Doctors have long used allergy shots to desensitize children and adults to environmental allergens such as bee stings, pollen, mold and dust mites. Now researchers are trying to apply that theory to food allergies, through processes called oral immunotherapy and sublingual immunotherapy.

•	Fighting Food Allergy One Dose at a Time

 

Most people are cutting back in these tough economic times, trying to save more and make do with less. But can you cut back when it comes to your health?

•	Budget Cuts That Won't Harm Your Health

 

Whether cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins should be given to children apparently depends on who you ask.

•	Pros and Cons of Statins for Kids

 

A very private health problem, it turns out, is associated with potentially significant and costly complications.

•	Constipation May Be Just a Prelude

 

Though good vision is what allows the perception of the colors, shapes and sights of the world, Americans appear to be fairly lackadaisical when it comes to protecting their eye health, according to surveys done by U.S. eye groups.

•	In a Busy World, Eye Care May Be Lagging

 

It's natural that a woman might be skeptical about exercising while she's pregnant. So many changes are occurring in her body, it makes sense to have second thoughts about whether exercise might harm her or her unborn child.

•	Don't Let Pregnancy Inhibit Exercise

 

Teen drivers are more likely than adults to crash their car, due to their youth and inexperience -- but don't try telling them that.

•	As Drivers, Teens Have Some Risky Ideas

 

People's teeth are wearing away at a faster rate than ever, dissolving under a blistering acid attack that they've brought on themselves, dental experts say.

•	Favorite Drinks May Be Harming the Teeth

 

You don't need to be a member of the high-IQ organization Mensa to figure out that good vision can contribute to your being a better driver.

•	Cataract surgery can help older people keep driving safely

 

If you're nose is stuffy and your head aches at the same time the robins, tulips and crocuses appear, chances are pretty good you don't have a head cold.

•	Sinus pressure especially painful in the springtime

 

It just takes one bout of binge drinking to damage the brain, and that damage can last a lifetime.

•	As if there was any doubt, binge drinking destroys the brain… very fast

 

No matter the season, the possibility of a strep infection from a sore throat is always present. And just how fast this dangerous bacterial infection can be diagnosed plays an important role to reduce harmful effects that can -- if left untreated -- play havoc with a person's health.

•	'Fast Strep Test' Yields Accurate Results

 

No one knows how many Americans with lower back pain become afraid of making any sort of movement that might make their pain worse. However, psychologists have given the condition a name: kinesiophobia.

•	'The Only Thing We Have to Fear' is a Good Axiom for Back Pain

 

For older people and women especially, the damage smoking does to the bones may need to be emphasized.

•	Add bone damage to reasons for quitting smoking

 

For many burns, ordinary tap water is all you'll ever need, a leading expert says.

•	Temporary relief for many burns is at your fingertips

 

Research has shown that even thinking about negative events and relationships can cause your blood pressure to rise.

•	Link between your emotions and blood pressure is not just in your mind

 

Sometimes, it takes more than a standardized test to determine a person's health.

•	CT scan can detect heart problems in 'healthy' people

 

Research says there could be a link between how parents approach weight issues and the feeding of their children -- and the young generation's waistline.

•	Good intentions may get not-so-good results in childhood eating habits

 

If you're middle-aged, watch what you eat, and exercise regularly, there's still a very good chance your blood pressure may be too high.

•	The Hypertensive Will Have Lots of Company

 

New Year's resolutions about dieting aside, the obsession so many teenage girls have about weight gain is also picking up momentum with the pre-teen set.

•	Many youngsters see too much weight loss as not enough

 

Okay, you've made it through Christmas and somehow had enough willpower to avoid seconds of ham, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, buttered biscuits, and whatever else was on the table that packs on the pounds.

•	How to make it through the holidays without overeating and drinking

 

Here's an oxymoron -- a contradiction in terms -- for you: The spiciest of foods may dull your taste buds, making it more difficult for you to discern subtle flavor differences. Fortunately, the condition is temporary, researchers say, but the aftertaste -- pardon the pun -- can linger for a while.

•	Some hot and spicy foods can actually deaden your sense of taste

 

Migraines are almost always painful, often so much so that the victim is incapacitated.

•	MRI measures intensity, duration of migraines

 

While most of us experience the holiday season as a happy -- even joyous -- time, the heightened emotions associated with it can have a bad effect on some people, especially the elderly.

•	'Holiday blues' in elderly can also lower the immune system

 

Almost everyone has a memory of staying up too late on Christmas Eve as a child, trying to get a glimpse of Santa. And sometime during the next 48 hours, you would pay the price, usually by dropping off to sleep in the middle of a meal or playing with your presents in the afternoon.

