Swiss drug giant Roche said on Monday it had been given European Union approval for its treatment to fight a highly aggressive form of skin cancer.

The European Commission gave the green light to Zelboraf, a drug used to treat adults with BRAF V600 mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma, the company announced in a statement.

Health officials say the flu season is finally here — the slowest start in nearly 25 years.

Until this month, there weren't enough flu cases in the U.S. to signal the start of the season. This is the latest start to a flu season since the winter of 1987-1988.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials plan to investigate whether inhalable caffeine sold in lipstick-sized canisters is safe for consumers and if its manufacturer was right to brand it as a dietary supplement.

AeroShot went on the market late last month in Massachusetts and New York, and it's also available in France. Consumers put one end of the canister in their mouths and breathe in, releasing a fine powder that dissolves almost instantly.

Jay Allen used to love having what he thought was a healthy tan -- so much so that he would regularly expose his body to the lights of a sunbed to ensure he maintained his overall colour.

But after one session he noticed a small mole on his ankle was bleeding and at his wife's insistence, he went to the doctor. He was told he had a skin cancer which could kill him if he didn't have it removed.

Everything you know about dieting is wrong, say U.S. scientists who have devised a new formula for calculating calories and weight loss that they hope will revolutionize the way people tackle obesity.

Obesity rates have doubled worldwide in the past 30 years, coinciding with a growing food surplus, and the ensuing epidemic has sparked a multibillion dollar weight loss industry that has largely failed to curb the problem.

Patrick Anywar, 14, lies curled up naked in the dust and midday heat of a Ugandan village, struggling to look up at his younger brother and sister playing in front of the family home.

After a minute's effort to face his siblings, Anywar's head slumps onto his chest and his emaciated body is gripped by convulsions.

The water utility in Angola's capital vowed Friday to repair a burst water main within days, to end severe shortages that have lasted a week across much of Luanda.

Residents have to trek long distances to find water, which is so scarce that prices have doubled this week due to the shortage, jumping from 7,000 to as much as 14,000 kwanzas ($70 to $140) for a cistern full.

A group of researchers from the American University of Beirut have joined forces with others from Denmark and the United Kingdom to launch the first national study on dementia, with funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health and National Institute on Aging. Study results are expected to be out within a year.

Almost 10 percent of the Lebanese population is older than 65, effectively putting them at greater risk for dementia. Yet, the country lacks the social and healthcare policies to meet the challenges of caring for those with the aging-related disease.

Doctors on Friday reported the first known case of Legionnaire's disease, a rare infection usually linked to faulty air conditioning and hot-water systems, that was caused by a visit to the dentist.

The case report, published in The Lancet, describes an unnamed 82-year-old woman in Rome who was hospitalized with fever and breathing problems in February 2011.

Medication via remote-control instead of a shot? Scientists implanted microchips in seven women that did just that, oozing out the right dose of a bone-strengthening drug once a day without them even noticing.

Implanted medicine is a hot field, aiming to help patients better stick to their meds and to deliver those drugs straight to the body part that needs them.