Health Tip: Taking Medications During Pregnancy

(HealthDay News) -- When you're pregnant, it's important to be careful about taking any medications, even over-the-counter drugs.

Health Tip: Think 'Healthy' During the Holidays

(HealthDay News) -- The holiday season brings family get-togethers, lots of food and, unfortunately, germs. But there are things you can do to help protect your health during the holidays.

Cancer Costs Billions Yearly in U.S. Worker Productivity: Study

MONDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthDay News) -- The cost of lost productivity among U.S. workers with cancer is equal to 20 percent of the nation's health care spending, according to a new study.

Unhealthy Snacks Tied to Colon Cancer for Those at High Risk

MONDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Eating unhealthy snack foods may increase the risk of colorectal cancer in people with a genetic susceptibility to certain types of cancer, according to a new study.

Aerobic Exercise Seems Best for Weight, Fat Loss

SATURDAY, Dec. 15 (HealthDay News) -- If you want to burn fat and lose weight, aerobic exercise beats resistance training, a new study says.

Banning Vaccine Preservative Would Hurt Kids in Poor Nations: Experts

MONDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthDay News) -- A United Nations proposal to ban the vaccine preservative thimerosal -- which contains a form of mercury -- should not go through, says a leading group of U.S. pediatricians.

Mind-Controlled Prosthetic Hand Could Be Breakthrough

MONDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthDay News) -- A robotic hand that's controlled by the thoughts of a woman who is paralyzed from the neck down provides her with an amount of control and movement never before achieved in this type of artificial limb, say the scientists who developed it.

Keep Tots' Milk to 2 Cups a Day: Study

MONDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Drinking two cups of milk a day gives toddlers adequate amounts of vitamin D without lowering their iron levels, according to new research.

Asperger's, Autism Not Linked to Violence: Experts

SUNDAY, Dec. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Despite media reports alleging that the gunman involved in the Connecticut school shootings had Asperger's syndrome, experts were quick to assert Sunday that there is no link between the condition -- a mild form of autism -- and violence.

Health Highlights: Dec. 17, 2012

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

Signifor Approved for Cushing's Disease

MONDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Signifor (pasireotide diaspartate) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat Cushing's disease in cases that cannot be treated by surgery.