Health & Wellness

Parents who are in the market for the safest car for their family will do well to check out the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) safety ratings just released. For the 2010 safest car choices, the IIHS tightened their requirements when deciding which cars would earn the Top Safety Pick Award. This is good news for parents.

Dr. Jonathan Wright, who is a pioneer in bio-identical hormone research and who is also known for a previous book, Natural Hormone Replacement for Women Over 45, will be releasing his new book, Stay Young & Sexy with Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement, by Valentine’s Day 2010. For those who like to be the first on their block to have the latest books, advance orders can be placed now (see the end of the review for information).

Each year, the March of Dimes, the nation’s leading organization for pregnancy and baby health, tracks premature birth rates and gives a report that ranks each state and the nation overall on the number of babies born before 37 weeks of gestation.

Never underestimate the power of touch and massage, especially when it comes to cancer patients. A recent study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) finds that family caregivers can significantly reduce the suffering experienced by cancer patients at home when they administer simple touch and massage techniques.

According to a new study completed at the University of Pennsylvania, poor fear conditioning at the age of 3 can predispose that child to break the law as an adult.

Weight loss and fitness contestants return to the Biggest Loser Ranch in Utah for tonight's Biggest Loser episode. Since the resort at Fitness Ridge is available to the general public, you might want to tune in. The Biggest Loser Ranch in St. George Utah is also available to the public, with a minimum stay of one week, and is touted as one of the most affordable fitness spas in the country. You may want to consider the option without the publicity, and tonight is a good time to catch a glimpse.

A newly discovered genetic variation may be the reason why nearly half of women in the United Kingdom are vitamin A deficient. This previously unknown variation appears to reduce the ability to produce sufficient amounts of vitamin A from beta-carotene, according to researchers.

Millions of Americans are going hungry, and the number is rising. In 2008, a total of 17 million households in the United States, or 14.6 percent, went hungry and experienced food insecurity, the highest level seen since nationally representative food security surveys were first started in 1995.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has new data showing that omeprazole, a medicine used to reduce stomach acid and treat frequent heartburn, can reduce the anti-blood clotting effect of clopidogrel, better known as Plavix.

A prescription skin patch called Qutenza, which contains a synthetic form of capsaicin, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of pain due to postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), a condition that develops in some people who have had shingles. Capsaicin is the substance found in chili peppers and is frequently used to treat various types of painful conditions.