Bacteria and fungi infection in amniotic fluid may cause a significant number of premature births in infants, new study has found.

Using new technology, Stanford researchers in California reported on Monday that they looked at fluid samples from 166 women in preterm labor; 113 of the women went on to deliver premature babies. The women were patients at Hutzel Women's Hospital in Detroit between October 1998 and December 2002

Babies born by Caesarean section have a greater risk of developing type-1 diabetes than those who are born via normal deliveries, UK 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 per cent 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

One person has died and dozens here are sick after being infected with what appears to be E. coli. At least 10 people were taken to a Tulsa hospital after eating at a restaurant.

Oklahoma State Health Department spokeswoman Leslea Bennett-Webb announced that 12 to 20 other people in Beggs, Pryor and Bixby were treated at various other hospitals. The Oklahoma Health Department says up to two dozen people have been treated and released at other hospitals in northeastern Oklahoma

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Public Health Agency of Canada announced Saturday that it has traced the deadly listeriosis outbreak in Ontario to a Maple Leaf food processing plant in Toronto.

The announcement by health officials prompted the food company to heighten its recall of meat products. Maple Leaf also issued a public apology for the outbreak

Children who are exposed to pet dogs, cats or other furry friends at home can develop problem snoring when they grow up, a new study has revealed. Heavy snoring has been linked to early death, heart disease and stroke, not to mention the obvious problems of sleep deprivation for the snorer and their partner.

Karl Franklin, the study's lead author and a physician at University Hospital here, analyzed sleep habits and other childhood hospitalizations of men and women aged 25 to 54 -- all residents of Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Estonia -- and got responses from 15,556