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Many cancer patients use complementary and alternative methods, most often prayer, relaxation, supplements, meditation, and massage. Meanwhile, the use of other methods, such as biofeedback, homeopathy and acupressure, are relatively uncommon.

The malaria parasite has waged a successful guerrilla war against the human immune system for eons, but a study in this week's Journal of Biological Chemistry has exposed one of the tricks malaria uses to hide from the immune proteins, which may aid in future drug development.

Happiness does not heal, but happiness protects against falling ill. As a result, happy people live longer. The size of the effect on longevity is comparable to that of smoking or not. This is concluded from an analysis of 30 follow-up studies published in the latest issue of the Journal of Happiness Studies.

A new study hints that people who have both alcohol problems and sleep problems -- which often occur together -- might be helped by an epilepsy drug. The study, which is small but was placebo-controlled, opens the door for further research on how to help alcohol-dependent people escape the Catch-22 of insomnia and drinking that often stands in the way of their recovery.

Vietnam War veterans exposed to Agent Orange have greatly increased risks of prostate cancer and even greater risks of getting the most aggressive form of the disease as compared to those who were not exposed.

A new study could help experts better decide whether to continue the current practice of retesting women during their second pregnancies for a common bacterial infection if they had tested positive for the infection previously.

Over the last decade, childhood obesity has grown into an epidemic, reflected in soaring rates of type 2 diabetes and recommendations that pediatricians check toddlers for elevated cholesterol. What hasn't been as clear is how early to intervene. A study presented at a pediatric research program on Friday suggested obesity prevention efforts should begin as early as age two, when children reach a "tipping point" in a progression that leads to obesity later in life.

Americans are likely to be exposed to unacceptable side effects of FDA-approved drugs such as Vioxx in the future because of fatal flaws in the way new drugs are tested and marketed, according to research to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Maternal death rates have remained constant in the United States for many decades. Are there any improvements in health care that could reduce these rates further? A new study examined all maternal deaths in nearly 1.5 million birth records from the last six years to look for possible keys to saving more mothers. The study demonstrated that the risk of death attributable to cesarean delivery, approximately 2/100,000 procedures, can realistically be reduced only with universal thromboembolism prophylaxis for patients delivered by cesarean.

The standard regimens to treat tuberculosis are inadequate in countries with high rates of multi-drug resistant TB. In countries with high rates of MDR-TB, patients are nearly twice as likely to fail their initial treatment than those in countries with low rates, according to a new analysis of World Health Organization data. This finding suggests strongly that current TB treatment regimens need to updated and revised to address the shifting landscape of public health in the face of MDR-TB.