BBC Health News
BBC News - Health
The latest stories from the Health section of the BBC News web site.
- Does outdoor play help keep the doctor away?
Does outdoor play help keep the doctor away?
- US 'sobriety' tests for Londoners
Problem drinkers in London are to be given American-style sobriety tests aimed at keeping them away from alcohol.
- Cannabis users double crash risk
Drivers who use cannabis before driving double their chances of causing a collision, research suggests.
- Would you throw away a week in the Bahamas?
'Bin-bags full' of wasted medicines
- Dementia plaque 'rapidly cleared'
Destructive plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients have been rapidly cleared by researchers testing a cancer drug on mice.
- Obesity ads 'risk child stigma'
A US advertising campaign showing stark images of overweight teenagers is criticised by a senior US public health official.
- Toxic alcohol toll rises in India
The number of people who have died in the Indian state of Orissa after drinking toxic illegal alcohol rises to 31, officials say.
- Heart disease risk 'inherited'
Scientists say a common heart disease which kills thousands each year is passed genetically from father to son.
- US contraceptive rule 'must go'
The top Republican in Congress calls for a law against a contraceptive rule if President Obama does not back down in the face of Catholic leaders' anger.
- Gene therapy 'gave me sight back'
Three US citizens who lost their sight in childhood have reported a dramatic improvement in vision after having gene therapy in both eyes.
- Bug found in more hospital taps
Pseudomonas is detected in water outlets in the neonatal units at three more hospitals in Northern Ireland.
- Parkinson's cells 'made in lab'
Scientists in the US have successfully made human brain cells in the lab that are an exact replica of genetically caused Parkinson's disease.
- Hundreds seek NHS implant advice
Almost 1,000 private patients with PIP breast implants have contacted the NHS, according to MPs.
- VIDEO: Cancer overshadowed in DR Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo faces so many challenges battling diseases such as malaria, AIDS and cholera that cancer has been pushed off the radar.
- VIDEO: Pakistan investigates drugs deaths
Professor Javed Akram, who is leading the clinical investigation into contaminated medicines in Pakistan, explained how the problem was identified.
- Transplant jaw made by 3D printer
An 83-year-old woman is fitted with a jaw made by a 3D printer in what doctors say is the first operation of its kind.
- AUDIO: 'Wonderful' to have sight back
Katie Piper told Radio 5 live about being able to see after she was blinded in one eye after an acid attack.
- 'Birth defect risk' for diabetics
The risk of birth defects increases four-fold if the pregnant mother has diabetes, a study of 400,000 pregnancies in England suggests.
- 'Cycling gave me my freedom back'
'How cycling helped me fight my brain tumours'
- VIDEO: Brains may be 'wired' for addiction
Abnormalities in the brain may make some people more likely to become drug addicts, according to scientists at the University of Cambridge.
- When was the real baby boom?
Why 1920 was the biggest year for
- Sugar tax needed, say US experts
Sugar added to processed foods is as damaging as alcohol and should be regulated, claim US health experts.
- 'Swan' family want genetic answer
Mother tries to raise the profile of a "syndrome without a name"
- Dutch unease over tobacco lobbying
Are Dutch officials too close to the tobacco industry?
- VIDEO: Mystery illness at US high school
High school students in the small community of Leroy, New York State, have been coming down with strange tics and verbal outbursts, with no obvious cause.
- VIDEO: Singing teacher's speech problems
A singing teacher - who once auditioned for the Spice Girls, is trying to raise awareness of the rare neurological condition that's paralysed her voice box.
- VIDEO: Contaminated drugs given to 40,000
More than 100 people have died in Lahore after taking contaminated heart medicine, Pakistan officials have said.
- VIDEO: Soldier's mind-control bionic op
A Tyneside soldier travels to Austria for the first stage of a process to fit him with a bionic arm he will be able to control with his mind.
- Foetus parties: Womb with a view?
Prof Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, outlines her fears about the "commercialisation of childbirth"