Babies and Toddlers Need Iron to Thrive
Without enough iron, your child may feel tired and listless or have poor motor skills. Your child also needs iron for sharper thinking.

Babies Need 'Tummy Time'
Putting babies to sleep on their backs has dramatically reduced the incidence of SIDS. One unexpected side effect: Many infants now have a flattened head.

Babies' Warning Signs
Because babies cannot verbalize their feelings, adults must always stay alert for warning signs of illness.

Baby Blues: Mood Swings or More Serious?
For many women, the "baby blues" pass quickly. For others, the feelings of sadness don't ease and may become worse.

Baby’s Emotional, Intellectual Development
Because most brain development takes place after birth, parents have many opportunities to contribute to the brain's healthy development.

Back Basics: A Healthy Spine
A healthy spine supports the body while letting it move freely. It does this with the help of three natural curves. Strong, flexible muscles help, too. They support the spine by keeping its curves properly aligned.

Back Fracture (Compression Fracture)
Your spine stretches from the base of your skull to your tailbone. It's composed of 33 bones (vertebrae) stacked on top of one another.

Back Pain
Back pain can be caused by inflammation of joints, muscles, or ligaments. Poor posture, obesity, or lifting something the wrong way can cause back pain. Pain also can develop after you sit or stand too long or when you are under physical or mental stress.

Back Pain During Pregnancy: Moving Safely
Learning the proper ways to bend, lift, and carry objects may help relieve back strain. It will also help you protect your back after your baby is born. Remember, if you’re having trouble protecting your back, it’s okay to ask the people around you for help!

Back Pain During Pregnancy: Positioning Yourself
Did you know that standing, sitting, or lying in certain ways can lead to back pain? To ease pain, use positions that support your body comfortably.

Back Pain: It May Not Be What You Think
Back pain can be caused by many illnesses and conditions, including stress or injury, being overweight, improper lifting, pregnancy, and diseases such as fibromyalgia and arthritis.

Back Safety: Basics of Good Posture
Your body works best when it's properly aligned. Aim for good posture throughout the day.

Back Safety: Getting Into and Out of Bed
Good posture protects your back when you sit, stand, and walk. It's also important while getting into and out of bed.

Back Safety: Poor Posture Hurts
An unhealthy spine often starts with bad habits. Poor movement patterns and posture problems are common causes of back pain. Disk, bone, nerve, and soft tissue problems can all be affected by poor posture.

Back Safety: Pushing and Pulling
Pushing can be hard on your back, but pulling can be even harder. So, push rather than pull when you can.

Back Safety: Sitting
Sitting can strain your back if you don't do it right. Learn the right moves to protect your back.

Back Safety: Standing
Good posture decreases back pain by reducing strain on your muscles.

Bacterial Infections of Female Reproductive Organs
Several conditions of the reproductive organs may cause pain, irritation, or other symptoms. Because some of these conditions could lead to infertility or present a serious health risk, all women should become familiar with these conditions and know how to prevent them.

Bacterial Vaginosis
Bacterial vaginosis is a common infection resulting from either overgrowth of normal vaginal bacteria or as an infection with bacteria from outside the body.

Bad Breath
Although there are dozens of possible causes of bad breath, the most common is poor dental hygiene. Without proper brushing and flossing, food particles and plaque build up on the teeth, gums and tongue, as well as on dentures or other orthodontic appliances.

Bad Breath: What's the Stink About?
If you have bad breath, take heart. It's likely caused by a family of foul bacteria encamped upon your tongue.

Balance Problems: Diagnostic Tests

Balanced Ways to Attain a Healthful Weight
Whether you have tried to lose weight on your own or with the help of a weight-loss program, the focus is too often on severely restrictive diets and unrealistic goals, nutrition experts say.

Balancing Work and Home
To keep the scales of work and life balanced, you must be organized. This means you must not only organize your stuff, but also your time.

Barium Enema

Barotrauma: A High-Flying Condition
Barotrauma is an ear injury or discomfort you may experience when flying, scuba diving or driving in the mountains.

Basic Back Care
Besides maintaining a healthy weight, one of the most important steps you can take to reduce the risk for back pain is to perform a stretching/flexibility workout every morning. Here are some other tips for back care.

Basics About Your Newborn’s Body
Even the best-prepared parents may be surprised by a few things that are quite normal in newborns.

Basketball: Make Safety a Point
Experts say players can avoid injury by strengthening muscles through a supervised weight-training program before the season. That helps prevent injuries to knees and ankles, the most common court injuries.

