Acupuncture gets a thumbs-up for helping relieve pain from chronic headaches, backaches and arthritis in a review of more than two dozen studies — the latest analysis of an often-studied therapy that has as many fans as critics.

Some believe its only powers are a psychological, placebo effect. But some doctors believe even if that's the explanation for acupuncture's effectiveness, there's no reason not to offer it if it makes people feel better.

A prototype vaccine for dengue notched up the best success yet against the disease but failed to protect against all its viral strains, researchers reported on Tuesday.

Tested among just over 4,000 children in rural Thailand who were badly exposed to the mosquito-borne fever, the vaccine had no side effects but only worked against three out of the four dengue strains.

About 50 types of cancer have been added to the list of diseases eligible for coverage in a compensation program for people who became sick after the World Trade Center collapse on September 11, 2001, officials said Monday.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health said it had confirmed a recommendation made in June to include the cancers, which break up into 14 categories.

An outbreak of the Ebola virus has killed 15 people in northeastern Congo and the local communities are quickly learning how frighteningly deadly the disease is, and how to prevent its spread.

"Ebola entered my house and I did not know what it was," said Gabriel Libina Alandato, who survived the hemorrhagic fever. "My three daughters and their mother died in August, but it is only when I was taken to the quarantine center that I learned about the disease."

"Are you falling asleep after dinner?"

"Do you have a decrease in libido?"

Mammograms aimed at finding breast cancer might actually raise the chances of developing it in young women whose genes put them at higher risk for the disease, a study by leading European cancer agencies suggests.

The added radiation from mammograms and other types of tests with chest radiation might be especially harmful to them and an MRI is probably a safer method of screening women under 30 who are at high risk because of gene mutations, the authors conclude.

An AIDS awareness campaigner and his lawyers said Friday they are taking a groundbreaking test case to Zimbabwe's highest court to force police and prison authorities ensure HIV sufferers get their life prolonging medication.

Douglas Muzanenhamo said in papers filed at the Supreme Court that he was denied appropriate antiretroviral treatment in jail for three weeks last year and his condition veered toward death.

One million people die by their own hand each year, accounting for more deaths than wars and murders put together, the World Health Organization said Friday, calling for urgent action to address the problem.

"Data from the WHO indicate that approximately one million people worldwide die by suicide each year. This corresponds to one death by suicide every 40 seconds," the organization said in a report launched ahead of the World Suicide Prevention Day on Monday.

Cancer is big, but so are the celebrities determined to help conquer it.

Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sofia Vergara and Robert Pattinson were among dozens of stars who appeared Friday on the third Stand Up to Cancer telethon.

A common dietary supplement could treat a rare form of autism which has been found to be linked to an amino acid deficiency, a study published Thursday in the journal Science has found.

U.S. researchers were able to isolate a genetic mutation in some autism patients which speeds up metabolism of certain amino acids.