Two overweight women hold a conversation in New York on June 26, 2012. A new poll suggests that while more than 7 in 10 Americans can correctly tick off heart disease and diabetes as obesity's most serious consequences, few Americans are aware of the lesser-known health consequences, such as worsening some types of cancer, arthritis, sleep apnea and even infertility. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) WASHINGTON — Heart disease and diabetes get all the attention, but what about the many other ways...

(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Fellas, some of those bad foods you love, but are told to shun may actually be OK for most of you. Instead of banning giant sugary sodas because we’re incapable of controlling our liquid portions or never allowing a bacon strip to pass our lips, men should learn to evaluate the merits of food, recognize moderation, use whole fresh foods and decrease their overall intake of processed products, says Nicolette Pace, a registered dietician in the New...

Why do Americans die young? They consume more calories per person; are more likely to abuse drugs; less likely to wear seat belts and more likely to be in a traffic accident; and are more likely to use a firearm in acts of violence. (Getty Images) Americans die younger than people in other wealthy countries -- and the gap is getting worse, a new report shows. American men have shorter lives than men in 16 developed nations. American women also...

(Thinkstock/David Bishop Inc.) A new study shows regularly eating berries could protect young and middle-aged women from heart attacks. The new study, printed in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation, followed more than 93,000 women between the ages of 25 and 42 for 18 years. Researchers found the women who reported eating at least three servings of strawberries or blueberries a week cut their heart-attack chances by a third. (MORE: The Strange Truth About Coughs) These berries pack a punch...

Doug Menuez Marijuana permanently lowers IQ by several points in adolescents, according to research published in August. But a new study suggests that factors related to economic class and home life, not marijuana use, may have caused that IQ drop. Researchers who conducted the new study, published today (Jan. 14) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, did not have access to the original data from a cohort of New Zealand teenagers. Instead, Ole Rogeberg, a labor...

(Thinkstock/Brand X) Monday, January 21 you'll read blogs and see tv reports lamenting that it's Blue Monday, allegedly the most depressing day of the year. But according to Dr. Dean Burnett, psychologist, professor and blogger, Blue Monday is a sham. "This silly claim comes from a ludicrous equation that calculates 'debt', 'motivation', 'weather', 'need to take action' and other arbitrary variables that are impossible to qualify and largely incomparable," Dr. Burnett writes. (MORE: 15 Bad Habits That Are Good for...

(Digital Vision.) Obesity increases the risk of death during car crashes, a new study suggests. In the study, obese drivers -- those with a body mass index (BMI) between 30 and 35 -- were 20 percent more likely to die during a car crash compared to normal-weight individuals. Morbidly obese individuals -- those with a BMI of 40 and above -- were 80 percent more likely to die in a car crash. BMI is a ratio of weight to height...

Sometimes mistakenly called stomach flu, the new virus causes bouts of vomiting and diarrhea for a few days. (Thinkstock) NEW YORK – A new strain of stomach bug sweeping the globe is taking over in the U.S., health officials say. Since September, more than 140 outbreaks in the U.S. have been caused by the new Sydney strain of norovirus. It may not be unusually dangerous; some scientists don't think it is. But it is different, and many people might not...

Kids fall all the time. But the story of how a New Hampshire toddler survived after impaling herself with a pencil is amazing even doctors. WHDH in Boston says twenty-month-old Olivia was at home coloring with a colored pencil earlier this month, when she fell, . A view of the pencil through the toddler's skull and brain. (WHDH Screenshot) "I thought the pencil had broken or something. I thought there was no way that whole pencil was through her head,"...

In a Dec. 18, 2012, photo provided by Johns Hopkins Medical, a surgical team at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore works on a double arm transplant for U.S. Army infantryman Brendan Marrocco, 26, who lost all four limbs in Iraq. BALTIMORE — After weeks of round-the-clock medical care, Brendan Marrocco insisted on rolling his own wheelchair into a news conference using his new transplanted arms. Then he brushed his hair to one side. Such simple tasks would go unnoticed in...

The Most "Xtreme" Meals in America Are... In January, The Center for Science in the Public Interest revealed its latest round of Xtreme Eating Awards, targeting dishes at chain restaurants boasting high calorie and fat counts. CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson said, according to a press release, "You'd think that the size of [the restaurants’] profits depended on their increasing the size of your pants." Calorie counts, the group does note, will soon be required on all chain restaurant...

(Photodisc) A pregnant woman's exposure to outdoor air pollution may increase the risk of her baby being born at a lower birth weight, according to a large multinational study. Researchers from 14 sites in nine countries, including Seoul, South Korea; Atlanta; and Vancouver, British Columbia, compiled the average levels of particulate air pollution to which women were exposed during the course of their pregnancy. Sources of particulate air pollution include traffic exhaust, power plants and even dust. Researchers then looked...