Oral contraceptives are one of the most effective means of preventing an unwanted pregnancy, yet different versions of the Pill carry different risk-benefit profiles. Now, a new study has shed light on what may be a risk for women who use a newer variety of birth control pill that contains the hormone drospirenone, which includes popular brand names like Yaz and Yasmin.

Parents are often reassured when a trip to the pediatrician results in an antibiotic prescription for their sick child.

Banning soda in schools is an increasingly common response to the high rate of obesity among kids. However, one of the first studies to specifically examine the impact of these bans on what students consume finds that they fall flat.

If you want a truly frustrating job in public health, try getting people to stop smoking. Even when researchers combine counseling and encouragement with nicotine patches and gum, few smokers quit. Recently, though, experimenters in Italy had more success by doing less. A team led by Riccardo Polosa of the University of Catania recruited 40 hard-core smokers ones who had turned down a free spot in a smoking-cessation program and simply gave them a gadget already available in stores for $50.

The use of the common pain reliever acetaminophen (Tylenol) may be linked to increases in asthma symptoms, according to a new review published in the journal Pediatrics. Although acetaminophen is generally known as one of the safest drugs on the market, this finding may cause some parents and patients, particularly those who are susceptible to breathing disorders, to reevaluate the benefits and risks of this medication.

In a bizarre turn of events, some American parents are not only refusing to vaccinate their children against dangerous diseases, but they re actually actively trying to get their kids sick. Parents across various states are sending and receiving live viruses in the mail, often from complete strangers, in a misguided attempt to give their children immunity via actual infection, without vaccinations.

The FDA s efforts to mandate the display of graphic images on cigarette packs have been blocked by a judge s ruling. Declaring that the regulation violates the tobacco companies First Amendment right to free commercial speech and would likely be considered unconstitutional, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon stopped the regulation from taking effect until a lawsuit filed by the companies against the graphic images is resolved.

ACSH applauds John Tierney s column in today s Science section of The New York Times, in which he argues for the promotion of electronic cigarettes as a harm reduction method to reduce the tremendous toll of smoking in the U.S.

It turns out that the extra pudge around your waistline may lead to more than just an increased risk of diabetes or heart disease it may also increase your risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), according to a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

A new study from the German Heart Center in Munich should ease the minds of air travelers with pacemakers or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs). The researchers found that undergoing metal detector security screenings did not result in any functional abnormalities in such devices.