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Laughter is the best medicine. We've heard the expression time and again. For decades, researchers have explored how humor helps patients relieve stress and heal. Now, researchers have taken it one step further, with new research on how humor helps medical professionals cope with their difficult jobs. She also looked at how humor affects the elderly and how it can increase communication in the workplace and in the classroom.

Inflammation of the middle ear (otitis media) is one of the most common pediatric ailments. Young children are particularly prone to otitis media as their Eustachian tubes, which regulate the pressure in the middle ear, have not yet fully developed. In many instances it is accompanied by an acute ear infection and can be resolved by a course of antibiotics.

Medical experts believe they could have found the key to turning back the brain's biological clock and reverse the effects of dementia and memory loss. Pioneering research has shown that regular exposure to safe low level infra-red light can improve learning performance and kick-start the cognitive function of the brain.

"My tummy hurts" is one of the most common complaints of childhood. Yet for up to 25 percent of school-age children, ongoing abdominal pain is serious enough to interfere with school, playtime and family life. In most of these cases, there are no medical problems-- and reassurance and support are all the child needs. For children whose pain persists, however, a new review of the research suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help.

Researchers have discovered a previously unsuspected mechanism of cell death that may afford a new way to find and develop stronger yet less-harmful anticancer drugs. Specifically, they have found that a cellular stress-response protein prevents cells from dying by interacting with a particular signaling protein and mediating its response to some conventional anticancer drugs.

About nine percent of teenagers may have metabolic syndrome, a clustering of risk factors that put them on the path toward heart disease and diabetes in adulthood. This shocking statistic represents some of the first concentrated efforts to define and measure metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents -- a necessary starting point for combating the problem, but one that has proven even trickier in youth than it has been in adults.

Bacteria have evolved complex mechanisms called quorum sensing systems that provide for cell-to-cell communication, an adaptation that allows them to wait until their population grows large enough before mounting an attack on a host or competing for nutrients. A chemical engineer has now engineered one of these systems to create genetic switches that could lower the cost of producing therapeutic proteins and pharmaceuticals.

A scientific report published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control finds that vaccination against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is an effective prevention strategy against cervical cancer. Available HPV vaccines protect against two high-risk HPV types that are estimated to be responsible for 73% of cervical cancer cases in Europe, and are spread by sexual contact.

Programs that aim to encourage sexual abstinence while also encouraging and teaching safer sex strategies for those who are sexually active can reduce short- and long-term HIV risk behavior among young people in high-income countries, according to new findings.

Promoting the simple act of hand washing can save lives in many developing countries, according to a new systematic review of studies. The review shows that teaching people about hand washing can reduce the incidence of diarrhea by up to 30 percent and might have as great an affect as providing access to clean water.