Researches say about ten percent of patients who take low-dose aspirin to lessen their chance of a heart attack develop peptic ulcers.

The investigators were uncertain whether side effects from the aspirin cause the ulcers to bleed or whether the patients taking the drug get ulcers more often. The effects include reducing levels of platelets, which help the blood clot, write Dr. Neville D. Yeomans and his colleagues

According to the government, life expectancy in the U.S. has hit an all-time high of 77.6 years. For men, life expectancy in 2003 was 74.8 years, for women 80.1 years. The report says deaths from heart disease, cancer and stroke continue to drop. But the research also includes some warnings about potential health problems.

Half of Americans in the 55-to-64 age group, including the oldest of the baby boomers, have high blood pressure, and two in five are obese. That means Americans in the same age group born a decade earlier were in better shape. The health of this large group is of major concern to American taxpayers, because they are now becoming eligible for Medicare and Social Security

According to the government, life expectancy in the U.S. has hit an all-time high of 77.6 years. For men, life expectancy in 2003 was 74.8 years, for women 80.1 years. The report says deaths from heart disease, cancer and stroke continue to drop. But the research also includes some warnings about potential health problems.

Half of Americans in the 55-to-64 age group, including the oldest of the baby boomers, have high blood pressure, and two in five are obese. That means Americans in the same age group born a decade earlier were in better shape. The health of this large group is of major concern to American taxpayers, because they are now becoming eligible for Medicare and Social Security

Doctors are saying that more heart attacks happen in December in the United States than in any other month, in part because of holiday stress and cold weather.

When a body is cold, it shivers - meaning muscles are contracting to generate more blood flow and heat, putting a strain on hearts

Several thousand U.S. children suffer strokes each year, and some specialists fear these numbers may be on the rise.

Now, efforts are under way to detect strokes faster in these tiny patients and begin figuring out how to treat them