BBC News

When it comes to height, Dutch men and Latvian women tower over all other nationalities, a study reveals.

The areas of the brain involved in complex thought are the ones that change the most during the teenage years, research shows.

Pregnant women should no longer be told not to eat raw or lightly cooked eggs, a food safety committee recommends.

A woman with the Zika virus gives birth in Spain to a baby with microcephaly, said to be the first such birth registered in Europe.

Sophie Proud starts her placement as a student nurse at the ward which saved her life when she was born prematurely.

Only 20% of patients who see a GP with suspected inflammatory arthritis are referred to a specialist within three days, the target set by NICE, an audit suggests.

Recent studies suggest that condom use is on the decline in South Africa - so how do women there get their partners to use condoms?

The loss of European funding for medical research could cost the lives of some vulnerable children, Great Ormond Street Hospital says.

NHS bosses in England are accused by MPs of not being tough enough in tackling delays in discharging medically fit patients from hospital.

The UK's first double hand transplant operation has taken place at Leeds General Infirmary and the patient says his new hands look "tremendous".

More than 50 hospitals in England have been given the green light to miss key waiting time targets this year to help ease their financial problems.

A brain map built up from scans of more than 400 individuals has carved the "cortex" into 180 different compartments, including 97 new ones.

Should everyone be taking vitamin D supplements, as nutrition experts now recommend?

Everyone should consider taking vitamin D supplements in autumn and winter, public health advice for the UK recommends.

The first ever figures on female genital mutilation show 5,702 new cases in England.

An "award winning" team of consultants linked to a series of failed multimillion-pound NHS deals in England are to be scrapped.

The NHS in Wales meets one of its key cancer waiting time targets but is still missing another by some margin, according to latest figures.

Patients who have not been to see their GP for five years face being deregistered as NHS bosses prepare to get tough on so-called ghost patients.

Canadian researchers have developed a promising vaccine prototype against chlamydia, a study in mice suggests.

Commuters faced delays as soaring temperatures of over 33C (92F) disrupted train services on the hottest day of the year so far.

Danesha Couch from Kansas City tells BBC News she feels "blessed" after giving birth to her third set of twins on 17 June.

David Isaac the new chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has described disability rights in the UK as a badge of shame.

As summer temperatures across parts of the UK soar, Dr Angie Bone of Public Health England offers some tips and dispels some myths on staying cool.

Deborah Birx, global Aids co-coordinator for the US, soothes fears that HIV funding would be slashed if Donald Trump became president.

A British tourist who was in Nice during the Bastille attacks, has told 5 live how her kids have been put on a waiting list for counselling.

The NHS 'failed' to properly investigate how health service blunders led to the death of a boy from sepsis, a report finds.

Experts are trying to work out exactly how a US carer has caught Zika after tending to a dying elderly man with the virus.

A hospital warns players of the smartphone app game Pokemon Go not to enter the accident and emergency department while they hunt for virtual monsters.

An open letter to the government from UK academies representing science, medicine and engineering warns that Brexit is already harming science.

A man left badly scarred when acid was thrown in his face says he relives the attack up to 20 times a day.

A Belfast-based medical supplies firm is to almost double in size after buying another business out of liquidation.

Patients over the age of 75 are responsible for more than half of all physical assaults on NHS staff in hospitals across England, figures show.

Fracking, the controversial method for mining natural gas, might trigger asthma flare-ups, according to a US study.

Why are thousands of women across South Africa are taking Aids drugs in secret.

Dozens of former child patients at a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s and 70s claim they were experimented on with a so-called truth serum.

Google has made headlines for its forays into healthcare but what is its ultimate goal?

Ministers in England have given the wrong impression about how much extra they are spending on health, MPs say.

Shoppers are being reminded to thoroughly wash mixed salad leaves amid concern that this food could be the source of an E. coli outbreak that has killed two and infected more than 150 people in the UK.

A scandal-hit NHS trust, which came under intense scrutiny over emergency call-outs, is issued with a warning notice by the health regulator.

More than a third of people with dementia in Wales live in a rural area, according to a new report.

A silicone object left inside someone and the wrong person undergoing an exploratory procedure are among "never events" which have happened in Welsh hospitals.

More than 2,500 South Africans aged between 15 and 24 are infected with the HIV virus every week.

Aids remains the biggest cause of death among young people in Africa and the number of lives lost in this group has tripled in the past 16 years, writes the BBC's Karen Allen.

More and more couples in the US are using donated embryos to have a child of their own - and many say they are motivated to 'adopt' by religious and ethical beliefs.

Local councils in England are warning that government cuts to public health funding could hamper their efforts to tackle obesity.

"Very significant improvements" are made at a health board following the outbreak of a major infection three years ago.

A doctor's social media post about the preventable death of a child highlights concerns about anti-vaccination campaigning in India.

A decision about whether to cut £170m from the budget for community pharmacies in England is expected soon.

The head of the United Nations Population Fund has, for the first time, described female genital mutilation as "child abuse".

Maasai Cricket Warriors captain Sonyanga Ole Ngais tells the BBC how he is trying to discourage female genital mutilation.