A baby born today in Ethiopia is three times more likely to survive to age 5 than one born in 1990. This reduction in child mortality isn't due to expensive international aid, but rather an investment in bare-bone health clinics run by minimally trained community workers.

Teenagers would sooner die than ask about birth control or other sexual health issues at a doctor visit. But if pediatricians bring the subject up, teenagers are happy they had the chance to talk, a study finds. But one-third of doctors aren't taking the lead.

Many people over 60 won't have to work so hard to lower their blood pressure, if doctors adhere to guidelines for treatment. That's because there's a lack of proof that people with moderately high blood pressure can reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes by trying to lower it substantially with drugs.

The Victorian proverb touting the health benefits of daily apple consumption has data to support it, British researchers say. And cholesterol-lowering statin drugs do, too. People who eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and take statins when directed would be healthier still.

Government-sponsored drug consumption rooms may be helping save the lives of drug users in Denmark. Addicts can use drugs safely and without being judged in the "fix rooms," which have medical staff on duty to treat overdoses.

More and more people are using sleeping pills, but they can have side effects, including dangerous drowsiness the next morning. Sleep experts say the best way to get a good night's sleep is to have a sleep routine, including going to bed at the same time each night.

Who wouldn't want something better than mammograms for breast cancer screening? But machines that extract breast fluid to look for abnormal cells aren't it, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Still, some doctors have been offering the test to patients.

Everybody knows that you're not supposed to smoke while you're pregnant because it's bad for the baby. But nicotine patches often used to help women quit may pose a risk too, researchers say. Other forms of nicotine replacement may do less harm.

The ebb and flow of estrogen levels in a women's monthly cycle may have a protective effect on the eye's retina, ophthalmologists say. And that fluctuation could explain a possible connection between birth control pills and glaucoma. Women who have used the pill a long time may want to consider glaucoma screening.

Doctors have long overlooked a tiny band that connects two bones in the knee. Now Belgium surgeons say that's a mistake. The obscure structure is a full-fledged ligament. When it malfunctions, people recovering from anterior cruciate ligament injuries may run into trouble.