Be Careful With Kitchen Knives
With a few cutting-edge tips from experts who use knives for a living -- top chefs -- you can avoid the biggest danger of kitchen work.

Be Comfortable Walking in Cold and Wet Weather
Don't let cold temperatures or rain deter you from your walking routine. Take weather-related precautions, and a change in the weather won't tempt you to skip your workout.

Be in the Know When on the Go in Winter
If you live in an area where winter brings snow, slush and ice, the best advice about driving in these conditions is not to. But if you must venture out, be prepared.

Be Smart About OTC Medicines
When you overuse OTC medications, you risk doing more harm than good. That’s why it’s so important to use them with care.

Beat the Ulcer Bug
Peptic ulcers are sores on the lining of the stomach or the duodenum, which is the beginning of the small intestine.

Beating an Eating Disorder
Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia have risen steadily to affect nearly 10 million women (and 1 million men).

Beating Bad Health Genes
If you have relatives diagnosed with a major chronic condition, such as heart disease or cancer, it pays to learn if you're at increased risk, too.

Bed Sore Surgery

Bedsores
Bedsores may sound like a minor health problem, but they can quickly become life threatening as ulcers deepen and expose underlying tissue to potentially lethal infections.

Bed-Wetting: Help Your Child Stay Dry at Night
Do not become angry if your child can't stay dry during the night. Never punish or tease your child for bed-wetting. Support and patience are the keys in helping your child.

Beginning of Labor: The Wait Is Over
This part of labor can last for many hours. If there are no medical problems, expect to spend this time at home. If there are health concerns, you may need to go to the hospital sooner.

Being Social Helps You Be Well
Keeping up your social network can mean as much to your physical health as the aerobic benefits you get at the gym.

Being There: Advice for Expectant Dads
Remember scenes from old movies where the husband paces around the waiting room while his wife is in labor? As a father-to-be today, you know that you can participate throughout your partner's pregnancy.

Bell’s Palsy

Bench These Six Exercise Excuses
Some excuses—I weigh too much, I'm too old, I have too many health problems—are in themselves strong arguments for increasing physical activity.

Benefits of Strong Abdominal Muscles
Strong abdominal muscles do more for you than just giving you a trim profile. They help stabilize your torso, which reduces aches and pains in your lower back.

Better Business Writing
When you write, you are talking to your readers. But the writing is successful only if the reader understands your language.

Better Buying: Frozen Italian Meals

Better Choices for a Healthier Lifestyle
Have you been hesitant to try to break your bad health habits because you thought the task would be too difficult? Then get ready for some good news.

Beware of Diarrhea Dehydration in Infants, Toddlers
We all dread diarrhea. But when the patient is your infant or toddler, diarrhea can range from a minor annoyance to a medical emergency.

Beware of Medical Tests You Don’t Need
Many health care providers today say they order more diagnostic tests than are necessary, primarily to protect themselves against possible malpractice suits. This is called "defensive medicine."

Beware of Over-the-Counter Contact Lenses
Contacts that aren't properly prescribed and cared for can lead to allergic reactions, bacterial infections, corneal ulcers, and corneal scrapes. Some problems can end in blindness.

Beware of Supplements for Kids
Firms are advertising herbs and supplements as remedies for everything from colds and asthma to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but dietary supplements and herbal mixtures aimed at children may be a waste of money -- and a threat to their health.

Beyond Cholesterol
Scientists have learned that other substances may give you and your doctor new clues about your heart disease risk. And that's good news. Coronary heart disease, in which fatty deposits build up in your arteries, is the nation's top killer.

Bike-Helmet Safety Smarts
Whether on an adult or a child, a helmet that has been approved by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and fits correctly will cushion the head in a fall and protect it from impact with other objects.

Biking Your Way to Better Health
Riding a bicycle can be an excellent fitness activity. Cyclists can burn 400 to 700 calories an hour when they're pedaling at a good pace.

Binge Drinking Dangers for Young People
Binge drinkers are most likely found on college campuses, where many students consider a big game or fraternity party an excuse to drink all weekend.

Biofeedback: Another Way to Manage Pain
This technique can ease migraines and tension-type headaches, as well as low back pain and fibromyalgia.

Biopsy for a Brain Tumor

Biopsy for Brain Tumor

Biopsy of Breast: Percutaneous
Percutaneous breast biopsies can be done in a doctor’s office or in an outpatient setting. A needle or special probe is used to remove samples through the skin.

