The flu can develop quickly and cause aching muscles, high fever and chills. If you have diabetes, it’s important to have a plan before you get sick. The National Diabetes Foundation offers these suggestions: You doctor may suggest that you check your blood glucose more frequently and monitor for ketones. Your doctor also may advise…  read on >

Even months after recovering from the flu, older people remain at increased risk for a heart attack, stroke or disability, a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases warns. “We all know about the illness influenza causes — obviously fever and making you feel poorly, aches and pains — and that is because it sets up…  read on >

What makes a poem touch your heart? New research suggests that poetry that triggers vivid mental images and positive emotions tends to be the most enjoyed. For the study, researchers had more than 400 people read and rate two types of poems — haikus and sonnets. “People disagree on what they like, of course,” said…  read on >

A common condition in men — enlarged veins in the scrotum — may raise the risk for heart disease and diabetes, a new study suggests. The problem is known medically as varicoceles. It affects about 15 percent of men and can cause pain and infertility. Stanford University School of Medicine researchers wanted to find out…  read on >

People who were born prematurely may have smaller-than-normal airways in adulthood, which can cause respiratory problems, researchers say. Premature birth is associated with poorer heart and lung function, but the reasons why have not been fully understood. In a new study, investigators compared adults who were born eight weeks or more early with people who…  read on >

In a case that investigators say is a first, a lung cancer drug unmasked and then attacked the kind of HIV-infected cells that standard antiretroviral therapy has been unable to touch. The finding was reported on Dec. 1, which is also World AIDS Day, in the Annals of Oncology. While one AIDS expert said the…  read on >

The more college football referees know about concussion symptoms, the more confident they are in calling a timeout for a suspected head injury, a new study shows. Researchers surveyed more than 1,300 college football officials during the 2015 season and found that they called an average of one injury timeout for a suspected concussion every…  read on >

A once-monthly injection of the opioid addiction drug buprenorphine has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Millions of Americans are suffering from addiction to opioid drugs, and millions more are worried that the overdose epidemic could claim the lives of a friend or loved one,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Thursday…  read on >

A new study warns of a potential return to the “bad old days” when there were no effective drugs to fight HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Timed for release on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, the new study looked at data on more than 56,000 adults living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and…  read on >

Think cigars are safer than cigarettes? Think again, new research warns. Nicotine levels in so-called “small” or “filtered” cigars were found to be equal to or greater than that found in cigarettes, according to the study by researchers at Penn State’s College of Medicine. “There seems to be a perception in the public that cigars…  read on >