Researchers say vitamin E might slow the progression of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease — the first time any treatment has been shown to alter the course of dementia at that stage.

In a study of more than 600 older veterans, high doses of the vitamin delayed the decline in daily living skills, such as making meals, getting dressed and holding a conversation, by about six months over a two-year period.

Swedish scientists on Tuesday said they had found further evidence that sleep helps to promote the health of brain cells.

The clues come in two so-called biomarkers -- tell-tales of biological activity -- found in the blood of sleep-deprived young men.

A new crack has appeared within Spain's conservative ruling party over government legislation to ban women from freely choosing abortion.

Prime Minster Mariano Rajoy's government has come under fire from the opposition after announcing December 20 it would roll back a 2010 law that had allowed women to opt freely for abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Dr. Kenneth Edelin, a Boston physician at the center of a landmark abortion case in the 1970s, died Monday morning in Sarasota, Florida. He was 74.

Edelin's wife, Barbara, confirmed that he died after suffering from cancer.

An elderly man has contracted a mild form of bird flu in the first case of its type for four years, Hong Kong officials said on Monday.

"We are now investigating a confirmed human case of influenza A H9N2, affecting a man aged 86," Leung Ting-hung, controller of the city's Centre for Health Protection, told reporters.

French drug giant Sanofi announced Monday U.S. health authorities had rejected its Lemtrada drug for some forms of multiple sclerosis, which is already approved in the European Union, Canada and Australia.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Sanofi's subsidiary Genzyme, which makes the drug aimed at treating relapsing forms of the disease, had "not submitted evidence from adequate and well-controlled studies that demonstrate the benefits of Lemtrada outweigh its serious adverse effects."

China has banned its officials from smoking in public to set an example to the rest of the country that has the world's largest number of smokers.

The official Xinhua News Agency said that officials are not allowed to smoke in schools, hospitals, sports venues, on public transport or any other places where smoking is banned, or to smoke or offer cigarettes when performing official duties. They also cannot use public funds to buy cigarettes, and within Communist Party or government offices tobacco products cannot be sold nor adverts displayed.

Residents of a facility in Thailand for people with Alzheimer's disease toss around a yellow ball and laugh under a cascade with their caregivers, in a swimming pool ringed by palm trees and wind chimes. Susanna Kuratli, once a painter of delicate oils, swims a lap and smiles.

Watching is her husband, Ulrich, who has a heart-rending decision: to leave his wife of 41 years in this facility 9,000 kilometers (5,600 miles) from home, or to bring her back to Switzerland.

A gleaming white Apple store of weed is how Andy Williams sees his new Denver marijuana dispensary.

Two floors of pot-growing rooms will have windows showing the shopping public how the mind-altering plant is grown. Shoppers will be able to peruse drying marijuana buds and see pot trimmers at work separating the valuable flowers from the less-prized stems and leaves.

Hundreds of people reported to be doctors have been charged with corruption in Croatia following a probe targeting a local pharmaceutical firm whose management was also indicted, officials said Saturday.

"The charges are brought up against 364 Croatian citizens and Farmal pharmaceutical company for bribery, abuse of power and corruption," the country's anti-graft bureau said in a statement.