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When we think of the holiday season, pleasant and joyous thoughts come to mind but each and every year there are those families for whom the holidays turn tragic. Fires during the holiday season each year claim the lives of more than 400 people, injure 1,650 more, and cause more than $990 million in damage within the United States.

In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers assessed the risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens among nonhospital based registered nurses, and found that nearly one out of 10 of the more than 1100 nurse participants reported at least one needlestick injury in the previous 12 months.

Hypertensive encephalopathy is an often-fatal disease of the brain that results from extremely high blood pressure. This disorder can lead to a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, resulting in fluid accumulation in the brain, a condition known as cerebral edema. The mechanisms underlying the breakdown of the BBB were previously unknown.

Women who have miscarried or had an abortion run three times the normal risk of having a subsequent low birthweight baby, suggests new research. The more miscarriages or abortions a woman has, the greater are her chances of giving birth to a child that is underweight or premature in the future, the research shows. Low birthweight (under 2500 g) and premature birth (less than 37 weeks) are two of the major contributors to deaths among newborn babies and infants.

Severe muscle weakness caused by myasthenia gravis -- a highly debilitating autoimmune disorder -- can be prevented or reversed by blocking a key step in the immune response that brings on the disease, researchers have found. Myasthenia gravis, which affects about 120,000 Americans, is caused when the immune system produces antibodies that attack and damage acetylcholine receptors, which are mechanisms that play a key role in transmitting the electrical impulses that cause muscles to move and contract.

Lack of sunlight may increase the risk of lung cancer, suggests a study of rates of the disease in over 100 countries. Lung cancer kills over a million people every year around the globe. The researchers looked at the association between latitude, exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) light, and rates of lung cancer according to age in 111 countries across several continents.

Humor appears to develop from aggression caused by male hormones, according to new research. A professor conducted a year long study observing how people reacted to him as he rode a unicycle through the streets of Newcastle upon Tyne in England. What began as a hobby turned into an observational study after he realized that the huge number of stereotypical and predictable responses he received must be indicative of an underlying biological phenomenon.