A 19-year-old woman has died of the H5N1 bird flu virus in Beijing after coming into contact with poultry, health authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong said on Tuesday. Read more »

A single gene appears to play a crucial role in deadly breast cancers, increasing the chances the cancer will spread and making it resistant to chemotherapy, U.S. researchers said Monday. Read more »

Common food additives known as phosphates may help lung cancer tumors grow faster, at least in mice, South Korean researchers reported Monday. Read more »

New York state could receive at least $5 billion in direct aid from President-elect Barack Obama's planned stimulus package, helping to shrink a historic budget deficit, according to U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer. Read more »

A gene that affects how the kidneys process salt may help determine a person's risk of high blood pressure, a discovery that could lead to better ways to treat the condition, researchers said Monday. Read more »

A slow, chronic reduction of blood sugar to the brain could trigger some forms of Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. Read more »

Just one extra hour of sleep a day appears to lower the risk of developing calcium deposits in the arteries, a precursor to heart disease, U.S. researchers said Tuesday. Read more »

Americans got a hand in the difficult and often emotional task of choosing a nursing home Thursday, with the first-ever federal government Web site that rates the facilities for quality. Read more »

US surgeons have replaced 80 percent of a woman's face in what is considered the world's first nearly complete facial transplant, the Cleveland Clinic has announced. Read more »

Smoking increases the risk of colon cancer, according to a study published on Tuesday that provides the first clear evidence linking tobacco use to the common killer. Read more »