Measuring the thickness of a person's neck may provide as many clues to their risk of developing heart problems as measuring their waist, a study says.
Researchers from the Framingham Heart Study found even those with relatively trim waistlines appeared to be at greater risk if they had larger necks.
Burning the candle at both ends during the working week could raise a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes, New York researchers say.
People who slept fewer than six hours a night were more likely to develop a condition that precedes diabetes than those sleeping for longer, they found.
They said the study supported mounting evidence that cutting back on sleep can have a profound impact on health.
A glass of wine each evening is enough to increase your risk of developing cancer, women are being warned.\nConsuming just one drink a day causes an extra 7,000 cancer cases - mostly breast cancer - in UK women each year, Cancer Research UK scientists say
Being overweight or seriously underweight as a teenager curbs life expectancy as much as smoking 10 cigarettes a day, a study suggests.\nSwedish researchers followed 46,000 men from the age of 18 for 38 years.
Climate change is "the biggest global health threat of the 21st Century", according to a leading medical journal.
The Lancet, together with University College London researchers, has published a report outlining how public health services will need to adapt.
A chemical found in green tea appears to slow the progression of prostate cancer, a study has suggested.
Green tea has been linked to a positive effect on a wide range of conditions, including heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
Scientists have discovered the key to the ability of spicy foods to kill cancer cells.
They found capsaicin, an ingredient of jalapeno peppers, triggers cancer cell death by attacking mitochondria - the cells' energy-generating boiler rooms.
Probiotics could be used to protect critically ill patients from developing pneumonia, according to scientists.
The friendly bacteria can block the colonisation by dangerous bugs of the airways of ventilated patients, the Swedish study concluded.
The probiotic solution performed just as well as normal antiseptics used to keep pneumonia-causing bacteria at bay, the journal Critical Care reported.
Being more natural it could pose fewer side effects, the authors said
Eating a curry once or twice a week could help prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease and dementia, a US researcher suggests.
The key ingredient is curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric.
Scientists say a natural supplement made from tomatoes, taken daily, can stave off heart disease and strokes.
The tomato pill contains an active ingredient from the Mediterranean diet - lycopene - that blocks "bad" LDL cholesterol that can clog the arteries.
A natural compound, called inositol pentakisphosphate, which is found in most legumes as well as in wheat bran and nuts, blocks the activity of the enzyme "phosphoinositide 3-kinase."