(HealthDay News) –If you plan to travel during flu season, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests: Get the flu vaccine. It’s still not too late. Don’t travel if you feel sick. Avoid close contact with sick people. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue. Wash your hands often with soap and…  read on >

If your New Year’s resolution was to quit smoking, it’s probably time to consider ways to improve your chances of success. For starters, list your reasons for wanting to quit, suggest experts from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Want to improve your health? Save money? Smell and taste food better? Those are common reasons…  read on >

With terminal illness comes newfound, and profound, wisdom, researchers report. They uncovered this silver lining of terminal illness as people in their final months tried to strike a balance between accepting their fate and making the most of the time they had left. “The end of life presents a unique perspective,” explained senior study author…  read on >

Poor sleep may make your children more than just grumpy, a new study suggests. Kids who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to be obese later on, researchers report. And that might even boost their odds for cancer decades later. The study of 120 U.S. children, average age 8, linked poor sleep quality to…  read on >

Asian-Americans are more likely than whites to suffer a severe ischemic stroke. They also face a tougher recovery, researchers report. An ischemic stroke — the most common type — is caused by blocked blood flow to the brain. The study “highlights the need for more focused research, improved stroke prevention and possibly different treatment strategies…  read on >

Waiting for acne to clear up on its own can be frustrating, especially for teens who are already self-conscious about their appearance. Untreated acne can cause low self-esteem and anxiety as well as permanent facial scars. Ignoring it or assuming kids will outgrow it can harm them physically and emotionally. Acne can also continue into…  read on >

Stroke survivors who eat plenty of leafy greens, fish and other healthy foods may help preserve their brain function as time goes on, a preliminary study suggests. Researchers found the benefits among stroke survivors who most closely followed the principles of the so-called “MIND” diet. It pulls together elements from two eating plans known to…  read on >

Work may be good medicine for the brains of people who suffer mild strokes, a new study out of Israel suggests. The study included 252 working-age adults whose mental functioning was evaluated one and two years after a mild stroke. Those who had jobs before and after their stroke were less likely to experience mental…  read on >

If you think having just one cigarette a day won’t do any harm, you’re wrong. British researchers say lighting up just once a day was linked to a much higher risk of heart disease and stroke than might be expected. The bottom line: “No safe level of smoking exists for cardiovascular disease,” wrote the team…  read on >

While you might think most people would try to change unhealthy behaviors after a major health scare like a stroke, new research suggests most people don’t. They may even pick up worse habits. Fewer than 1 in 100 stroke survivors met all seven heart-health goals identified by the American Heart Association. And just 1 in…  read on >