Tinnitus, an incurable ringing in the ears that can wreck the lives of those that suffer from it, can be significantly eased by a new combination of therapies, The Lancet reported on Friday.

The approach uses psychological training and audio therapy in small groups to reduce distress and refocus the mind so that it does not dwell on the sound.

Australia moved to assure its meat export partners and domestic market Friday that its beef was safe after it was linked to an E-coli contamination scare in the United States.

Australia's agriculture department said it had recently been notified that local beef had been "implicated" in E-coli contamination of mincemeat in the United States.

Motorists along the Beirut-Jounieh highway are exposed to twice the acceptable levels of air pollutants set by the World Health Organization, a new study revealed.

The study was conducted by the American University of Beirut in collaboration with Rasamny Younis Motor Company – RYMCO, Nissan’s exclusive dealer in Lebanon, and Bank Audi s.a.l – Audi Saradar Group, and the results were announced at a joint press conference held at AUB on May 24, 2012.

Nearly 100 children under the age of five died of pneumonia between January and April in Peru due to a cold wave that swept through the country's Andean region, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry reported over 797,000 episodes of non-pneumonic acute respiratory infections in toddlers during the period, along with 9,286 cases of pneumonia.

Women who get flu shots while pregnant could also be protecting the health of their babies before and after birth, a new study suggests.

Using statistics from the Canadian province of Ontario, the findings, published this week in the American Journal of Public Health, are based on comparisons between expecting women who did and did not receive an H1N1 vaccine during the 2009-2010 "swine flu" pandemic that killed more than 14,000 people worldwide.

Women who choose birth control pills, the patch or vaginal ring are 20 times more likely to have an unplanned pregnancy than those using long-term methods such as IUDs and implants, a study released Wednesday found.

Among young women under 21 who chose the pill, the patch or vaginal ring, the risk of unintended pregnancy is almost twice as high as that for older women, according to researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Lab scientists on Wednesday reported that for the first time they had taken skin cells from patients who had suffered heart failure and turned them into cells that could repair damaged cardiac muscle.

The technique has so far been tested on rats and it could take up to a decade of problem-solving before trials can go ahead on humans, the scientists cautioned.

Seven aid groups on Wednesday warned Western diplomats that Yemen was on the brink of a "catastrophic food crisis" and urged them to bolster efforts to salvage the situation as they meet in Riyadh for an international conference to help the nation.

"Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic food crisis," the seven agencies which include Oxfam, CARE and Save the Children, said in a joint statement released Wednesday ahead of the "Friends of Yemen" meeting.

Children exposed to their parents' cigarette smoke are at greater risk of suffering serious cardiovascular health problems later in life, a study showed Wednesday.

The Menzies Research Institute in Tasmania collected data from a Finnish and Australian study following children first examined 20 years ago who are now aged in their mid-30s.

A simple, cheaper exam of just the lower part of the bowel can cut the risk of developing colon cancer or dying of the disease, a large federal study finds.

Many doctors recommend a more complete test — colonoscopy — but many people refuse that costly, unpleasant exam. The new study shows that the simpler test, flexible sigmoidoscopy, can be a good option. Although it may seem similar to having a mammogram on just one breast, experts say that even a partial bowel exam is better than none.