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ABC News’ Lisa Stark and Enjoli Francis report: Pop an Ambien – or its generic version, zolpidem – and you’re supposed to get a good night’s rest. But according to a new study released today, a growing number of users are ending up in the...         Full Article

Half of all autistic kids will run away before they turn 17. Many of them die, often by drowning. But researchers and rescuers are baffled by a small group of children with autism who beat the odds, surviving longer than unaffected children typically would.         Full Article

Saudi Arabia says five people have died from a Sars-like virus in the east of the country and two more are seriously ill. Full Article

There’s a reason why being kind to others is good for you— and it can now be traced to a specific nerve. When it comes to staying healthy, both physically and mentally, studies consistently show that strong relationships are at least as important as avoiding smoking and obesity.  But how does social support translate into physical benefits such as lower blood pressure, healthier weights and other physiological measures of sound health?  A new study published in Psychological Science, suggests that the link may follow the twisting path of the vagus nerve, which connects social contact to the positive emotions that can flow from interactions. MORE: Q&A: Jon Kabat-Zinn Talks About Bringing Mindfulness Meditation to Medicine The researchers, led by Barbara Fredrickson, professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, recruited 65 members of the faculty and staff of the university for a study on meditation and stress.  Roughly half were randomly assigned to take an hour-long class each week for six weeks in “lovingkindness” meditation, which involves focusing on warm, compassionate thoughts about yourself and others. In the class, the participants were instructed to sit and think compassionately about others by starting to contemplate their own worries and concerns and then moving out to include those of more of their social contacts. People were taught to silently repeat phrases like, “May you feel safe, may you feel happy, may you feel healthy, may you live with ease,” and keep returning to these thoughts when their minds wandered. They were also advised to focus on these thoughts, and on other people, in stressful situations such as when they were stuck in traffic. “It’s kind of softening your own heart to be more open to others,” says Fredrickson. The group not assigned to the meditation class was placed on a waiting list for a future class. For 61 days, all of the participants logged their daily amount of meditation and prayer (those in the class were encouraged to practice every day) as well as their most powerful experiences of Full Article

There are a number of reasons that attribute to this prickly situation. Are you experiencing a severe burning sensation in your chest and feeling turned off at the sight of food? You may be going through the uncomfortable heart burn. box:� Home remedies for heart burn 1.To a glassful of water, add two teaspoon natural apple cider vinegar and two teaspoons honey and gulp it down before you eat you food at mealtimes. 2.Chew some basil leaves to get relief from acidity. 3.Another way out is to suck a small jaggery piece after food. 4.A few carom seeds popped in the mouth after a full meal can provide great relief from heartburn. 5.Milk and coconut water also help keep the heartburn away. 6. Do you have a mint plant nearby? Why not take a few drops of mint juice after every meal? 7. Sleep in propped up position Troubled by chest burn? Eat sensibly! read more Full Article

The rate rose 28 percent over the decade spanning the financial crisis.         Full Article

Mental disorders are common after stroke. They include anxiety, irritability and agitation, uncontrollable crying, apathy, delusions and hallucinations. But the most common disorder is depression, either major or minor. Full Article

