Residents of this city are contracting the virus that causes AIDS at three times the national rate, according to data released by the New York City health department on Wednesday.

The new incidence estimate shows that 72 of every 100,000 New Yorkers were newly infected in 2006, compared to 23 per 100,000 nationally. Nearly 4,800 New Yorkers contracted HIV in 2006 -- three times the national rate, the report said

Giving an infusion of magnesium sulfate, better known as Epsom salt, to women at imminent risk for preterm delivery cuts the odds of their infants later developing cerebral palsy dropped by almost half, researchers say.

Babies born prematurely account for about a third of all cases of cerebral palsy, a developmental brain disorder that affects movement, motor skills and muscle coordination because of brain damage caused during birth

Scientists have changed a pancreas cell into an insulin-producing cell, a breakthrough that could ultimately shift treatment options for a variety of diseases away from stem cells.

The Harvard University scientists who developed the technique believe that someday doctors might be able to treat diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's disease and heart disease using the patient's own cells without turning to stem cells taken from embryos

The drug allopurinol, often used to lower uric acid levels, may lower blood pressure in adolescents with high blood pressure, a new study shows. The drug is prescribed to lower uric acid levels in adults who suffer the painful arthritic condition known as gout.

The current study, published in the Aug. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, tested whether treatment with allopurinol would reduce blood pressure in 30 11- to 17-year-olds who had high uric acid levels and newly diagnosed high blood pressure

Babies born by Caesarean section have a greater risk of developing type-1 diabetes than those who are born via normal deliveries, British research suggests.

Researchers from Queen's University Belfast examined data from 20 published studies on children with type-1 diabetes who were born by caesarean. The results found that that babies born by caesarean had a 20 percent higher risk of diabetes compared with babies born by natural birth. The normal risk of a baby developing type 1 diabetes is three in 1,000