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Researchers have discovered sleep patterns in a type of anesthesia that are the closest ever to a natural, nongroggy snooze. The anesthetic used in the study, known as ethyl carbamate or urethane, provides researchers with a tool to more thoroughly investigate ways of treating sleep disorders and improving existing sleep medications.

It may seem counterintuitive to exercise when suffering with joint pain, but physical activity is actually a natural pain reliever for most people suffering from arthritis. A recent study published in Arthritis Care and Research journal concluded that regular exercise, specifically the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program, is an effective course in significantly improving and managing arthritis pain.

Prevention of weight gain with a restricted calorie diet sharply reduced the development of pancreatic lesions that lead to cancer in pre-clinical research. The research sheds light on the connection between obesity, calorie intake and pancreatic cancer by comparing a calorie restricted diet, an overweight diet and an obesity-inducing diet in a strain of mice that spontaneously develops pancreatic lesions that lead to cancer.

Seasonal influenza strains constantly evolve in overlapping epidemics in Asia and sweep the rest of the world each year, an international research team has found. These findings suggest that by focusing surveillance efforts on East and Southeast Asia, researchers may be able to extend their forecast of the flu strains most likely to cause epidemics, which may in turn help experts decide which strains should go in the flu vaccine each year.

The extra fat we carry around our middle could be making us hungrier, so we eat more, which in turn leads to even more belly fat. Scientists found abdominal fat tissue can reproduce a hormone that stimulates fat cell production. The researchers hope this discovery will change in the way we think about and treat abdominal obesity.

Women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer frequently report problems with memory and concentration, but two new studies suggest that chemotherapy is not the cause of these problems, and the stress of the diagnosis may be.

Scientists have created the first comprehensive monoclonal antibody libraries against avian influenza using samples from survivors of the 2005/2006 "bird flu" outbreak in Turkey. These antibody libraries hold the promise for developing a therapy that could stop a pandemic in its tracks and provide treatment to those infected, as well as potentially pointing the way towards the development of a universal flu vaccine.

A new study reports that inner-city children with asthma may be particularly vulnerable to air pollution at levels below current air quality standards. The study analyzes the short-term effects of outdoor pollution levels on asthma symptoms and lung function in children.

Children with mothers who have allergies or asthma have an increased risk of wheezing in the chest if they take part in baby swimming before 6 months of age.

The use of antidepressants is likely to account for only 10 percent of the fall in suicide rates among middle aged and older people, suggests a large study.