Norwegian scientists studying the health records of 43,000 men and women have shown that smoking less than five cigarettes daily triples the risk of dying of heart disease or lung cancer.

"In both sexes, smoking 1-4 cigarettes per day was associated with a significantly higher risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease and from all causes, and from lung cancer in women," said Dr Aage Tverdal of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo

Doctors warn that obesity increases a pregnant women's risk of miscarriage and other serious, even life-threatening complications such as gestational hypertension, preeclampsia and gestational diabetes.

They say the higher the body mass index a woman has, the higher the chance of a Caesarean section

According to a group of London-based fertility specialists the increase in women over 35 having children is cause for some alarm.

They say the best age for pregnancy remains 20 to 35

According to a group of London-based fertility specialists the increase in women over 35 having children is cause for some alarm.

They say the best age for pregnancy remains 20 to 35

More than half of American teens ages 15 to 19 have engaged in oral sex, increasing to nearly 70% for those who are 18 and 19, according to the largest federal study of the nation's sexual practices.

Findings now suggest a shift in sexual practices, in which females are using oral and lesbian sex "as a safer alternative than [vaginal] sex with men