Biopsy of Breast: Sentinal Node
During a sentinel node breast biopsy, your surgeon removes the first lymph node or nodes that cancer could reach. These are screened to see if cancer cells have traveled out of the breast.

Biopsy of Breast: Stereotactic
Stereotactic breast biopsy is used to take tiny samples of your breast tissue that can be studied under a microscope. This procedure uses x-rays to find the tissue to be removed.

Biopsy of Breast: Surgical Types
A surgical breast biopsy requires an incision in the skin. This allows your doctor to take a large sample of tissue from the breast. In fact, the whole lump is often removed.

Biopsy of the Prostate
If the results of your exam and tests lead your doctor to suspect prostate cancer, a core needle biopsy will be done. A thin needle is used to remove small samples of prostate tissue. These samples are checked for cancer.

Biopsy: Endometrial
Endometrial biopsy is a procedure used to study the lining of the uterus. It is usually done in your healthcare provider’s office.

Biopsy: Needle

Biopsy: Transrectal

Bipolar Disorder
More than 2 million U.S. adults have bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder usually develops when a person is a late teen or young adult, although some people develop symptoms in childhood and others develop symptoms later in life.

Bites: Human and Animal
Human bites happen more often than you think. The "biters" usually are children. Animal bites raise three concerns: bleeding, the possibility of viral infections such as rabies, and the possibility of bacterial infections.

Bites: Insect
Dangerous, life-threatening reactions to insect bites occur throughout the body usually within 20 minutes following the bite. The reaction appears on a part of the body separate from the sting site.

Bites: Tick
Ticks probably spread a larger variety of diseases to humans and domestic animals than all other pests. The tick's bite is relatively painless; the real dangers are the viruses, bacteria, and other organisms the tick may have.

Black Eye
The common black-and-blue mark linked with any bruise is particularly evident when it surrounds the eye. The dark-purplish circle, commonly called a black eye, signals a bleeding injury and will last a little more than a week.

Black or Bloody Stools
Stools that look tarry, black, or bloody can be alarming, but they are not always a sign of serious illness. To understand what to do about this symptom, it is important to recognize which unusual-looking stools are simply bothersome and which require a visit to the doctor.

Bleeding Between Periods
Most women have spotting (light bleeding), breakthrough bleeding (heavier bleeding), or irregular periods at some point in their lives. Spotting or breakthrough bleeding between periods usually lasts 1 or 2 days.

Bleeding Brain Aneurysms

Bleeding During Early Pregnancy
If you've had bleeding early in your pregnancy, you're not alone. Many other pregnant women have had early bleeding, too. And in most cases, nothing is wrong.

Blisters
Blisters can be caused by burns, allergic reactions, chemical irritation, or viral infections such as shingles, chickenpox, genital herpes.

Blood Pressure Rising Among Children
High blood pressure has joined type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol on a list of ailments that once struck only adults but now afflict children.

Blood Pressure: When It's High
High blood pressure usually has no symptoms. The only way to find out if you have it is by getting your blood pressure checked regularly.

Blood Vessels: Your Internal Superhighway
Every minute of every day, millions of blood cells trek through about 60,000 miles of blood vessels -- enough to stretch from New York City to San Francisco 23 times -- delivering oxygen and nutrients to every tissue. Your cardiovascular system includes your heart and two basic kinds of blood vessels: arteries and veins.

Body Odor
Various conditions, ranging from pregnancy to menstruation and stress, can raise your body temperature and metaboloic rate and thus increase perspiration and ensuing body odor. Also, your diet can often sometimes enhance body odor.

Boiling Water in Microwave Can Be Dangerous
Take care if you use a microwave to heat water. In some cases, boiling water can explode causing serious burns to your face and hands.

Boils
Although boils may be found anywhere on the body, they most commonly occur in areas where there is hair and friction, such as the neck, armpits, genitals, breasts, face, and buttocks.

Bone Density Study
A bone density study helps diagnose osteoporosis (bone thinning). Scans of your lower back, hip, or forearm are taken to measure the amount of calcium (density) in your bones. Calcium is the mineral that makes up your bones.

Bone Graft

Bone Radiography
Bone radiography is a way to take pictures of bones. Low dose radiation (x-rays) is passed through the body, producing images of the bones on film.

Bone Radiography (X-ray)
Bone radiography is a way to take pictures of bones. Low dose radiation (x-rays) is passed through the body, producing images of the bones on film.

