In a major setback for AIDS prevention research, a clinical trial of a new vaginal gel supposed to reduce HIV infections has been suspended after studies showed it to be ineffective.

Researchers from the Microbicide Trials Network, set up by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), expressed surprise at the outcome as a previous study on a gel containing the drug tenofovir had shown encouraging results.

Doctors should read up on Shakespeare, according to an unusual medical study that says the Bard was exceptionally skilled at spotting psychosomatic symptoms.

Kenneth Heaton, a doctor at the University of Bristol in western England, trawled through all 42 of Shakespeare's major works and 46 genre-matched works by contemporaries.

Hi-tech medical scanners could be used to probe causes of death, reducing the need for invasive autopsies that can upset bereaved families, a study published in The Lancet on Tuesday says.

In Britain, post-mortems are ordered in about a fifth of deaths, notably where crime is suspected. The procedure has changed little over the past century, entailing evisceration and then dissection of the major organs.

Poor treatment of many elderly people in their own homes is breaching their human rights, says a study of England's home care services.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission report into council-operated home care said there is evidence of a "systematic failure" in the way care is given.

The government delivered a blow to some desperate patients Friday as it ruled the blockbuster drug Avastin should no longer be used to treat advanced breast cancer.

Avastin is hailed for treating colon cancer and certain other malignancies. But the Food and Drug Administration said it appeared to be a false hope for breast cancer: Studies haven't found that it helps those patients live longer or brings enough other benefit to outweigh its dangerous side effects.

The European Union warned Thursday of a sharp rise in deaths across the 27-nation bloc due to bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics.

With some 25,000 Europeans dying each year from infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria, European health commissioner John Dalli said "we need to take swift and determined action if we do not want to lose antimicrobial medicines" for humans and animals.

Women who delay pregnancy until a later age are placing themselves at increased risk of stroke, according to Dr. Matthew Fink, Professor of Clinical Neurology and Interim Chairman and Neurologist-in-Chief of the Department of Neurology and Neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.

Speaking at the monthly community health seminar, Medicine & U moderated by Professor Basim M. Uthman at the Weill Cornell Medical College in Doha, Dr. Fink said the increasing prevalence of hypertension, cardiac disease, obesity and diabetes also adds to the risk of stroke for mothers.

Give people free prescription drugs and many of them still won't bother to take their medicine.

Doctors were stunned to see that happen in a major study involving heart attack survivors. The patients were offered well-established drugs to prevent a recurrence of heart trouble, including cholesterol-lowering statins and medicines that slow the heart and help it pump more effectively.

Regular professional cleaning of teeth not only gives a patient a more radiant smile but also helps reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke, according to a new study.

The study presented Sunday at an American Heart Association meeting in Orlando, Florida, was conducted at the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan.

An experimental drug helped obese monkeys lose 11 percent of their extra weight in a month, a promising sign in the hunt for obesity drugs that could apply to humans, U.S. researchers said Wednesday.

The drug, known as Adipotide, works by attacking the blood supply of a certain kind of fat, known as white adipose tissue, that tends to accumulate under the skin and around the belly.