Rear Adm. Chester Nimitz Jr. and Joan Nimitz planned their suicides with military precision.

New strategies for fighting disease in newborns, the elderly, and cancer patients.

And lead isn't the only toxin lurking in your lippy—a new study finds cadmium, aluminum, and other heavy metals, too.

The changing nutrition of fruits and veggies.

Most people you know probably talk about not getting enough sleep, but the percentage of U.S. adults who sleep for more than nine hours a night is actually on the rise, a new study suggests.

The over-diagnosis and over-prescription that dominates the mental health care scene in the US contributes to a system that is better at producing disorders than fixing them.

That price variance ends up costing Americans, who spend an average of $758 out-of-pocket on drugs every year, hundreds of dollars in unnecessary spending each month.

This has been a good decade in the fight against tuberculosis, but not nearly good enough. While new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostic methods are urgently needed, the emergence of highly drug-resistant strains also calls for entirely new approaches to combating the disease.

The personal stories recounted below make it clear that an essential human need has been turned into a product that benefits a few people at the expense of many others.

Eating that bowl of Cocoa Puffs at night may be much worse than having it in the morning. The body tends to turn more of that food into fat at night, while turning it into fuel during the day, new research suggests.

Like most dietary fads, the gluten-free craze may be more about marketing than health.

We're not getting sicker by accident.

A proposed bill in Oregon to make the possession of cigarettes illegal is well-intended, but from a practical standpoint, it's unlikely to happen, bioethicists and public health experts say.

Lonely people are more likely than others to produce inflammatory compounds linked to some chronic disorders.

A healthy microbiome, hopefully.

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Got one of those children who will only eat bagels? It’s probably your fault.

Fatty liver disease has gone from unknown to pandemic, but does it mean anything? (Ummm... this looks like it would go well with some fava beans and a nice chianti.-B)

The feeling of disgust isn't particularly enjoyable, but new research suggests the "ewww" has its role: People who are disgusted are better at detecting impurities.

Deep breaths, yoga, a lazy day at the beach: While some may find those activities soothing, their mere mention can set other people's nerves on edge.

Genetic testing is increasingly able to tell parents more about their fetuses with less risk than ever before. But without better regulation, these tests could become the target of anti-abortion groups, a health-law expert says.

If former Gov. Mitt Romney wins this year's presidential election, there is a realistic chance that Roe v. Wade — the Supreme Court decision that protected a woman's right to have an abortion — could be overturned under his administration, experts say.

When McDonald's execs first struck up their lucrative business partnership with the Coca-Cola Company in 1955, they were thinking small—literally. At the time, the only size of the beverage available for purchase was a measly 7-ounce cup. But by 1994, America's classic burger joint was offering a fountain drink size six times bigger.

The Obama campaign has repeatedly said that Mitt Romney was wrong when he claimed at the first debate that “preexisting conditions are covered under my [health care] plan.” We mostly agree.

Who belongs to this “untapped” market? Just about anybody.

It is surely karmic justice for Arizona, the place that most loves to limit reproductive choice, that the government is now paying for 53% of all births within state borders.

Politicians who are promising to repeal ObamaCare won’t find any evidence in the Kaiser Family Foundation’s analysis of health insurance costs that the law has caused premiums to skyrocket, as many of those politicians have contended.

New clues into why some of us get stuck in a state of anxiety and others chill.

Tax them instead. A new study shows that even small price differences can nudge us toward healthier beverage consumption.

A major new study says what you eat may matter more than how much you eat.

Even in otherwise hygienic tattoo parlors, the ink could harbor infectious bacteria.

A CDC report reminds that it can be dangerous -- but the risks are more complicated than we think.

The new shaving craze leaves us vulnerable to all manner of physical ailments.

The checkered history of weight-loss drugs explains why the FDA has not approved a new diet drug in 13 years -- despite the 200 million Americans who might use such a drug.

It's not just young folks, the aging are falling victim to America's next wave of addiction. Think Medicare covers drug treatment? Think again.

The idea that exercise is more important than diet in the fight against obesity has been contradicted by new research.

Obesity has become a public health issue. New research suggests moment-to-moment awareness does a better job of helping people control their weight than any diet.

In many urban centers throughout the world, vibrant waste recycling programs aren't just eco-minded niceties, they serve an essential role in keeping communities clean and clutter-free. But thanks to one forward-thinking initiative in the Brazilian city of Jundiaí, trading in trash has never been tastier.

Volunteering to aid terminal patients at a hospital, a woman finds patience, calm and compassion she didn't know she had. No One Dies Alone started in Oregon in 2001 and has spread across the country.

Three years ago, a health task force sparked a heated debate when it recommended that women between 40 and 50 stop getting mammograms every year. Did timing, insurance, and emotion quash their findings?

How modern American culture has outrun the biology of our brains.

129 cyclists were killed in Ontario, Canada between 2006 and 2010. The Chief Coroner for Ontario has just released a thorough investigation of them, and come up with findings and recommendations that have lessons that are applicable everywhere.