Spring straining
After a winter on the couch, getting back in shape can really hurt if you push it.
When spring rolls around, many athletes and weekend warriors end their winter hibernation and hope to regain peak form in their favorite sport.
( BY ANNIE LINSKEY, Baltimore Sun, 04/05/2004 03:01 AM CDT)

TV may affect toddler's brain
HARTFORD, Conn. — If Junior is hyper, could tons of tube time as a toddler be to blame? A study published today suggests television viewing by children at age 1 and at age 3 increases their risk of having an attention disorder by the time they are 7.
( BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY, Hartford Courant, 04/05/2004 03:01 AM CDT)

Parenthood linked to obesity
The more children a person has, the greater the risk that he or she will become obese, according to a new study from Duke University Medical Center.
( 04/05/2004 03:01 AM CDT)

Turning Point: Girl's effort to help others helped her accept herself
When she was a baby, Andrea Miller of Shorewood was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Doctors removed a third of her brain. That affected her fine-motor skills, hearing and eyesight.
( BY RHODA FUKUSHIMA, Pioneer Press, 04/05/2004 03:01 AM CDT)

Health calendar
( Pioneer Press, 04/05/2004 03:01 AM CDT)

Chickenpox vaccine doesn't always work or last through life
Medical texts describe chickenpox as a highly contagious but mild childhood disease that only rarely results in serious complications, a fact that has set off decades of controversy over whether the vaccine to prevent chickenpox is warranted.
( BY JANE BRODY, Columnist, 04/05/2004 03:01 AM CDT)

Study shows stimulants curb growth
CHICAGO — New research bolsters evidence that stimulants like Ritalin used for attention deficit problems may stunt children's growth, but it does not address whether the effect is permanent.
( Associated Press, 04/05/2004 03:01 AM CDT)

'Morning-after' pill delayed
WASHINGTON — A scientific advisory panel's overwhelming vote three months ago endorsing over-the-counter sales of the "morning after" pill left family planning groups confident of the Food and Drug Administration's approval.
( BY ROBERT COHEN, Newhouse News Service, 04/04/2004 03:01 AM CDT)

High-tech scan puts dirt, germs in a new light
WASHINGTON — With just a flicker of blue light, mothers one day may know for sure whether their children washed their hands before dinner.
( BY TED BRIDIS, Associated Press, 04/04/2004 03:01 AM CDT)

Health bill passes House
After nearly five hours of passionate debate, the Minnesota House on Friday passed a comprehensive health care bill that would restore some of last year's cuts in programs for the poor and help contain soaring health care costs.
( BY TOM MAJESKI, Pioneer Press, 04/03/2004 04:01 AM CDT)

Bush signs protections for fetus during a crime
WASHINGTON — President Bush on Thursday signed legislation making it a crime to harm a fetus during the commission of a federal crime against a pregnant woman, and he declared that with the new law, the United States was "building a culture of life."
( Los Angeles Times, 04/02/2004 04:01 AM CDT)

Bioethics panel seeks controls on fertility field
WASHINGTON — The government should more aggressively oversee the growing and largely unregulated fertility business, and Congress should set aside the divisive issue of human embryo cloning for research and ban other embryo experiments that virtually everyone deems unethical, President Bush's Council on Bioethics said Thursday.
( BY RICK WEISS, Washington Post, 04/02/2004 04:01 AM CDT)

Hormone wires brain's appetite control
New studies in mice suggest that the hormone leptin can fundamentally change the brain's circuitry in areas that control appetite.
( BY GINA KOLATA, New York Times, 04/02/2004 04:01 AM CDT)

Even babies aren't getting enough sleep
That teenagers are often so sleep-deprived they can barely crawl out of bed in the morning is not news. But researchers have found that these days, even many babies no longer sleep like a baby.
( BY DAVID TULLER, New York Times, 04/01/2004 04:01 AM CDT)