Overall Health May Be Key to Beating Breast Cancer

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- Poor overall health seems to be associated with worse outcomes for breast cancer survivors, according to the results of a new study.

Health Tip: Risk Factors for Hemorrhoids

(HealthDay News) -- Hemorrhoids are painful, swollen blood vessels that form near the rectum. Symptoms often include pain, discomfort, anal itching and bloody stools.

Health Tip: Help Prevent Lyme Disease

(HealthDay News) -- Lyme disease is spread when a person is bitten by an infected tick. The tick initially acquires Lyme bacteria by biting an infected mouse or deer.

Study Probes Potential Link Between Welding, Parkinson's Disease

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- Manganese in welding fumes may affect welders' brains over time, according to a new, small study.

Immune-Boost Treatment Might Help Some With Advanced Colon Cancer

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- By giving more intensive chemotherapy along with drugs designed to boost the body's own immune system, researchers were able to roughly double survival time for patients with advanced, metastatic colorectal cancer compared to patients receiving standard chemotherapy alone.

Coffee Addiction May Be Grounded in Genes

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- Genetics may help determine how much caffeine one craves, new research indicates, with differences in two specific genes driving people to consume more -- or less -- of the world's most popular stimulant.

Mexican Immigrants to U.S. Prone to Depression, Anxiety Disorders

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- Young adult Mexican migrants in the United States are much more likely to suffer depression and anxiety disorders than family members of migrants who remain in Mexico, a new study finds.

Autism Diagnoses Still More Likely in Richer Neighborhoods

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- Poor children with autism are less likely than richer kids to have the condition diagnosed, but this disparity has decreased in recent years, according to a new study.

Babies Born to Obese Moms Face Higher Death Risk: Study

TUESDAY, April 5 (HealthDay News) -- Babies born to mothers who were obese in early pregnancy have a much greater risk of dying before, during, or up to one year after birth, a new British study says.

Weight Linked to Complications in Some Hysterectomy Patients

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- Compared with normal weight women, obese women are more likely to experience bleeding and infections during and after a hysterectomy, a new study indicates.

MRI Scans May Help Predict Alzheimer's Risk

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- MRI brain scans may help predict which adults with mild cognitive impairment -- early-stage memory problems that don't interfere with daily living -- are more likely to develop full-blown Alzheimer's disease, a new study suggests.

Most Americans Think Health Care System Needs Major Surgery

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. health care system is in need of a major overhaul, according to 72 percent of American adults who took part in a national survey.

Progesterone Treatment Cuts Preterm Birth Risk in Certain Women

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- Progesterone treatment lowers the risk of preterm birth in women with a short cervix, a new study shows.

Years Later, Victims of Critical Respiratory Illness Still Suffer

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- Survivors of a little-known critical illness known as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remain physically and emotionally weak five years after recovering, despite the fact that their lungs heal almost completely, a new study indicates.

Amount of HIV in Genital Fluid Linked to Transmission

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- In a development that could enhance HIV-prevention research, a new study of heterosexual couples confirms that the risk of transmitting HIV rises with the level of the virus in semen and cervical fluid.

Health Highlights: April 6, 2011

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

Toll of Deepwater Oil Spill on Human Health Still Unknown

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- The true health toll of the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last spring may never be known, a new review suggests.

'Retail Therapy' Might Really Work

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- A shopping trip-a-day may help keep the doctor away, not to mention the Grim Reaper, a new study from Taiwan suggests.

Teen Weight Affects Later Heart Disease Risk: Study

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- What you weigh in your teen years can have far-reaching effects on your heart health in the future, suggests new research.

Device Approved to Treat Brain Aneurysm

WEDNESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- A new device to treat an arterial bulge (aneurysm) in the brain has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.