If your doctor has prescribed an exercise stress test to monitor how your heart performs during activity, there are a few things you should do before the test. The U.S. National Library of Medicine offers these suggestions to help you prepare. For at least three hours prior to the stress test, don’t eat or smoke. [...]

You know that tobacco is bad for your health, and your mouth is no exception. The American Dental Association says smoking or chewing tobacco can cause or contribute to. Cancers of the mouth. Gum (periodontal) disease, which can lead to lost or sensitive teeth. Bad breath, stained teeth, and even a stained tongue. Reduced ability [...]

About 20 percent of children with sensorineural hearing loss also have eye disorders, a new study has found. Sensorineural hearing loss, caused by damage to the inner ear or to the nerves that link the ear to the brain, affects up to three of every 1,000 children, according to background information in the study. Half [...]

Difficulty recognizing words in loud settings is a common concern for older people, and new research suggests the problem may involve more than hearing loss, but rather age-related structural changes in the brain. We found that a small portion of the brain’s auditory cortex is closely related to word recognition, and that structural change in [...]

Outdoor pool staff are more likely to follow sun safety measures if their peers do the same, suggests a study by researchers at Emory University in Atlanta. Lifeguards and aquatic instructors at outdoor pools are at high risk for sun overexposure, noted Dawn M. Hall and colleagues at the university’s Rollins School of Public Health. [...]

Rashes, eczema and other skin troubles can be exacerbated by combat conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan and are a major cause of American soldiers being evacuated for treatment, a new report finds. In the history of warfare, skin diseases have been responsible for poor morale and combat ineffectiveness, the researchers noted in the February issue [...]

A large study of tibolone, a drug used to treat menopausal symptoms and to prevent osteoporosis, was halted early after researchers found that the synthetic steroid significantly increased the risk of recurrent breast cancer among survivors of the disease. Tibolone isn’t available in the United States but is approved in 90 countries for easing menopausal [...]

In a finding that speaks to the complicated connection between having migraines with aura and an increased risk of cardiovascular trouble, Harvard researchers report that a gene variant that was suspected to be a link between the conditions is not but that two genotypes could well be. Migraine with aura, in women in particular, is [...]

Deaf children can develop their own language-like gesture systems that expand in the same way that verbal skills grow in other children as they mature. That’s the finding from a University of Chicago researcher who has studied deaf children in Nicaragua for many years. Since 1996, I have been working with deaf adolescents and adults [...]

As if fighting cancer wasn’t hard enough, a new Dutch study concludes that one in three people who survive the ordeal won’t be able to find a job. The meta-analysis of more than 20,000 cancer survivors found that 33.8 percent of those who’d battled cancer were out of work vs. 15.2 percent of healthy people. [...]