(iStockphoto/Thinkstock via ABC News Radio) NEW YORK -- Researchers have found that more than 2,000 different species of bacteria live in our umbilicus – the medical word for belly button. That means you have more kinds of bacteria in your belly button than there are different kinds of ants or birds in North America, according to a new study. The majority of these bacteria were rare and occurred in just one individual. No single type was common to all 60...

(ispap) Gossip may not be as bad as you think. In fact, new research shows it might help protect you in group situations. A new study, published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, ran experiments with college students. At the heart of their findings, researchers say "people were more likely to gossip about a co-worker who was slacking off to another colleague, and the main reason was to protect other group members from this behavior," reports NBC News. To...

(Getty Images) NEW YORK (Reuters) - The year started in the United States with a mild flu season but ended up being marked by deadly outbreaks of fungal meningitis, West Nile virus and Hantavirus. Tainted steroid medication has been cited as the cause of the meningitis outbreak that killed 39 people. Weather contributed to the worst outbreak of West Nile virus since 2003 and an unusual outbreak of Hantavirus in California's Yosemite National Park. Transmitted by infected mice, Hantavirus is...

Vigorous exercise may make your brain tougher, researchers say. (Getty Images) If you leapt out of bed today bubbling with resolve to greet the new year with a rigorous fitness routine, get ready for a bonus. Research has long established what exercise can do for heart and muscle development. Now, according to an expanding body of research, it could also be growing your brain. The results of several new studies indicate that physical activity may make you better at learning...

Debris stretched for miles across Joplin, Missouri. (weather.com/Tornado Hunt 2011) The Joplin tornado took more than 150 lives on May 22, 2011. Now, new studies reveal another killer lurked in Joplin that day: A deadly, flesh-eating fungus. The deadly Apophysomyces fungus killed five people in the days immediately following the tornado, according to studies by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). (MORE: Joplin Tornado Scars Those Who Covered Disaster) Together, researchers tracked 13...

Blood clots like the one that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is being treated for following her recent concussion can occur for a host of reasons. How serious a clot is depends on where it is and why it formed. In a statement Monday, Clinton's doctors say her clot was located in a vein in the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear. (MORE: ) Doctors treating Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for a...

(Associated Press) This is your brain on sugar — for real. Scientists have used imaging tests to show for the first time that fructose, a sugar that saturates the American diet, can trigger brain changes that may lead to overeating. After drinking a fructose beverage, the brain doesn't register the feeling of being full as it does when simple glucose is consumed, researchers found. It's a small study and does not prove that fructose or its relative, high-fructose corn syrup,...

Hair sprouts from a growth on a young man's eyeball. (New England Journal of Medicine) A young man is seeing a little better these days, after doctors at the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in Iran removed a large, hairy mass from his eyeball. The photo and story are featured in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). According to NEJM, the 19-year-old told doctors he was born with the mass in his right eye, but it was getting larger...

NEW YORK -- Only a 10 percent chance of showers today, but a 70 percent chance of flu next month. That's the kind of forecasting health scientists are trying to move toward, as they increasingly include weather data in their attempts to predict disease outbreaks. (More: National Flu Report | ) This map shows widespread reports of flu in dozens of states nationwide as of Dec. 22, 2012. (CDC) In one recent study, two scientists reported they could predict -...

(Getty Images) Before you go full steam into an extreme 2013 weight loss plan, take a step back and let this new information sink in: hanging onto a few extra pounds may add years to your life. A published in (JAMA) found people who are deemed slightly overweight live a little longer than people who have a "healthy" weight. The research was based on the 's (BMI) scale, a number which is determined by a person's height and weight. (MORE:...

(sxc/waggaway) WASHINGTON (AP) — Everyone could use a little help keeping those New Year's resolutions to slim down. But if it means the government limiting junk food, the response is an overwhelming, "No." Americans call obesity a national health crisis and blame too much screen time and cheap fast food for fueling it. But a new poll finds people are split on how much the government should do to help — and most draw the line at attempts to force...

Hattie Montgomery's weight reached life-threatening levels before a moment that changed everything. Using food as her only way to fight the outside world, she responded to a traumatizing experience by attempting to eat herself to death. That is, until a visit with her grandfather changed her outlook on life and helped her decide to live a healthy lifestyle instead of continuing down the path she was traveling. Above is Montgomery's inspiring story, as she explains why she suddenly decided to...