Bone Scan
A bone scan is an imaging test that uses a special camera to form images of your bones. It is used to diagnose bone problems, such as fractures, cancer, or infections, and joint problems such as arthritis. It is also used to check joint replacements.

Bone Spur Surgery

Bone Spurs
If your mother ever told you to stop cracking your knuckles, she was helping you avoid bone spurs. The repetitive cracking of the knuckle joint is just what it takes to form a spur.

Bone Spurs Are a Thorny Problem
Scientists believe bone spurs occur because of osteoarthritis or when the body tries to heal itself after a trauma by replacing bone.

Boning Up on Marrow

Boning Up on Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis thins and weakens a person's bones, making them more porous (less dense) and fragile, and thus more likely to break. Although a fracture is often the first outward sign of osteoporosis, a bone mineral density test can help diagnose it before that happens.

Boost Your On-the-Job Efficiency
Here are suggestions for becoming more efficient and effective at your job.

Booster Seats
A child safety seat should be easy to use, fit in your vehicle's seats, and be the proper size for your child.

Botox® and Wrinkles
In very diluted form, the toxin can help several medical conditions, as well as treat facial wrinkles.

Brachytherapy for Brain Tumor

Brain Surgery: Craniotomy

Brain Tumors

Break the Cycle of Repeated Accidents

Break Through the Alcoholic's Psychological Defenses
The most important thing that friends and family can do for an alcoholic is to stop enabling the addictive behavior.

Breaking Down Your Health Care Dollars
No one likes unexpected expenses. But you have more control over your health care costs than you may think.

Breaking the Habit: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
The symptoms of OCD vary widely from person to person. Without treatment, OCD can last for a lifetime.

Breaking Yourself Out of a Rut
A routine isn't necessarily bad; it can be comforting because it adds structure to your life and it isn't stressful. But dissatisfaction may start to gnaw at you and erode your self-esteem if you believe you want something more in your life.

Breast Biopsy, Percutaneous
Percutaneous breast biopsies can be done in a doctor’s office or in an outpatient setting. A needle or special probe is used to remove samples through the skin.

Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, except for nonmelanoma skin cancer, and the second most common cause of cancer death in American women (lung cancer is the most common cause).

Breast Care After Birth
A few days after your baby’s birth, your breasts will swell with milk. They are likely to feel tender and heavy. This is normal. To help prevent breast soreness and control irritation, follow these tips.

Breast Exam, Clinical
Your yearly checkup should include a clinical breast exam. This exam may be done by a gynecologist, family doctor, nurse practitioner, or specially trained nurse. Yearly breast exams help to ensure that breast conditions are found early.

Breast Feeding
Very few new mothers are unable to breast-feed. In many cases a lactation specialist will show you how to breast-feed while you're still in the hospital.

Breast Reconstruction with Flap Procedures
A flap procecure uses your own tissue to form the shape of a breast. There are two kinds of flap procedures: the TRAM flap and the LD flap.

Breast Reconstruction with Implants
Your surgeon can help you decide whether to have reconstructive surgery. You will be advised to wait if now is not the best time for you. Breast reconstruction can be done during or after a mastectomy. One kind of reconstruction is the breast implant. A sac of fluid is inserted during surgery to re-form the shape of a breast.

Breast Self-Exam (BSE)

Breast-Feeding Helps Mothers and Children

Breastfeeding: Caring for Yourself
When you have a new little person in your life, it’s easy to forget about yourself. There are new demands on your time. But it’s important to take care of yourself as well as your baby.

Breastfeeding: Learning to Be Apart
Work, school, or even a late-night movie can require you to be away from your baby. This doesn't mean you have to give up breastfeeding. You can transfer milk from your breast to a bottle (expressing).

Breathe Easier with COPD
Every breath can be a chore when you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Breathe Easy: Effective Asthma Management
Early diagnosis is one key to effective asthma management. This helps you prevent or minimize damage to airways and lungs that accumulates over time. Once the disease is diagnosed, it's important you take control of it. Proper treatment includes seeing your health care provider regularly.

Breathing New Life Into CPR
Under new American Heart Association guidelines, training programs on cardiopulmonary resuscitation, better known as CPR, have become shorter and simpler.

Breathing Techniques to Short-Circuit Stress
Many people believe stress is all in the mind. But dealing with stressful situations can have physiological consequences.

Breech Presentation
With breech presentation, your baby is in a buttocks or feet-first position. A breech presentation can make it hard for the baby's head to fit through the birth canal.

