Health

While brain activity during sleep is still largely a mystery, scientists have discovered that dreaming not only consolidates our memories and helps us learn, it may also soothe stressful reactions to bad experiences.

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Veteran dieters know one way to eat less is to use smaller plates to fool the eye into thinking we have more food in front of us. But new research revealed the color of our plates and tables matter just as much.

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The average American adult drinks about three cups of coffee a day, and while many can’t imagine a morning without it, people taking certain drugs may want to think twice.

Studies show that more than a dozen medications — antidepressants, estrogen, and thyroid and osteoporosis drugs, for example — can be affected by coffee, which can block absorption or enhance the effects of the drugs.

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A boy in Cleveland, OH, who weighs more than 200 pounds, was taken from his mother by authorities last week. Officials were forced to remove the third-grader from his home when caseworkers decided that his mother’s inability to reduce his weight constituted medical neglect.

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Doctors have been telling us to take at least 10,000 steps a day to stay in shape and prevent health risks, but who has the time? Apparently, the new Striiv pedometer proves that it’s not a question of having time, it’s a question of having the right motivation.

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We never used to think of chubby kids as being anything other than adorable, but researchers are now more concerned about children’s eating habits now that more Americans are being considered obese.

According to a new study, 40 percent of American children enter kindergarten with a body mass index (BMI) greater than the 75 percentile. Anything over the 85th percentile is considered “overweight,” and over the 95th percentile is “obese.”

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Parkinson’s Disease is a frustrating and frightening medical condition, and treatment options are few. However, a group in Canterbury, England may have made a surprising discovery that could benefit not only them, but everyone else in the world – singing seems to make them feel better.

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Mom gets a text about putting a necktie on your duck. The guy who sits across from you at work gets a text about a clown made of marshmallows. Your ex-girlfriend gets a text about that one time when you saw Osama Bin Laden at Best Buy playing ‘Mario Kart.’ All of those texts can now easily be explained by the newest bedtime nuisance, sleep texting.

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While you should eat, drink and be merry on Thanksgiving, doctors are warning not to overdo it. Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to what’s known as “holiday heart syndrome.”

The term was coined back in the 1970s when researchers detected heart rhythm abnormalities in 24 study participants, none of whom had a history of heart disease — but all of whom had too much to drink over the holidays.

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If you’re one of those women people tease because you’re never seen without a Starbucks cup in your hand, you may actually be bettering your health. All that coffee might be warding off cancer.

Researchers at Harvard University who followed the medical records of more than 67,000 women over a 26-year period found that those who drank at least four cups of java per day had a 25 percent lower risk of developing endometrial cancer (cancer of the uterus lining), with a seven percent decrease seen in those who drank two cups daily.

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The United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is reporting world AIDS deaths and new HIV infections have each dropped 21 percent since the peak of the AIDS pandemic, the most optimistic report the group has ever issued.

Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS program, says in a news release, “We have seen a massive scale-up in access to HIV treatment, which has had a dramatic effect on the lives of people everywhere.”

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Painful ear infections, common among children, are frustratingly heartbreaking for parents. But what if you could stave them off simply by having your kids chew gum?

Scandinavian researchers have found “fair evidence” to support the conclusion that children who chew gum containing the natural sweetener xylitol may have a lower risk of developing middle ear infections. In fact, regular consumption of xylitol in gum, lozenges or syrup was associated with a 25 percent reduced risk for such infections.

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