Plans to get people to adopt healthier lifestyles will not work unless the government is more prepared to use legislation, peers believe. The House of Lords science and technology committee said ministers seemed to be mistaken in their use of what is known as the nudge theory.

A drug used by smokers to help them quit increases the risk of heart attacks and other serious cardiovascular problems, research says. An international team reviewed studies involving more than 8,000 smokers, and found more of those taking Champix fell ill than those on dummy drugs.

You've heard it a million times: If you want to lose weight, you have to eat fewer calories and/or burn them off at the gym. That's still true (sigh), but if it sounds like a lot of work, here's some great news: You don't have to totally overhaul your habits to shed extra pounds.

A dietary supplement given to pregnant women at high risk of pre-eclampsia can reduce the likelihood of the disease occurring, a study says. Writing in the British Medical Journal, researchers says the presence of an amino acid and antioxidant vitamins in the supplement helps to combat abnormally high blood pressure.

A total of 104 million women in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Central Asia and Southeast Asia have unmet needs for modern contraceptive due to method-related reasons. The number will increase to 161 million in the next four decades if concerns about the available methods are not addressed, according to Guttmacher, a US research institute.

An HIV positive person can reduce the risk of spreading the virus to uninfected partners by 96% if they are given anti-retroviral drugs immediately, according to the United States National Institutes of Health. An international study looked at 1,763 couples in which only one partner was infected with HIV.

Coffee, sex and blowing your nose could increase the risk of a type of stroke, say researchers in the Netherlands. The study on 250 patients identified eight risk factors linked to bleeding on the brain. They all increase blood pressure which could result in blood vessels bursting, according to research published in the journal Stroke.

THE World Health Organisation on Wednesday launched its first Global Status Report on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), which shows that nearly 80 per cent of the 36.1 million deaths that occurred worldwide in 2008 were caused by NCDs such as cancer, heart disease, strokes, chronic lung diseases, and diabetes.

A controlled diet high in fat and low in carbohydrate can repair kidney damage in diabetic mice, according to US scientists.
The study, published in journal PLoS ONE, showed a "ketogenic diet" could reverse damage caused to tubes in the kidneys by too much sugar in the blood.

(Health) - Despite earlier concerns, downing lots of coffee doesn't seem to increase the risk of high blood pressure, according to a new report -- but the evidence isn't conclusive. High blood pressure has been linked to heart disease, stroke, and a shorter life expectancy, and some scientists have suggested that coffee might fuel the

“Brain scans may be able to indicate potential Alzheimer's patients years before symptoms appear,” BBC News has reported. The BBC says that a small study has found that some parts of the brain may shrink up to a decade before outward signs of Alzheimer's disease appear.

(Reuters) - The elderly have a harder time multi-tasking than young adults because older people are far less nimble at switching neurological connections in their brains between activities, according to research released on Monday. The findings of neuroscientists from the University of California at San Francisco add new insights to a

A lack of vitamin D, even in generally healthy people, is linked with stiffer arteries and an inability of blood vessels to relax, research from the Emory/Georgia Tech Predictive Health Institute has found. The results add to evidence that lack of vitamin D can lead to impaired vascular health, contributing to high blood pressure and

We all know those fizzy drinks are bad for us, but can they cause terminal illness?

Fizzy drinks are high in kilojoules and sugar which are linked to obesity and several other health problems. It can be particularly dangerous to children, who are known to consume large quantities of it without feeling full. And let’s not forget the effect all that sugar has on our teeth!