Men with knee osteoarthritis who smoke can gain some pain relief if they give up cigarettes researchers at Mayo Clinic discovered. A Mayo Clinic rheumatologist found that smoking also increases cartilage loss in men with osteoarthritis.

The study's results will be published online in the "Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases" this week

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh found that obesity is linked with short-term disability. And over-weight women may face higher risk of short-term disability compared to their male counterparts.

In the study, researchers analyzed data from health risk appraisals of more than 19,000 employees of a large financial services institution

A brain-implant device appears to help patients who have a movement disorder called dystonia, a neurological disorder in which involuntary muscle contractions cause repetitive movements, twisting and abnormal postures. The procedure, in which a thin wire that carries electrical currents is placed within brain, is called deep-brain stimulation.

Deep-brain stimulation seems to be effective even for patients who do not respond to medication. Dr. Guenther Deuschl, a professor of neurology at Christian-Albrechts University, says it is "a reasonable treatment for people who have failed other therapies

A new study by researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., has shown that teenagers who have reading problems are four times more likely than their peers to contemplate a suicide or attempt one. During the three-year study conducted on 188 high school students, researchers found that 25 percent of teens with reading disabilities have thought about killing themselves or made a suicide attempt, as compared to 9 percent of students with average reading skills.

Besides that, researchers also found a correlation between poor reading skills and dropping out of school during the study period. The dropping out was again strongly related to an increased risk of suicide

According to a recent scientific report, the female sex hormone, progesterone, may be useful in treating traumatic brain injuries (TBI). Preliminary studies have produced a high rate of verifiable success, say researchers.

In a prepared statement given on Friday, Dr. David Wright of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, said, "We found encouraging evidence that progesterone is safe in the setting of TBI, with no evidence of side effects or serious harmful events