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If you are planning to ignore the messages of national No Smoking Day on 12th March by claiming that smoking is one of the few pleasures left to you, then recent research may make you think again. A study involving 9176 individuals shows that smoking doesn't make you happy.

Children who have been diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome are more likely to have serious psychiatric and behavioral problems later in life. Studies have shown that early intervention is a key element in minimizing the negative effects of FAS. Early diagnosis of FAS is not always possible, especially if certain physical characteristics are not present. A new way to diagnose infants affected by FAS has been devised.

Experts who reviewed studies on NSAIDs and breast cancer have concluded that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that these popular non-prescription drugs could, if used correctly, play an important role in preventing and treating breast cancer. They suggest that they could reduce breast cancer by up to 20 percent. The 27-year review covers 21 studies of 37,000 women. But further research is needed to see if the risks outweigh the benefits.

Although children of alcoholics have a greater risk of developing alcohol-use disorders, not all children of alcoholics will develop alcohol-use disorders. A new study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain activity of adolescent children of alcoholics. Findings indicate that different brain regions may contribute to whether children of alcoholcs will be resilient or vulnerable to the development of alcohol-use disorders.

It's a technique that has previously been used for oil exploration -- now researchers have developed a new, highly sensitive, anti-doping steroid test using hydropyrolysis.

While doctors already face many challenges in treating patients with cancer, treating pregnant women with the disease, in particular, can be quite difficult as studies suggest that certain therapies can harm developing fetuses. According to the results of a new study expectant women treated with imatinib, a commonly used therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia, may be at moderate risk of developing fetal abnormalities.

Researchers have designed a sensor necklace that records the date and time a pill is swallowed, which they hope will increase drug compliance and decrease unnecessary health care costs. The device could be used to ensure that the elderly and subjects in clinical drug trials take their medications as directed by a physician. The necklace, called MagneTrace, contains an array of magnetic sensors that could be used to detect when specially-designed medication containing a tiny magnet passes through a person's esophagus.

The combination of negative mother-daughter relationships and low blood levels of serotonin, an important brain chemical for mood stability, may be lethal for adolescent girls, leaving them vulnerable to engage in self-harming behaviors such as cutting themselves.

Researchers involved in a large, multi-institutional study using positron emission tomography imaging with the radiotracer fluorodeoxyglucose were able to classify different types of dementia with very high rates of success, raising hopes that dementia diagnoses may one day be made at earlier stages.

A powerful sensor that can detect airborne pathogens such as anthrax and smallpox in less than three minutes has been developed. Current sensors take at least 20 minutes to detect harmful bacteria or viruses in the air. The device could be used in buildings, subways and other public areas, and can currently detect 24 pathogens, including anthrax, plague, smallpox, tularemia and E. coli.