNESDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- In many parts of the United States, the infrastructure and systems to deliver health care during or after catastrophic disasters such as major earthquakes or widespread disease outbreaks are rudimentary at best, experts warn.

WEDNESDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- Two long-term studies from the Netherlands suggest that routine mammography screening does save women's lives.

WEDNESDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia appear to spread through linked nerve cells in the brain, new research indicates.

WEDNESDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- Most sinus infections are caused by viruses and should not be treated with antibiotics, which target bacteria and are useless against viruses, new expert guidelines state.

WEDNESDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- The costs of the obesity epidemic to the United States and the economic value of curbing it are not captured fully by current methods, according to a new report.

WEDNESDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- A new blood test may be able to predict a heart attack before it actually happens, the test's developers claim.

WEDNESDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- Men worried about encroaching baldness, take heart: A genetic analysis of tissue taken from both bald and hairier spots on men's scalps has identified a protein involved in male pattern hair loss.

TUESDAY, March 20 (HealthDay News) -- Calculating the difference in blood pressure readings taken from the left and right arms might help predict a patient's odds of dying from heart disease, a new study suggests.

TUESDAY, March 20 (HealthDay News) -- Aspirin, a popular weapon in the war against heart attacks, may also play a role in cancer prevention and treatment, three new British studies suggest.

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

WEDNESDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- Strong smells lead people to take smaller bites of food, which suggests that aroma might be used as a way to control portion size, new research suggests.

WEDNESDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- When used in tandem with standard Western treatments, alternative therapies such as acupuncture, acupressure and dietary changes may spell significant relief for patients battling chronic sinusitis, a new pilot study suggests.

(HealthDay News) -- Too much sun can permanently damage your skin and increases your risk of developing skin cancer.

WEDNESDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- High-fat meals might boost inflammation in people with type 2 diabetes, a new study says.

WEDNESDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- Pregnancy is safe for women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, according to a new study.

(HealthDay News) -- The heel is the largest of the human foot's 26 bones. And it's no stranger to strain and pain.

Stanley Thornton is 31, but he sleeps in a crib, plays with Play Dough and has baby mommy.

Nearly a week after Jason Russell’s public meltdown, the “Kony 2012″ director is still in the hospital undergoing treatment for “brief reactive psychosis,” according to his wife, who blamed the break on extreme exhaustion, stress and dehydration. “Though new to us, the doctors say this is...