ATLANTA – Mississippi now has the nation's highest teen pregnancy rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title, according to a new federal report released Wednesday. Mississippi's rate was more than 60 percent higher than the national average in 2006, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The teen pregnancy rate in Texas and New Mexico was ...

With Typhoon Ketsana brewing in the Pacific and drenching storms flooding southeast America, death tolls are rising as the need for disaster relief aid intensifies in these areas. If you live in one of these storm-tossed areas, be sure to follow these tips to stay safe, healthy and most importantly, alive. Flood-Related Injuries and Safety Guidelines Flood-related injuries and illnesses reported ...

The pregnant woman showed up at the medical center in flip-flops and in tears, after walking there to save bus fare. Her boyfriend had lost his job, she told her doctor in Oakland, and now — fearing harder times for her family — she wanted to abort what would have been her fourth child. "This was a desired pregnancy — she'd ...

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators are scolding the maker of Cheerios, saying it made inappropriate claims about the popular cereal's ability to lower cholesterol and treat heart disease. The Food and Drug Administration says in a warning letter to General Mills that language on the Cheerios box suggests the cereal is designed to prevent or treat heart disease. Regulators say that only ...

For one long winter, Yvonne Freeman, then a pregnant mother of three, lived on the streets of Olneyville, with her children, ages 3, 6, and 9. Day by day, she worried about how to feed them, how to keep them warm. But she didn’t worry about the one growing inside her. That one, she figured, was safe. Her obstetrician chided her ...

Health departments and hospitals are shifting into emergency mode as clusters of swine flu develop across the USA, and some are activating pandemic plans for the first time. Many states have declared a public health emergency in anticipation of a pandemic, a global epidemic in which the new flu strain spreads from person to person. Some of these states have requested ...

Mary Graham, a nursing aide who travels from home to home bathing people too ill to care for themselves, knows how sickness works - the way it sneaks up on the unsuspecting and tries to steal their breath away. She does her best to make her patients comfortable, but when that's no longer possible, when they are ready to let go ...

WASHINGTON – Just as millions head to tanning beds to prepare for spring break, the Food and Drug Administration will be debating how to toughen warnings that those sunlamps pose a cancer risk. Yes, sunburns are particularly dangerous. But there's increasing scientific consensus that there's no such thing as a safe tan, either. This is a message that Katie Donnar, 18, ...

WASHINGTON — People who used the calorie information available at fast-food chain restaurants in New York City bought 106 fewer calories' worth of food at lunch than those who didn't see or use the information, a study shows. Researchers at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene set out to analyze the impact of the city's menu labeling ...

ST. LOUIS _ Muted lighting, warm blankets, supportive mattresses and a quieter environment are all part of an effort to meet the urgent needs of older patients at St. Louis's Des Peres Hospital, which opened geriatric emergency rooms this month. "85-year-old adults will typically access emergency departments twice a year," said Deborah Wilke, a registered nurse and director of Des Peres' ...

Breast-feeding has well-documented benefits. Studies have shown it nourishes babies while fighting off infections and even boosting IQ. Now a study in Monday's Pediatrics suggests nursing also may protect infants from neglect. In a study of 6,621 Australian children over 15 years, researchers found that those who were breast-fed were far less likely to be neglected or abused by their mothers. ...

MADRID – She devoted years to caring for her mother, who died at age 101. Then Maria del Carmen Bousada embarked on a quest to become a mom herself. She lied to a California fertility clinic to skirt its age limit, and later pointed to her mother's longevity as a reason to expect she'd be around to care for her kids. ...

CHICAGO – Leo Lytel was diagnosed with autism as a toddler. But by age 9 he had overcome the disorder. His progress is part of a growing body of research that suggests at least 10 percent of children with autism can "recover" from it — most of them after undergoing years of intensive behavioral therapy. Skeptics question the phenomenon, but University ...

Nearly 50 percent of U.S. healthcare workers have decided against flu shots, said officials concerned about seasonal flu and a renewed outbreak of H1N1. Doctors and nurses are most likely to get vaccinated while less likely are workers such as lab technicians, orderlies and housekeepers, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said. Nursing home workers are the least ...

ATLANTA - U.S. health officials have lost track of how many illnesses and deaths have been caused by the first global flu epidemic in 40 years. And they did it on purpose. Government doctors stopped counting swine flu cases in July, when they estimated more than 1 million were infected in this country. The number of deaths has been sitting at ...