Birth control for men may be feasible, but biology makes it complicated

•	Don't Look for a Male 'Pill' Anytime Soon

 

Promise of smaller cuts, faster recovery fuels growth in robotic surgeries

•	Who's Wielding the Scalpel? It Might Be a Robot

 

Having an 'orphan disease' can leave people misdiagnosed and desperate

•	The Odyssey of a Rare Disorder

 

Not just more but sicker residents are expected in coming decades

•	Elder Boom Could Strain U.S. Health Care

 

Reflexes, memory and more stand to benefit, experts now believe

•	Video Gaming Might Keep Older Folks Young

 

Research could lead directly to new drugs without testing on animals, some say

•	Genetic Diseases May Be 1st to Benefit From Stem Cells

 

You can't channel surf at all these days without stumbling across drug advertisements featuring happy people, sunny days, vague descriptions and a quickly mumbled list of side effects.

•	Proliferation of Drug Ads Worries Some

 

Already a leading cause of vision loss among people older than 60, age-related macular degeneration is expected to skyrocket in numbers over the coming decades as the U.S. population grows older.

•	Advances Offer Hope Against Vision Loss

 

Imagine that you see a new mole and don't like the looks of it so you take a picture of it using your cell phone and e-mail it to your family doctor for an opinion.

•	Telemedicine Seen As Boon to Health Care

 

Hormone replacement therapy once seemed like a wonderful means to help women age gracefully. By dosing menopausal women with estrogen and progesterone as their bodies began to produce decreased amounts of those hormones, doctors believed they could help fend off heart disease, osteoporosis and cancer.

•	Is Hormone Therapy Making a Comeback?

 

People having a heart attack for the first time are more likely to survive these days than they would have in decades ago, researchers have confirmed.

•	Better Care While Healthy May Be Making Heart Attacks Less Severe

 

Vitamin D, an essential building block for strong bones, is garnering a reputation for its wide-raging health benefits in youth and adulthood.

•	How much vitamin D do you need?

 

People who have genes that predispose them to certain types of cancer may be able to reduce their risk of developing cancer by eating the right food and exercising, experts suggest.

•	Cancer prevention can be found in your refrigerator and in the gym

 

Probability. Risk factor. Genetic tendencies. Lifestyle variants. These terms have become as much a part of diagnosis and prognosis for major disease as a biopsy is for cancer.

•	Using a database to predict breast cancer risk gains credibility

 

More and more people with diabetes are living to older ages thanks to medical advances, but the long-term facilities that care for them in their later years may not be ready for the additional challenges that come with caring for diabetes just yet.

•	Caregivers face challenge from increasing numbers of elderly diabetics

 

All-you-can-eat buffets, super-sized meals and cavernous drinks may help keep your wallet full, but they're also helping to expand your waistline.

•	Too much is more than enough

 

With increasing life expectancy, improved surgical tools and better information on patient outcomes, many older men diagnosed with early prostate cancer are taking a pass on the traditional advice to hold off on treatment for a period of time.

•	For older men, prostate cancer treatment may become more aggressive

 

Finding ways to guard against common allergies is one of the most difficult tasks facing medical researchers.

•	Studies bring hope for long-acting ragweed allergy vaccine

 

Sepsis is a bacterial blood infection, and it is indeed a major health threat. As many as 18 million cases of sepsis are reported in the United States each year, and about 215, 000 patients die from it annually.

•	Sepsis still a deadly killer as scientists attempt to bring it under control

 

Your diet isn't all that healthy, and you haven't been to the gym since who knows when. You can't shed those pesky 20 extra pounds, but what's the use, you may ask -- after all, you're well into middle age.

•	Middle age dilemma: Improving your health, now and in the future

 

The prognosis for many cancer patients has been improving, with earlier diagnoses of some cancers, new treatments, and people surviving longer and longer.

•	Shortage of cancer doctors on the horizon, alternatives sought

 

Spinal problems are usually painful and difficult to cure. For those who suffer from scoliosis -- when the spine twists into an "S" or "C" shape -- the additional problem of dealing with appearance makes the condition particularly difficult to bear.

•	Scoliosis: Trying to solve the unnatural shape of things to come

 

Oncologists are calling it a "smart bomb" treatment, and it may some day give thousands of patients with hard-to-treat cancer a new lease on life.

•	Another use for lasers: increasing lifespan of liver cancer patients

 

To paraphrase the cartoon character Pogo: We have seen the future of cancer prevention, and it is us.

•	Cancer Prevention’s Future Found in the Here and Now

 

The more scientists learn about human genetic structure, the more possibilities there are for treating all sorts of conditions, both physical and mental.

•	DNA Research Gives New Insight into Treating Emotional Disorders

 

The Medical experts have seen the future for all the baby boomers reaching retirement age, and it's dimmer than it should be.

•	Eye Problems Plague Baby Boomers’ Future Vision