•	Excitement from the holidays can disrupt good sleep habits

 

Fashion may dictate how good we look, but practicality is a much better indicator of how well we play.

•	Handsome new sports shoes need a good break-in to be effective

 

To slightly alter an old saying: One person's meat is another person's... dessert. Tazarotene cream (brand name Tazorac) has long been an effective prescription treatment for acne. But in recent years, additional research found that it also could moderately reduce sun damage in older people.

•	Acne Ointment Can Also Smooth Older People's Wrinkles

 

Even some of the best-conditioned athletes can find themselves wheezing and winded after exercising.

•	Losing your breath after exercise? Asthma could be the culprit

 

Can playful jostling -- a "love tap" to the chest -- kill a child?

•	Beware of the playful 'chest thump' to a child -- it could be fatal

 

Those aches and pains that come on us suddenly for no reason may indeed be symptomatic of something that is indeed real: depression.

•	Those aches and pains you feel may be symptoms of depression

 

It's generally accepted that alcoholism is a disease, triggered by a terrible, compulsive addiction for a person to drink, often until he or she passes out. Alcoholism has been classified as a disease by a number of national medical and psychological organizations.

•	Are Addiction Risks Greater for Children of Alcoholics?

 

Just about everyone loses his or her balance every once in a while. And for the elderly, a number of conditions or illnesses can contribute to an increasing frequency of falls: an ear infection, osteoporosis, arthritis, neuropathy from diabetes, to name a few.

•	Heart rhythm may be responsible for many falls among the elderly

 

How do you know if that sore throat you have is a strep infection? Better yet, how does your doctor know?

•	Strep throat or sore throat: it's all in the diagnosis

 

More and more uses are being found for the device known as the MRI -- magnetic resonance imaging -- and sometimes, what it finds can be used to improve specific treatment of a disease or condition.

•	MRI scan offers remedial options for dyslexic children

 

Even for the most finely-tuned runners, pain in feet shouldn't be ignored. You can't run "beyond” the ache, using your mind to overcome what your body is telling you.

•	Tip to runners: When it comes to your feet, don't push past the pain

 

Slightly distorting an old adage: It may be a good idea to keep 'em on the farm before they see the big city.

•	Childhood exposure to farm animals seems to help those with asthma

 

Here's a version of the old Johnny Carson routine using the Great Karnak: The answer: Exercise, exercise, exercise. The question: What three things can help improve knee pain from osteoarthritis?

•	Osteoarthritis Pain Improves With Regular Exercise

 

The old TV commercial termed anemia as "iron-poor blood," and the condition's symptoms have been popularized as being tired and listless.

•	Anemia Linked to Elderly Mobility Problems

 

Kayaking can be an exciting sport, shooting the rapids of a boulder-filled river, the kayaker enduring the bumps, twists and turns of a hair-raising ride.

•	Kayaking injuries don't usually happen when the rapids are rough

 

The statistics identify it, but they don't explain it: kids are suffering from wrist and forearm breaks much more often than they did 30 years ago.

•	Is lack of calcium contributing to more arm fractures in children?

 

The latest nationwide outbreak of food poisoning -- this time from the salmonella bacterium -- places a big explanation point on the fact that even in the United States , consumers have to be careful about what they eat and drink.

•	Some ways to protect yourself from food-borne illnesses

 

With just about every study and survey showing that a significant part of the American population is getting fatter and more sedentary, it might be difficult to believe that some people are damaging their health by training too much.

•	There is such a thing as too much exercise… and it's dangerous

 

Despite some efforts to adjust attitudes among overweight children that would make them -- at the very least -- accepting of their condition, obese kid are very unhappy, so much so that a recent study compared their misery with those children who had cancer.

•	Obese children see their lives in dark shades of misery

 

While the moveable baby seat may be a Godsend for parents and caregivers, it isn't foolproof.

•	The Portable Infant Seat Isn't Protection for Every Situation

 

It seems to be almost a contradiction in terms, but if you use exercise as a primary tool to treat back pain, you may not need anything else to ease the pain.

•	Tailor-made exercise program can help lower back pain go away

 

While more medicines have been found to help fight the pain and discomfort caused by Crohn's disease, some patients will require surgery.

•	Catheters can delay or eliminate surgery for Crohn's disease patients

 

While many people who get Lyme disease have a rash from a tick bite as an early sign they've become infected, the singular "bull's eye" target isn't always there.

•	Altitude headache relief may be a couple of pills away - but which ones?

 

While many people who get Lyme disease have a rash from a tick bite as an early sign they've become infected, the singular "bull's eye" target isn't always there.

•	'Bull's Eye' Rash Not Always First Sign of Lyme Disease