A teenager is fitted with a mobile phone-controlled artificial arm Full Article

Research suggests the NHS may actually be under-managed Full Article

Picking up a dropped pacifier and sucking it clean may help infants to be better germ fighters. The practice not only protects babies from the nasty microbes on the floor, but passes on good bugs that can lower the risk of allergies, according to a new study from Swedish researchers published in Pediatrics. “Parental sucking of their infant’s pacifier is associated with a reduced risk of allergy development and an altered oral flora in their child,” they write. Infants whose parents use their tongues to burnish binkies were more likely to have different strains of bacteria in their gut, and with more helpful bacteria populating the intestines, the less likely the babies were to develop allergies and eczema. When the 184 infants in the study were four months old, the scientists collected saliva samples to determine which types of bacteria resided in their guts. At six months old, parents reported whether their infants used pacifiers and how moms and dads cleaned them. The researchers checked back in with the parents when their babies were 18 and 36 months old to see if the infants had developed allergies and when the first symptoms appeared. (MORE: Bacteria on Binkies: A Recipe for Crankiness) By 18 months, 25% of the babies had eczema, 15% had developed some type of food allergy and 5% had been diagnosed with asthma. But the children whose parents sucked on their pacifiers to sanitize them were one-third less likely to have eczema, which is considered the earliest sign of allergies, at 18 months than kids whose parents relied on other techniques — such as rinsing the binkies in tap water or boiling the pacifier. By the time the kids were 3 years old, those who had their pacifiers sucked clean were still considerably less likely to develop eczema than kids whose parents employed other cleaning strategies. And it didn’t seem that parents were passing on more germs or infections to their little ones with the practice; regardless of how a parent cleaned a pacifier, all of the babies Full Article

Think for a while before you reach for the brightly colored lip color to add luster to your lips! A UC Berkeley study confirms that using lipstick to make lips red may expose women to toxic elements and dangerous metals. The research study read more Full Article

The post-lunch dip can also be said to occur 16-18 hours after an individual's bedtime from the previous night. Full Article

Stroke is no longer a disease only of the elderly. Nearly 20 percent of strokes occur in people younger than age 55, and over the past decade, the average age at stroke occurrence has dropped from 71 to 69. Full Article

A man who was killed in Grand Falls-Windsor earlier this month was one of at least 70 people waiting to get into addiction treatment centres in Newfoundland and Labrador. Full Article

There are wide variations in the quality of care during childbirth, according to a report by doctors. Full Article

The way the potential closure of NHS residential homes in NI has been handled has been "disastrous" the health minister says. Full Article

The largest study to date on the effects of eating omega-3 fatty acids confirm that foods high in the fats can preserve memory and cognitive functions only in people without diabetes. Health experts hold up the Mediterranean diet as likely the best way to eat to stay healthy into old age. High in fruits and vegetables, as well as grains and oils low in saturated fats, the diet is linked to lower risk of heart attacks, stroke, childhood asthma and cancer. (MORE: It’s the Olive Oil: Mediterranean Diet Lowers Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke) A study from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Athens, Greece now shows that people around age 64 who primarily ate a Mediterranean diet, which is high in omega-3 fatty acids, may also have a lower risk of memory loss. Because there are no pharmaceutical cures or treatments for memory loss or dementia, the researchers say such lifestyle behaviors that can slow or prevent cognitive decline are important strategies for keeping the brain sharp. The 17,478 African-American and Caucasian men and women were part of the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, and they answered questions about their dietary habits, including how well they stuck to the principles of the Mediterranean diet and avoided red meats and dairy products. The volunteers also agreed to take tests to measure their memory and cognitive abilities over an average of four years. Seven percent of the study participants developed cognitive impairments during the study period of about four years. Among the healthy participants, those who most consistently ate a Mediterranean diet were 13% less likely to develop memory and thinking problems. (MORE: Mediterranean Diet Linked to Lower Child-Asthma Risk) The same benefit did not apply, however, to the 17% of people with diabetes; among those with diabetes, people who followed the Mediterranean diet were 30% more likely to show signs of cognitive impairments during the study than those who didn’t follow the diet. Among non-diabetics, the participants who ate Full Article

