To be sure, being overweight or obese is linked with numerous health problems, and even in the most recent research, obese people were more likely to have two or more cardiovascular risk factors than slim people. But researchers say it is the proportion of overweight and obese people who are metabolically healthy that is so surprising.

Fair enough. Severely troubled sleepers should consult a physician about fixing their slumber, perhaps with naps of suitable length folded in. Those with less dire problems, among whom I number myself, can use trial-and-error to determine what napping coordinates work best for them. As for the lucky rest of you, you're free -- and encouraged -- to nap for as long as 90 minutes per day. (Beyond that, almost everyone runs the risk of encroaching on nighttime sleep.) The point is to inform ourselves about a practice that has all too often been sniffed at, done on the sly and snatched haphazardly.

For most species, the number of offspring a male can father exceeds the number a female can give birth to. But only if conditions are favourable -- poor quality male specimens may fail to breed at all, whereas females reproduce more consistently. "If a mother has plentiful resources, then it can make sense to invest in producing a son because he is likely to produce more grandchildren than would a daughter," thus contributing to the survival of the species, explains Mathews.

MANILA, Philippines - A video posted on YouTube showing Philippine doctors laughing while removing an object from a patient may lead to charges against the surgeons and cost them their medical licenses, officials said Wednesday. The unauthorized nearly 3-minute video of a noisy operating room shows doctors and nurses laughing, giggling and cheering. At one point, a hand appears with a cell phone camera taking a close-up picture of the surgery

For the more common forms of arthritis and joint pain (including degenerative arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, tendonitis and bursitis) there is no clear connection to diet. Efforts to remove certain types of food or add others in an effort to treat arthritis have met with inconclusive or disappointing results. Recent research has identified an association between low vitamin D intake and degenerative arthritis, but it is not known whether it is helpful to take extra vitamin D to prevent or treat degenerative joint disease. In the absence of a particular vitamin deficiency, no clear benefit from supplemental vitamins or nutrients has been established. Weight reduction may help to prevent or treat gout or degenerative arthritis, though clear evidence of benefit is lacking.

Sleep experts say chronic sleep loss is associated with obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, cardiovascular disease, depression, cigarette smoking and excessive drinking.

"Insomnia is a bona fide health problem," says Rubin Naiman, clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Arizona's Program in Integrative Medicine and sleep director at the Miraval Resort in Tucson. "Skimping on sleep has a price, including weight gain, diminished immune responses, lack of concentration, irritability, and depression."

The brown bat sleeps for nearly 20 hours each day. Humans function best on a comparatively thrifty seven to nine, but more and more people are having trouble getting even that. The National Sleep Foundation recently found that just 25 percent of Americans get at least eight hours of rest on weekdays and that 60 percent of women say they often sleep poorly.

A Sun Blocker SOD also protects you from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. When the sun hits your skin it creates free radicals that cause inflammation and destroys cells and tissue. SOD protects you up to 800 times more that ordinary sun blocking cream. This allows you to go without using a sun blocking cream and encourages your body to produce the most needed body vitamin – vitamin D. Blocking the sun’s damaging effects reduces your chances of creating sunburn, premature wrinkles, and at worst skin cancer.

Because turkey and other types of poultry walk around a lot, their leg meat is darker compared to their breast meat. And thanks to an increased myoglobin level, dark meat contains greater amounts of iron, zinc, riboflavin, and thiamin.  

Bedtime Snacks that Help You Sleep

Stretching — long promoted as a way to prevent injury, to reduce soreness and to speed post-exercise recovery — may not fulfill its promise. Over the years, scientists have found that stretching before or after a workout has little effect on either risk of injury or what is commonly known as delayed onset of muscle soreness, the discomfort that comes a day or more after challenging physical activity.

All children ages 6 months to 18 years in this country should receive an influenza shot every year, a federal advisory panel said on Wednesday.

Like most 5-year-old boys, Connor Luke Schick gets very shy when he finds himself sitting in a television studio surrounded by people he doesn’t know and cameras and bright lights. But if you start a sentence by saying, “Never run with …” in a flash he fills in the blank: “... with sharp objects.”

WASHINGTON - U.S. health officials evaluated the wrong factory when assessing the safety of a Chinese-made drug ingredient that may be a source of problems with a blood thinner, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday. Baxter International's heparin has been linked to four deaths and hundreds of reports of allergic reactions. An investigation will take FDA inspectors to China this week.

Living past 90, and living well, may be more than a matter of good genes and good luck. Five behaviors in elderly men are associated not only with living into extreme old age, a new study has found, but also with good health and independent functioning.

Undercover Video Sparks Beef Recall

Some Cancer Patients Turn to 'Coaches'

The diet book called “Skinny Bitch'’ has been flying off bookstore shelves, buoyed by the modeling pedigree of its authors and a frank “stop eating crap” message that distinguishes it from traditional diet books. But this week, Salon magazine is taking “Skinny Bitch” to task, claiming i