Most of the risk of autism has been blamed by experts on inherited genes. Now one of the largest studies of twins and autism shifts the focus to the womb, suggesting that the mother's age and health may play a larger role than thought.

The new research doesn't solve the mystery of what causes autism. Most scientists think faulty genes and outside factors are both at work. And since autism spectrum disorders include a wide range of conditions, from mild to severe, it's unlikely there's a single cause for all of them.

Fenugreek seeds exported from Egypt to France and Germany may have caused an E. coli outbreak that has killed 48 people in Europe, the European Food Safety Authority said Wednesday.

A "rapid risk assessment" conducted by the EFSA and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), "has thus far shown" that Egyptian seeds exported in 2009 and 2010 may be implicated, it said in a statement.

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday announced another Tylenol recall due to a musty moldy odor linked to a trace chemical.

The company's McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit is recalling one product lot of Tylenol Extra Strength Caplets made in February 2009 and distributed in the U.S. The recall totals 60,912 bottles, each of which has 225 caplets.

It is more celebrity than respiratory, but Botox could prove a breath of fresh air for asthmatics if an Australian trial of the toxin launched Tuesday is successful.

Botox, or botulinum toxin type A, is usually used to smooth wrinkles by temporarily paralyzing the muscles around the eyes and brow, but researchers at Melbourne's Monash University believe it could also be used to ease asthma.

Can a blog by an overweight, depressed American introvert who reinvented himself as an Ironman and public speaker start a grassroots campaign that leads to lasting lifestyle changes in a country known for excess?

The latest test, on June 22, gathered nearly 75 strangers in Washington, D.C. who finished an unofficial 5K (five-kilometer) race around the U.S. capital's National Mall park.

Check into the hospital and you may get a blood transfusion you didn't really need.

There's a lot of variation around the country in how quick doctors are to order up a few pints — not in cases of trauma or hemorrhage where infusing blood fast can be life-saving, but for a range of other reasons.

Britain's Food Standards Agency has recommended that sprouted seeds be cooked thoroughly before consumption, and advised against eating them raw, following an outbreak of E.coli poisoning in France.

"Following further cases of E. coli in France, the FSA is revising its guidance on the consumption of sprouted seeds such as alfalfa, mung beans -- usually known as bean sprouts -- and fenugreek," said an updated statement issued over the weekend.

The number of adults with diabetes worldwide has more than doubled since 1980, with almost 350 million now affected, according to a new study published in The Lancet medical journal.

Scientists from Imperial College London and Harvard University analyzed blood sugar date of 2.7 million people aged 25 and over across the world and used the results to estimate diabetes prevalence.

Menthol cigarettes are marketed to African-American youths in a "predatory" manner through more ads and lower prices near California high schools, said a U.S. study released on Friday.

Researchers at Stanford University said their findings, published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, show that menthol cigarette makers are aiming to get young people addicted and are harming the nation's health.

Alzheimer's disease could cause a global cash crunch in coming generations -- as people begin to regularly live to 100 -- and must be considered a serious fiscal danger, experts said Thursday.

Already 24-37 million people worldwide live with the incurable form of dementia, and that number is projected to reach 115 million by 2050, a panel of Alzheimer's disease experts told the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs.