Health: News, features, tips and alerts to keep you healthy - WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge, Louisiana News, Weather, Sports
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Plenty of Americans are eager to use their mobile phones and tablet computers to better manage their health care, a new poll finds -- though the nation has a way to go before we're all consulting Dr. Smartphone.
Being picked on by your brother or sister may seem like a normal part of growing up, but for some kids the bullying may be a source of depression and anxiety, a new study suggests.
For dads aiming at marital bliss, a new study suggests just two factors are especially important: being engaged with the kids, for sure -- but also doing a fair share of the household chores.
Anyone who has ever been a volunteer knows that it feels good to help others, but researchers have found a less obvious benefit: volunteering can help reduce older adults' risk of high blood pressure.
The more tobacco advertising teenagers see, the more likely they are to start smoking, according to a new study.
New research seems to support the theory that Otzi the Iceman was attacked and suffered some form of brain damage in the final moments of his life.
Drivers who think hands-free devices for talking or texting are safer than handheld cellphones are mistaken, a new report suggests.
Restricting the sale of large sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages in restaurants and other food-service outlets would affect 7.5 percent of Americans each day and have the greatest impact on overweight people.
The U.S. government has dropped its effort to block a court order that would make the morning-after contraceptive pill available over-the-counter to all women and girls.
Having a designated driver sounds like a great idea, but a new study found that more than one-third of those who were supposed to drive their pals home safely had been boozing it up themselves.
Day care centers for people with Alzheimer's disease can give their spouses and other family caregivers a much needed source of stress relief, a new study suggests.
Youth football players are much more likely to suffer concussions in games than during practice, and older players have a much higher risk of concussion than younger players, a new study finds.
The belt tightening triggered by the recent recession appears to have forced families to make tough choices about care for children with chronic physical or emotion problems, a new study suggests.
The proportion of families in the United States that can't keep up with their medical bills declined between 2011 and 2012, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As the number of adults taking prescription drugs has grown, so has the number of children being accidentally poisoned by them, a new study finds.
You're jogging at a steady pace, enjoying your favorite music through your headphones. Your breath is short and your heart is pumping. Your legs feel like they couldn't carry you any faster.
In their pursuit of a golden glow, young American women say that beauty concerns, not health worries, will determine how willing they are to use so-called sunless tanning products, a new survey finds.
Researchers have developed a network of so-called "nanoparticles" that theoretically could be injected into the body and release insulin to counteract rising blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
Teen birth rates in the United States are dropping sharply, especially among Hispanic teens, according to a new government report.
The overall health of Americans isn't improving much, with about six in 10 people either overweight or obese and large numbers engaging in unhealthy behaviors like smoking, heavy drinking or not exercising.
When a classmate commits suicide, teens are more likely to consider or attempt suicide themselves, according to a new study.
Pregnant women with specific alterations in two genes may be at increased risk of suffering depression after giving birth, a small new study suggests.
Although spring arrived late this year in parts of the United States, the summer allergy season will still be strong, according to a sinus expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
New research suggests the dominant side of your brain may make the call on which ear you choose to use while talking on your cellphone.
Film star Angelina Jolie will have her ovaries removed to help lower her odds for ovarian cancer, People magazine reported Wednesday.
Weight gain in men and women is predicted by two different genetic variations -- so-called polymorphisms, according to a new study from the Netherlands.
The notion of wealthy "sugar daddies" with young, pretty wives and well-heeled "cougar" women with handsome, young husbands may be more fiction than fact, new research suggests.
Close to half of U.S high school students text while driving, a habit that dramatically increases their risk of getting into a potentially fatal car crash, a new study shows.
The widening American waistline may be feeding an epidemic of sleep apnea, potentially robbing millions of people of a good night's rest, a new study suggests.
Next time you have a craving for fast food, don't kid yourself that choices today are much healthier, a new study says.
When a health insurer told obese people they could either pay 20 percent more for coverage or start exercising, most of them decided to get active, according to a new study.
Significantly more U.S. children have a neurodevelopmental or mental health disability than did a decade ago, according to new research.
The vast majority of parents admit to being distracted in some way while driving their young child around, a new survey reveals.
Most Americans are falling short when it comes to exercise, a new government report shows.
The Obama administration announced late Wednesday that it would appeal a federal judge's order to eliminate any age restrictions on who can buy morning-after birth control pills without a prescription.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the over-the-counter sale of Plan B One-Step for use as emergency contraception by girls and women aged 15 and older.
More than one-third of people having a stroke don't call 911, even though that's the fastest route to potentially lifesaving treatment, a new study reports.
Danish scientists testing a novel HIV treatment in human trials contend that they're confident their strategy will result in a cure for the AIDS-causing virus, according to news reports.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a policy statement on home births that includes a recommendation that there be a caregiver who's present solely to take care of the newborn.