For any addiction, external cues and stress can trigger cravings that are hard to resist, and the latest research points to an area of the brain that might be responsible for sabotaging recovery. The study, which was published in JAMA Psychiatry, found that those with elevated activity in a region called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) even while they were at rest were eight times more likely to drink again within 90 days than those whose vmPFC was calmer when they were feeling relaxed. The findings are “a major contribution,” to understanding alcohol addiction, said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in a co-written editorial that accompanied the research. The authors, led by Rajita Sinha, professor of psychiatry at Yale University, studied the brain activity of 45 recovering alcoholics who were in a treatment program based on the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, during three different experiences — a stressful one, one that enticed them to drink, and a neutral, relaxing situation. The scientists compared their brain activity patterns to those of 30 social drinkers of similar age, intelligence and gender. The participants in the rehabilitation program were abstinent for four to eight weeks. In order to generate the three experiences, the researchers asked all of the participants to describe recent stressful events, situations in which they ended up drinking, and circumstances that helped them to feel relaxed (such as sitting on a beach and listening to the waves). These were compiled into personalized two-minute videos that the team played back to the volunteers while they were brains were scanned using functional MRI. The scenarios induced the desired emotional states; heart rates rose during the stressful experiences and fell during the more relaxing ones. But while the alcoholics appeared to be relaxed while picturing themselves on sunlit beaches, their brains — specifically the vmPFC — told a different story. “With relaxation, social drinkers relax their prefrontal cortex. It’s deactivation,” says Sinha, “For the alcoholic brain, what we found in this region was hyperactivity, as if Full Article

CHICAGO, May 7, 2013 -- Celiac disease is estimated to affect one out of 141 of Americans, or just under 1 percent of the population. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics encourages Americans to learn about celiac disease - it can affect your health or someone you love. celiac disease.jpg read more Full Article

Corey Newton was one of between 600 and 700 patients expected to flock to the two-day Missions of Mercy clinic. Full Article

The cause of the increase is unclear, experts say.         Full Article

Regardless of whether patients lost weight, following the Mediterranean-style diet resulted in a 9 percent decrease in levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL) known as "bad" cholesterol. Full Article

The number of underground 'steroid labs' in Wales which sell illegal performance-enhancing drugs has risen and is a cause for concern, says Public Health Wales. Full Article

Unhealthy habits which increase heart disease risk could also be affecting brain function in people as young as 35, a study suggests. Full Article

On Tuesday, the FDA announced that the Plan B morning-after pill will move out from behind the counter and be available for girls ages 15 and older without a prescription. The decision comes after Judge Edward Korman of the District Court of Eastern New York overturned Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ decision to put an age limit on obtaining Plan B without a prescription. In 2011, the Food and Drug Administration recommended that all women be allowed to access Plan B, a form of emergency contraception, without prescription. At the time, Plan B was available over-the-counter only to women aged 17 or older. But Sebelius overruled that proposal, and questioned the safety of having young girls taking the drug, which contains higher doses of the same synthetic hormone found in birth control pills, on their own. Under the FDA’s new ruling, Plan B will now be available next to condoms and other reproductive health products, for girls to pick up off the shelves without engaging a pharmacist. The packaging will contain a code that alerts cashiers to ask for proof of age from anyone purchasing the drug. (MORE: Judge Orders Morning After Pill Be Available Without Prescription, Without Restrictions) Reproductive rights groups sued the government following Sebelius’ decision, which led to Judge Korman’s ruling on April 5 to make Plan B available over-the-counter without restrictions to all women. In making his argument, Judge Korman said Sebelius’ ruling was made in “bad faith and improper political influence,” writing in his decision, “it is hardly clear that the Secretary had the power to issue the order, and if she did have that authority, her decision was arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.” Korman gave the FDA 30 days to lift the current restrictions, but the FDA says the new approval was independent of the judge’s order, and resulted from an already pending application from Teva that requested their product be made available over-the-counter for women aged 15 or older. However, FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg briefed Sebelius about the review process and the amended Teva application, and Sebelius felt the Full Article

The MMR vaccine immunises against measles, mumps and rubella. Full Article

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, had minor back surgery in Germany on Saturday and the operation was successful, state news agency KUNA said. Sheikh Nawaf, 75, is the brother of the ruling emir and is next in line to lead the oil-producing Gulf Arab state. The 83-year-old emir, who had a pacemaker installed in 1999, has appeared in good health in recent public appearances. ... Full Article

A new brand of caffeinated chewing gum has prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to look into whether it promotes adverse health effects in children and adolescents. Full Article

The H7N9 bird flu virus that has killed 27 people in China might have originated from chicken and duck influenza viruses, a study suggests. Full Article

Levels of demand on NHS accident and emergency departments in England have been described as unsustainable by the head of the health service regulator. Full Article