HEALTH & MEDICINE

Twins joined at their heads were successfully separated at a British hospital last month. A charity helping disfigured children funded the risky surgery. The twins' operating team noted there's significant blood flow between their brains, making the surgery very risky. Nevertheless, the separation means the girls can live a normal mobile life after having been literally at each others' head for 11 months.

Qualitest Pharmaceuticals, unit of Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., is voluntarily recalling multiple lots of birth-control pills because of a packaging error that could lead to incorrect dosing. The error may leave women without adequate contraception and risk for unintended pregnancy, the WebMed reports.

British surgeons have successfully separated Sudanese twins joined at the top of their heads, and the babies are now recovering well.

Sacha Rumaner, 30, died on a dentist’s chair because of allergic reaction to mouthwash. Rumaner was not subjected to anaesthetic while having a routine treatment when suddenly the young woman went into shock. The incident happened at Morley Street dental clinic located in Brighton, East Sussex. Sacha complained that she feels itchy on her back and leg, and that she’s feeling hot. After that, the poor English woman suddenly collapsed and slid onto the floor. Just in a couple of minutes, the life...

American twins Joshua and Jacob Spates, who were joined at the spine, are now recovering in the pediatric intensive care after a successful 13-hour surgery. Their 34-member surgical team at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital is celebrating this medical victory.

A 30-year old Chinese farmer from Gonyi, central China, went on an axe rampage on Wednesday and killed six people.

More Australians are expected to be added to the number of patients suffering from chronic kidney ailments. According to an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) forecast released Wednesday, the proportion of diabetics who would require kidney transplants or dialysis would shoot up to 64 per cent in 2020 from 45 per cent in 2008.

A litter of glow-in-the-dark kittens must be taken seriously, as they may just shed light on a potential AIDS cure.

Athletes who compete in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London will face tougher anti-doping tests next year. For the first time, a new test to catch blood dopers and users of human growth hormone will be used, the BBC reports.

A U.S. study blamed popular cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants for learning problems among 4-year-olds.

A Minnesota-based food company recalled about 185,000 pounds of ground turkey products on Sunday for testing positive to salmonella. Further investigations are due to be conducted on the plant in Arkansas

Asthma patients could possibly be treated with a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, reports said.

For years, it has been an accepted dogma that obesity led to type 2 diabetes by causing inflammation, which was perceived to change the way the body responds to the effects of insulin. Scientists theorized that chronic, low-grade tissue inflammation related to obesity contributed to possible insulin resistance. However, a new study suggests that this theory may need to be updated, the Endocrine Web reports.

After a supposedly lifetime ban on blood donation by men who had sexual contact with another man was implemented in Britain in the 1980s as a response to the spread of HIV/AIDS and the lack of adequate HIV tests, United Kingdom Department of Health said on September 8, that it was lifting the ban.

The findings of a study conducted on 123 middle-aged and older adults, who added yoga classes to their standard diabetic care, yielded favourable results.

According to the American Chemistry Council, a family of plasticizer compounds called phthlates are fine and dandy additions to everything from wall coverings, flooring, toys, perfumes, shampoos and IV tubes.

The agriculture departments of four states in Australia are jointly taking action to prevent the further spread of the deadly avian paramyxovirus.

Skip the pesticides and try one of these natural methods for getting rid of lice.

Cancer remains one of the most feared diseases on the planet -- and cancer patients being treated by mainstream medicine are usually bombarded with radiation and subjected to toxic chemotherapy that destroys healthy cells and weakens the body while trying to kill tumors.

Tasmanian officials issued on Wednesday an alert over a virus that has infected racing and show pigeons in Victoria. The alert was over the risk of the Avian paramyxovirus being spread by the birds that cross the Bass Strait.

Researchers from the Victoria Department of Primary Industries have studied the DNA of five modern Tammar wallaby genes and reproduced a 60-million-year-old gene. The scientists will use the reproduced gene to develop a compound they plan to use to fight superbugs in hospitals.

Australian scientists from the Centre for Cancer Biology at SA Pathology have discovered an inherited gene defect which predisposes some people to developing acute leukemia. Furthermore, individuals who are high risk of developing the disease are possible to be identified, monitored and treated much sooner.

Vampire bats and Malaysian pit vipers’ mouths are potentially lethal, producing life taking and life-saving substances according to Chron.com and AFP.

About 165 million Europeans or 38 per cent of the continent's population are suffering from mental ailments, according to a new study released by the Dresden University in Germany.

Breakthrough dental technology attacks the first signs of tooth decay, rebuilding the tooth from within.

Researchers released around 300,000 mosquitoes in the Cairns suburbs of Yorkeys Knob and Gordonvale in far north Queensland. The mosquitoes have been specially treated with the potential to block the spread of dengue fever.

Fine line and wrinkles aren't inevitable. In fact skin experts believe that most of the skin damage can be prevented with a little know - how and some special care. Here are the Top10 factors to bear in mind no matter what your age.

Hundreds of new jobs will be created with the planned expansion of CSL's manufacturing facility in Victoria, Australia.

A new book about bizarre World War II plots revealed the strangest one of all: British spies planned to lace Adolf Hitler's food with female sex hormones to curb his aggressive tendencies.