The discovery of radiation in seafood has hit Japan right in its culinary heart, as the nation that brought sushi to the world contemplates having to change thousand-year-old eating habits.

For an archipelago that has lived off the ocean since prehistoric times, radioactive fish is a worst-case scenario with possibly economy-wide implications.

Meditation can deliver powerful pain-relieving effects to the brain with even just 80 minutes' training for a beginner in an exercise called focused attention, a study released Tuesday found.

"This is the first study to show that only a little over an hour of meditation training can dramatically reduce both the experience of pain and pain-related brain activation," said Fadel Zeidan, lead author of the study and a post-doctoral research fellow at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina.

Doctors debated the merits of bypass surgery to solve heart problems during a major cardiology conference on Monday, as studies suggested angioplasty and medication could be safe alternatives.

One study by South Korean researchers found similar survival rates among people who had balloon angioplasty, a less invasive technique for opening the arteries, and among patients who underwent open heart surgery for serious coronary disease.

Japan imposed a legal limit Tuesday for radioactive iodine in fish, as the operator of the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant pumped toxic water into the Pacific Ocean for a second day.

The government also said it would look at widening its testing to cover a larger area after raised levels of radioactive iodine were discovered in a small fish caught off Ibaraki prefecture, south of the plant.

Sunday as a major breakthrough that could eliminate the need for open heart surgery in some patients, U.S. doctors said Sunday.

The method is aimed at high-risk patients who suffer from severe aortic stenosis, a clogged valve that impedes the pathway of oxygen-rich blood by making the heart work harder to pump blood through a narrowing opening.

For a man whose view of the world has slowly faded to black over 30 years, a device that allows him to see flashes of light has enkindled his hope of one day gazing upon his grandson's face.

A career electrician who grew up in Greece and came to the United States as a young man, Elias Konstantopoulos first noticed his vision getting poorer when at age 43 he absentmindedly tried on a relative's eyeglasses and found he could see more clearly with them than without.

It could get harder to indulge in a double cheeseburger and fries without feeling guilty.

Menu labeling requirements proposed Friday by the Food and Drug Administration will require chain restaurants with 20 or more locations, along with bakeries, grocery stores, convenience stores and coffee chains, to clearly post the calorie count for each item on their menus.

Researchers have identified compounds in maple syrup with similar anti-inflammatory or anti-oxidant properties as blueberries, green tea and other "superfoods," they said Friday.

"In our laboratory research we found that several of these compounds possess anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which have been shown to fight cancer, diabetes and bacterial illnesses," said lead researcher Navindra Seeram, assistant professor of pharmacognosy at the University of Rhode Island.

A cocktail of three drugs, including a new class of antiviral agent, has shown encouraging results in treating hepatitis C, a disease which attacks the liver, a study said Wednesday.

"This study represents a remarkable advance and a potential cure for people with hepatitis C who have not responded to previous therapy," said co-author Stuart Gordon, from the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

With the war on AIDS nearing its 30th anniversary, the U.N. on Thursday declared "a moment of truth" had come for new strategies to address the campaign's failures and brake costs that were now unsustainable.

"We have a unique opportunity to take stock of the progress and to critically and honestly assess the