BBC News

Scientists say sleep patterns previously thought exclusive to mammals and birds are also found in lizards.

Scientists say they have made a leap in knowing why some people retain their youthful looks while others age badly.

A genetic therapy improves the vision of some patients who would otherwise have gone blind.

The chairman of one of England's biggest mental health trusts has resigned ahead of a critical report to be published on Friday.

Children in care have more mental health problems but too often miss out on treatment, say MPs.

Smokers should be encouraged to use e-cigarettes to help them quit, says Dr Nick Hopkinson of the Royal College of Physicians.

Smokers should be offered and encouraged to use e-cigarettes to help them quit, says a leading medical body.

Ministers and doctors have both vowed to fight on as the first all-out doctor strikes in the history of the NHS ended in England without any major problems.

Junior doctors are taking part in their second all-out strike in England, walking out of both routine and emergency care in protest at the imposition of a new contract.

"Clean air zones" targeting drivers of high-polluting vehicles should be extended to more cities in England, MPs say.

An Australian man took himself to hospital after a venomous redback spider bit him on the penis in a portable toilet.

Levels of obesity in China's rural youth have rapidly increased, a study warns, because of socioeconomic changes.

The withdrawal of emergency care as part of the strike by junior doctors was "disproportionate", according to the health secretary.

Hospitals in England have coped well with the all-out strike by junior doctors - the first in the history of the NHS - health bosses are reporting.

The first-ever all-out doctors' strike is a "bleak day", ministers say, but hospitals seem to be coping well during Tuesday's stoppage in England.

A Dutchman dubbed the "dentist of horror" is sentenced to eight years in France for mutilating the mouths of some 120 patients.

Morning flu jabs provoke a stronger immune response than those given in the afternoon, a trial shows.

BBC News looks at the issues at stake in the junior doctors argument with the government and asks whether a resolution is in sight.

Neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan wins the £30,000 Wellcome Book Prize for her book about psychosomatic illness, It's All in Your Head.

Bed bugs appear to have a strong preference for particular colours - a quirk that could be used against the troublesome pests, say scientists.

Junior doctors' leaders are trying to bring down the government, sources in government tell the BBC.

Pembrokeshire council is being recommended to close a Haverfordwest care home, with nine jobs being lost.

Most people suffering with eating disorders in Japan are not receiving any medical or psychological support, according to doctors.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt rejects a cross-party suggestion of piloting a new junior doctor contract, saying it will already be phased in gradually.

A group of MPs has called on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to pilot the use of a new NHS contract in a bid to end the ongoing row with junior doctors.

'This is what it's like to pee after female genital mutilation'

More than 100,000 patients are expected to have appointments postponed or operations delayed as a result of next week's strike by junior doctors, NHS England says.

Restaurants should offer tap water to families eating out rather than waiting for customers to ask for it, say councils in England and Wales.

British men are dangerously ignorant of the prostate gland, according to a men's health charity.

Why is there so much sugar in 'savoury' food?

Why I kept quiet about my cancer, just like Victoria

What's it like to run the London Marathon with no sight?

Surgeons say they are worried overweight patients and smokers in England and Wales are having surgery delayed or denied to save money.

People sleep less well in an unfamiliar place as the brain's left side stays alert for danger, a study suggests.

A major five-year investment in general practice in England is announced, with NHS bosses promising to "pull out all the stops" to help GP surgeries "get back on their feet".

More than two billion people live in parts of the world where the Zika virus can spread, detailed maps show.

A baby boy has now gone home safe and well after his brain-dead mother was kept alive on life support so he could be born, Polish authorities say.

A council approves a ban on its thousands of employees from smoking cigarettes and e-cigarettes in its buildings, on its land and in council vehicles.

A billboard that smells of human sweat and breath in order to attract and kill mosquitoes has been designed in Brazil.

Motorcycle gunmen shoot dead seven policemen in the Pakistani city of Karachi in the latest attack against polio vaccination.

In what is billed as the most significant meeting in years, UN members are discussing the global drugs problem - but sharp divisions have been exposed.

How the Disney film helped a family deal with their daughter's albinism.

A major trial is set to start in Scotland aimed at preventing type-1 diabetes in children

Junior doctors in England may need to rethink plans to take part in next week's all-out strikes amid concerns some hospitals could struggle to cope, the regulator of the profession says.

The number of babies dying before their first birthday in England and Wales is at its lowest ever, new figures have revealed

The predicted explosion of dementia may be less severe than previously thought, a study in Nature Communications suggests

The NHS in England says it will reconsider whether or not to provide a drug treatment that can prevent HIV.

A new type of cancer drug that wakes up the patient's own immune system to fight tumours could be a game changer for tackling head and neck cancers, say experts.