People who use some lower-wattage microwaves may not be cooking food long enough, a U.S. official warns. Kathy Bernard, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service, said it is important to know the wattage of your microwave oven. “To find it, look on the...

Women with larger social networks are more likely than women who are socially isolated to survive breast cancer, U.S. researchers say. Lead author Candyce H. Kroenke, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research, said the study involved 2,264 women...

The Los Angeles City Council has declared Meatless Mondays, joining other cities in urging residents to go vegetarian once a week. The resolution adopted this week makes Los Angles the largest city so far to join the Meatless Monday campaign, NBC News reported. The effort was launched in 2003...

Squash is mostly starchy carbohydrates but studies show it has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic properties, a U.S. food expert says. “Squash includes both winter and summer varieties, some examples include, zucchini from the summer and butternut, buttercup, acorn, pumpkin...

Forty-five percent of deployed U.S. service members drank at least one energy drink daily, with 14 percent drinking three or more a day, health officials say. A report published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report determined the...

U.S. government officials said they finalized out-patient Medicare hospital payment increases, which go into effect Jan. 1. The Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center updates Medicare payment policies and rates for hospital out-patient and Ambulatory...

Colon cancer survivors who eat a lot of sugary and high-carbohydrate food have a higher risk of the cancer coming back, U.S. researchers say. Lead author Dr. Jeffrey Meyerhardt of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and colleagues found in a previous study those with a typical...

The manufacturer of 7UP faces a lawsuit over its touting of an antioxidant in its regular and diet Cherry Antioxidant sodas, a U.S. non-profit group says. Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, said the lawsuit filed in federal...

The Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, is an annual event that encourages U.S. smokers to make a plan to quit, sponsors say. The 37th annual Great American Smokeout is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 15. Quitting smoking has immediate benefits to health at any age,...

An estimated 443,000 U.S. adults died in 2010 from smoking-related illnesses — the single largest preventable cause of death — federal health officials say. A report published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report said...

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for U.S. children, federal health officials say. Researcher Nagesh Borse of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said unintentional injuries account for more than 12,000 children’s deaths a year. To prevent them, people need to...

British doctors will now be testing all pensioners for dementia every time they visit a doctor or nurse under plans to improve the diagnosis of dementia. Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday that awareness of dementia was shockingly low and that more than a million Britons would soon be...

The painkiller ibuprofen was associated with a reduced risk of bladder cancer in patients in northern New England, U.S. researchers say. Margaret Karagas of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center and the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth University and Richard Waddell of the Geisel School of...

Employers in Sweden often rule out overweight job candidates because of concerns about their productivity, researchers say. Per Johansson, an economics professor at Uppsala University, said the research, conducted by the Institute for Evaluation of Labor Market and Education Policy, found...

The Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy director was fired for not acting on a complaint about the pharmacy tied to a deadly meningitis outbreak, an official said. Dr. Lauren Smith, interim commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, said in a statement Wednesday that the...

A yellow fever outbreak in the Darfur region of Sudan has killed 67 people, the United Nations Health Agency reported. The number of yellow fever cases in the area has more than doubled since the outbreak began last month, the agency added Wednesday in a statement. The disease, caused by a...

Although half of America may be happy its candidate for president won, half of the population is unhappy with the outcome, a U.S. communications expert says. Jenny Armentrout, assistant professor of communication studies at Saint Mary”s College, in Notre Dame, Ind., said when the...

Every hour of television watched after the age of 25 reduced the viewer’s life expectancy by nearly 22 minutes, researchers in Australia found. Study leader Dr. J. Lennert Veerman, a senior research fellow at the University of Queensland, and colleagues used 2008 data from the Australian...

U.S. government health officials issued a final rule to increase payments to primary care physicians who treat Medicare patients next year. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, also said there is a new policy to pay a...

Dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane or any disaster is stressful because familiar places have disappeared or have changed, a U.S. expert says. Dr. Henri Roca, medical director of Greenwich Hospital’s Integrative Medicine Program in Connecticut, said the upheaval brought about by a...

Both men and women require the same basic nutrients for optimal health, but there are certain nutrients which boost men’s health, a U.S. food expert says. “Seafood, especially oysters are rich in zinc, which is essential for a robust immune system as well as for prostate health....

Patients are regularly advised to get an annual flu vaccine, but 25 percent of St. Louis’ emergency medical technicians do not get vaccinated, researchers say. Sixty percent of EMTs who did not get vaccinated said they do not trust the public health authorities when they say the...

New York City’s mayor said colder night temperatures and a new storm Wednesday are a threat to the estimated 40,000 left homeless by Hurricane Sandy. “It’s cold outside, and it’s going to remain cold for the next several days so it’s critical that people keep...

Choosing a candidate may depend more on a person’s biological makeup than a careful analysis of issues, U.S. researchers say. Lead researcher Roger Newman-Norlund of the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health and colleagues had 24 college students reveal...

British health officials said they started an ad campaign too counter “a false sense of security,” with fewer people getting flu shots this year than last year. At this time last year, 55 percent of people over 65 in England had been given the flu shot, but this year it is less...

Requiring that medication made in Indonesia comply with Muslim dietary law will kill the pharmaceutical industry, the head of a state-owned company said Friday. Iskandar, president of Bio Farma, which produces vaccines, said the measure, currently being considered by the legislature, will cost...

A wrongful-death lawsuit has been filed against a Chicago Marriott hotel stemming from the death of an Irish tourist infected with Legionnaires’ disease. The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court Thursday, alleges the hotel is responsible for infecting Thomas Joseph Keane, 66, with...

Opponents to wind farms who allege health risks have their first scientific support in a peer-reviewed study linking proximity to turbines to illness. An article, published in the “Noise and Health” journal, gave optimism to some people in rural and agricultural southwestern...

More than 1 million meals are going to be offered along with bottled water in parts of New York City flooded or without power, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “After days without power, the most immediate need for many New Yorkers is food and water and the state is working aggressively to...

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo put the state’s power utilities on notice that they will be held accountable for their Hurricane Sandy performance. Cuomo sent a letter Thursday to the seven chief executive officers who head utilities in New York state saying he would take appropriate action...