The immune system may play a part in Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers have discovered, in a breakthrough which could lead to the development of new treatments for the most common form of dementia.

A Duke University study published in the Journal of Neuroscience reported that researchers had found that certain immune system cells which normally protect the brain began to consume a key nutrient, arginine.

The United States Monday threw its weight behind an African Union plan to set up a regional disease control center in the wake of the deadly Ebola crisis.

Meeting with Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the chairwoman of the African Union, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry signed a deal to support what he called a "very bold plan" for an African center for disease control to be opened in Addis Ababa.

A low-cost electronic "nose" designed to detect stomach cancer molecules in the breath can also spot signatures of lesions that herald the disease, according to a study published on Monday.

The Israeli-designed tester uses gold nano-particles to detect so-called volatile organic compounds (VOC) that are a tiny telltale in the breath of cancer patients.

IBM on Monday announced alliances with Apple and others to put artificial intelligence to work drawing potentially life-saving insights from the booming amount of health data generated on personal devices.

IBM is collaborating with Apple, Medtronic, and Johnson & Johnson to use its Watson artificial intelligence system to give users insights and advice from personal health information gathered from fitness trackers, smartphones, implants or other devices.

A lawyer for the Irish manufacturer of an Alzheimer's drug urged a U.S. appeals court on Monday to let it replace a two-pill daily regimen with a single-dose version of the drug even if it cheats generic drugmakers of profits.

Attorney Lisa Blatt told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that Dublin-based Actavis PLC makes no apologies for maximizing its profits, though a December court ruling has already caused it to lose at least $200 million in sales and forced it to spend tens of millions of dollars in promotions that otherwise would not be necessary.

Health conscious tipplers may be closer to finding out just how many calories they are imbibing as consumer advocates push for EU nutritional labeling on alcoholic drinks in the face of strong industry resistance.

The European Parliament took a first step last month when it called on the European Commission to draw up legislation requiring such labeling by 2016.

More than 100 people in the central state of Indiana have tested positive for HIV in an outbreak linked to the sharing of intravenous needles, and officials said Friday they're trying to combat unfounded fears among drug users that they could be arrested if they take part in a needle-exchange program created to stem the spread of the virus.

The state's Joint Information Center said there had been 95 confirmed HIV cases and 11 preliminary positive cases tied to the outbreak as of Thursday. That's up from last week's 84 confirmed HIV cases and five preliminary positive cases.

Real progress is being made in the fight against Ebola, but the deadly outbreak in west Africa remains a major international health emergency, the World Health Organization said Friday.

The U.N. health agency said after its fifth emergency meeting on the haemorrhagic fever that the situation in the worst-hit countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone remained a "public health emergency of international concern".

The U.N.'s World Health Organization on Friday warned that too many women in developing and wealthy countries alike are resorting unnecessarily to Caesarean sections to give birth.

Other pregnant women with a real medical need for a C-section simply do not have access to the operation, the WHO added.

Austria on Friday finally decided to ban smoking in cafes and restaurants from 2018 after years of debate in a country famed for its cafe culture.

"We have at last joined Europe in terms of protecting non-smokers," Health Minister Sabine Oberhauser said.