Health Tip: Make Small Changes to Cut Calories

(HealthDay News) -- Making a few small changes to your diet can help you trim the calories, which can add up to real weight loss.

Health Tip: Help Prevent Hearing Loss

(HealthDay News) -- Repeated exposure to loud noise can permanently damage your hearing.

Spirituality May Boost Success for Alcoholics Anonymous

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings appears to increase participants' spirituality, which may help reduce their alcohol use, a new study suggests.

Moderate Drinkers at Higher Risk of Amphetamine Abuse?

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- People who consume moderate amounts of alcohol may be at increased risk for amphetamine abuse, according to a new study.

Depression During Pregnancy Might Affect Baby

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Babies born to mothers who are depressed during pregnancy have higher levels of stress hormones, decreased muscle tone and other neurological and behavioral differences, a new study finds.

Elderly Often Disabled After Mechanical Ventilation

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Elderly hospital patients who survive being on a mechanical ventilator are more likely to suffer long-term disabilities after being discharged from hospital than those who aren't put on the ventilator, even if the levels of disability before being hospitalized are about the same, says a new study.

States Now Fund Most Embryonic Stem Cell Research in U.S.

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Most of the human embryonic stem cell research conducted in the United States is funded by states, not the federal government, a new study reveals.

Genetic Research Sheds Light on Adrenal Gland Tumor Risk

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists report that they have advanced their knowledge of genetic mutations associated with adrenal gland tumors by identifying 13 new potential variations.

Prayer May Help Victims of Domestic Abuse

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Prayer can help victims of domestic violence deal with their situation and emotions by using coping methods such as venting, a small new study suggests.

Obesity Rising Across All Income Levels: CDC

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Two reports from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics show that the obesity epidemic is hitting young and older Americans across the economic spectrum.

Report Finds Baby Boomers to Gain Most From Health Care Reform

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- America's Baby Boomers may be poised to benefit the most from health-care reform, a new report shows.

Flu Spreads Easily in High Schools, Study Suggests

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- By outfitting students and teachers with wireless sensors, researchers simulated how the flu might spread through a typical American high school and found more than three-quarters of a million opportunities for infection daily.

Health Highlights: Dec. 14, 2010

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Health-Care Reform Faces Long Legal Fight

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- A federal judge's ruling Monday that struck down a key component of the new U.S. health-care reform law -- that nearly all Americans carry health insurance -- marks the first successful challenge to the controversial legislation.

New Method Might Raise Number of Donor Lungs

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- A change in medical procedures could greatly reduce and possibly eliminate the shortage of lungs available for transplant, U.S. experts and an Italian study suggest.

Once-Daily Dose Approved for Prezista

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new once-daily dose for Prezista (darunavir), combined with ritonavir to treat people infected with HIV-1, a strain of the virus that causes AIDS.

Clinical Trials Update: Dec. 14, 2010

(HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of ClinicalConnection.com:

Marijuana Use Up Among Eighth Graders

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- More American eighth graders are now using marijuana and, perhaps as a result, more illicit drugs in general, a new government report reveals.

Regular Exercise While Young May Slow Middle-Age Spread

TUESDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- People who consistently exercise during their younger years, especially women, are less likely to face the battle of the bulge that less-consistent types struggle with, researchers say.