When the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings were identified as two brothers -- one of them a teenager -- many parents wondered, "Who raised these boys?"
Most U.S. adults aren't sweet on the idea of soda and candy taxes, and many doubt the bigger price tags would trim the national waistline.
Although many Americans are now breathing cleaner air, others are living in cities that are more polluted than they were a decade ago, a new report shows.
The United States appears to be in the throes of a prescription drug abuse crisis among teens, with a new survey showing that 24 percent of high school students -- more than 5 million kids -- have abused these medications.
As if parents didn't have enough to worry about, it seems a growing number of kids are taking the "Cinnamon Challenge" -- a stunt that has landed some in the ER.
A hefty chunk of your happiness may depend on whether you believe you're having as much sex as your peers are, new research suggests.
A Mississippi man has been arrested in connection with the sending of letters suspected of being tainted with the deadly toxin ricin to President Obama and a Republican senator, federal agents said Wednesday night.
Less than one-third of the 4,700 annual underage drinking-related deaths in the United States result from road crashes, according to a new study.
Authorities were searching Tuesday for suspects and motives behind the twin bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon that killed three people and injured more than 140 others.
The more sleep teens get, the less likely they are to be overweight, a new study finds.
As anyone who's lost a job can attest, stress and worry often quickly follow. But the health of your heart after unemployment can also take a tumble.
Drug company salespeople provide family doctors with little or no information about the harmful effects of medicines they are promoting, a new study says.
Cash-strapped Americans often skip doses of pricey prescription drugs or take less than was prescribed by their doctor, new research shows.
A compound found in red meat and added as a supplement to popular energy drinks promotes hardening and clogging of the arteries, otherwise known as atherosclerosis, a new study suggests.
Reducing dietary salt intake and boosting levels of potassium would prevent millions of deaths from heart disease and stroke worldwide each year, according to three new studies.
Children of women who drink moderate amounts of alcohol while pregnant don't appear to have any neurodevelopmental problems when it comes to balance, a new British study suggests.
In a new finding sure to be shared with some skeptical parents, it seems that the brains of video game enthusiasts make better and faster use of visual input.
U.S. veterans with Gulf War illness complain of different types of symptoms, and researchers now think they know why: There may be two distinct forms of the illness, depending on which areas of the brain have atrophied.
Sneezing, watery eyes, scratchy throat? What you think is a summer cold may actually be allergies, an expert says.
If you hear that a friend's beloved family member has joined a clinical trial for cancer treatment, don't assume the patient is human.
The types of TV shows that families watch influences the amount of junk food that preschool children eat, a new study suggests.
A recent study of hand-washing habits found only 5 percent of people who used the restroom scrubbed long enough to kill germs that can cause infections.
All those "status updates" and "tweets" that people post as they clamor to be part of the online social network may reflect a troubling trend toward self-absorbed behavior in the United States, a new study suggests.
For many people, once-a-year dental cleaning may be enough to prevent gum disease that leads to tooth loss, according to a new study.
Regular hand washing and proper hygiene are essential to avoiding common summer-camp health issues such as lice, pinworm and bathing-suit dermatitis, according to a former summer camp physician.
More than half of people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also suffer from depression, according to a new study.
A new brain imaging study appears to rule out one potential cause of dyslexia, finding that vision problems don't lead to the common reading disorder.
Scientists say five people wearing special electrodes were able to control a model helicopter by their thoughts alone.
Cancer is often lamented as a modern-day scourge, but researchers have discovered a type of bone cancer in a 120,000-year-old Neanderthal rib.
Drugs used to treat early-stage Alzheimer's disease may also reduce patients' risk of heart attack and death, according to a new study.
Summer is the most dangerous time of the year for teen drivers and distracted driving is often the reason why, experts say.
Having grown up with gadgets galore, young parents aren't as worried about the potentially corrosive effects of too much screen time on their offspring, a new study suggests.
Four out of five U.S. cancer doctors encountered shortages of essential drugs between March and September of 2012, which affected the quality of care they provided and increased treatment costs, new research shows.
In one key way, Brandon Brooking is like millions of other 16-year-old American boys: He loves NASCAR.
Men with high levels of narcissism -- an unrealistically positive self-image coupled with feelings of entitlement -- have an easier time than others attracting a potential mate, new German research says.
Could the secret to educational achievement lie in a person's DNA? A major new study suggests that genes do play some role in how well an individual does at school.
The news media and the mind may have a powerful role in people's experience of so-called "Wi-Fi syndrome," if a new study is correct.
Legalizing marijuana may have unintended consequences. Since medical marijuana was legalized in Colorado, more than a dozen young children have been unintentionally poisoned with the drug, researchers report.
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