Breech Presentation

Bridge the Gap With Teen Grandkids
If you want to develop a closer relationship with teen grandchildren, the key is arranging for one-on-one time, without parents in the picture.

Bringing Your Multiples Home
Now is not the time to worry about a clean house or hot meals at dinnertime. Recognize that you are in a temporary adjustment period and that your greatest priority is your expanded family. Relax and learn to let things go.

Broken Bones: A Note About Children
A child’s bones heal the same way as an adult’s. But since a child’s bones are still growing, there are a few special concerns.

Bronchitis
Bronchitis occurs when the lining of the tubes leading to the lungs gets inflamed and begins making too much mucus. When this happens, your body must cough to clear out the extra mucus.

Bronchoscopy

Bruise Control
We bruise when blood vessels beneath our skin rupture and bleed. As alarming as these purplish marks can be, they're usually harmless. With passing years, however, they become increasingly common with the mildest bump or blow.

Bruises
Bruises form when blood cells seep from injured veins into surrounding skin tissue. Basically they are sores that don't break the skin. Newer bruises usually appear black and blue. As they heal they may look green and yellow.

Brush Up on Toothpaste
Selecting toothpaste is largely a matter of personal preference, but all adults should use toothpaste containing fluoride.

Buddy Up for Good Health
Research shows that people with other significant people in their lives generally live longer.

Build a Buff Brain
By starting mental training in your 40s or 50s, you may help retard mental decline as you reach retirement age.

Build Your Body and Mind With a Self-Defense Workout
Many men and women take up martial arts for very realistic reasons -- not just to learn self-defense skills, but also for the benefits to body and mind.

Build Your Bones With Exercise
You can help prevent osteoporosis by including enough calcium in your diet and exercising regularly.

Building a Healthier Sandwich
If you're tired of turkey, bored by bologna and had it with ham, think about giving some va-va-va-voom to what you put in your child's brown bag.

Building Bonds with Your Grandchildren
Spending dedicated time with your grandchildren enables you to play many roles in their lives, including family historian, teacher, and spiritual guide.

Building Kids' Confidence
What do children need most to grow into healthy, successful adults? Self-confidence, say the experts. Here's what parents do to bolster their children's self-confidence?

Bullies and Victims Need Your Help
Boys are both more likely to bully others and more likely to be victims of bullying than are girls.

Bullies Go High-Tech
You can now add bullying to the list of things made easier by technology. Bullies use e-mail, instant messaging, and text messaging on cell phones to reach victims.

Bunion Surgery

Burning Eyes
Lots of different things can make your eyes burn. Dry eyes, eyestrain, smoke, allergies to pollen or a viral infection such as a cold or the flu can cause eyes to itch, burn, water and redden.

Burns
Children and older adults are more susceptible to severe burns at lower temperatures because they have thinner skin. A child or older adult whose skin is exposed to 140-degree water for just three seconds can develop a third-degree burn, serious enough to require hospitalization.

Burns: Chemical
React quickly to chemical burns. Flush the affected area right away, even before calling your doctor. Flush the burned area with a gentle, constant spray of cool water for at least 10 to 30 minutes using a hose, bucket, or shower. Do not rub the area while rinsing. Remove all clothing on the burned area. Keep flushing until you are certain all the chemical has been washed away.

Bursitis
People often confuse bursitis with tendinitis, an inflammation of one of the body's many tendons (which attach muscles to bones). In some cases, you could have both at the same time. This is most common in shoulder injuries. A physician can tell whether you have one or both problems.

Business Travel Stress-Busters
If you take a healthy attitude toward stress in your travel plans, the payoffs include improved physical well-being, mental alertness and better job performance.

Butter vs. 'Not' Butter
Butter, margarine, and “buttery” oil-based spreads have one thing in common: All consist almost entirely of fat. So, is one product better for you than another? It all depends on the product’s saturated fat and/or trans fat content, both of which raise LDL ("bad") cholesterol and increase the risk for coronary heart disease.

Buying a Bike for Your Child
Most youngsters learn the basics of pedaling, steering and braking on a tricycle or "big wheel" cycle, and around age 4 are ready to try a two-wheeler with training wheels.

Buying Guide: Frozen Juice and Punch

Buying Guidelines for Safe and Fun Toys
Toy-related injuries send tens of thousands of children to the emergency room each year. Most injuries occur when parents give their children toys meant for older children.

Bypass Surgery
Coronary artery bypass surgery creates a path for blood to flow around a blockage and helps prevent a heart attack.