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March 14, 2013 Wisconsin has the highest number of binge drinkers in the nation, and they cost the state $6.8 billion in 2012. Most of that economic burden is from lost productivity — missing work, premature mortality, incarceration, and absenteeism.

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January 15, 2013 As students return to class from winter break, campus health official are trying to avert an outbreak. Colleges in Boston are especially worried after the mayor's declaration last week of a public health emergency in the city.

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October 28, 2012 Get an anatomical education through cakes, cookies, and cocktails. A British museum is hosting an anatomy-themed bake sale this weekend.

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October 22, 2012 The flips, pyramids, and tosses that make modern-day cheerleading so eye-popping make it far more risky than the splits-on-the-sidelines version that parent remember.

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August 20, 2012 As a captain in the U.S. Army during World War II, Theodor Geisel created a booklet warning troops against the dangers of malaria and how to avoid contracting it.

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August 16, 2012 To help fight rising rates of inactivity, a physiologist argues that doctors should write prescriptions for exercise for inactive patients.

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July 26, 2012 Some parts of the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa have HIV rates that are more than twice the national average. And clinics in the region are seeing another major problem: thousands of cases yearly of multi-drug-resistant TB.

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July 25, 2012 Prescription drug abuse has soared in the past decade, leading pharmaceutical companies to alter the recipes for their painkillers to thwart misuse. But communities fighting the growing problem see drug users switching to new medicines to get around the changes.

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July 25, 2012 More than half a million South Africans were infected with HIV in 2000. Efforts to stem the virus since then have produced marked results in the number of new infections. But the total number of people with HIV in South Africa still isn't going down.

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July 23, 2012 A new approach in San Francisco provides HIV testing and treatment for patients with the virus who didn't know they were at risk. "Test and treat" requires long-term vigilance by doctors and patients, but early evidence suggests that it is reducing HIV in the city.

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• TIMELINE: The Fight Against HIV/AIDS

July 13, 2012 Researchers say there's no evidence electric fans actually provide relief in a heat wave. So they're calling for more research, even though heat waves are hard to predict and even harder to study once they hit.

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June 20, 2012 A Danish study suggest that light and moderate drinking during pregnancy may not be hazardous for the fetus. But the researchers advise that to be absolutely safe, women should refrain from drinking while pregnant.

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June 14, 2012 Genes and the environment both shape health and development. But their effects are not always equal. Researchers in the U.K. say they've mapped hotspots where nature has a stronger influence, and others where nurture dominates.

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June 12, 2012 The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded in draft recommendations released Tuesday that taking vitamin D and 1,000 milligrams of calcium every day doesn't reduce the risk for bone fractures among postmenopausal women. So the group is taking steps to recommend that women refrain from taking the supplements for those purposes.

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June 4, 2012 Among advocates for improving sanitation through better toilet access, the only question is whether to play it straight or joke about the john. Pretty much everyone seems to give in to humor.

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