Night work may increase a woman's chances of developing breast cancer by 30 percent -- a slightly elevated but "statistically significant" risk, French researchers said Tuesday.

This placed night work in the same order of risk as factors like genetic mutation, a late first pregnancy or hormonal treatment, Pascal Guenel, director of French health research body INSERM, told Agence France Presse.

For people with Alzheimer's disease, a hospital stay may prove catastrophic.

People with dementia are far more likely to be hospitalized than other older adults, often for preventable reasons like an infection that wasn't noticed early enough. Hospitals can be upsetting to anyone, but consider the added fear factor if you can't remember where you are or why strangers keep poking you.

The most common type of obesity surgery may increase patients' chances for alcohol abuse, according to the largest study to demonstrate a potential link.

Patients who had gastric bypass surgery faced double the risk for excessive drinking, compared with those who had a less drastic weight-loss operation.

The toxic side effects of an experimental cancer drug from Onyx Pharmaceuticals may outweigh its benefits for patients with a type of blood cancer, federal health regulators said Monday.

The Food and Drug Administration warned that patients in a company study of the drug had a high rate of heart and lung side effects, some which were fatal. The FDA posted its review of carfilzomib online ahead of a meeting Wednesday, where its panel of cancer experts will recommend whether the drug should be approved.

Indian pharmaceutical tycoon Yusuf Hamied revolutionized AIDS treatment more than a decade ago by supplying cut-price drugs to the world's poor -- and now he wants to do the same for cancer.

Hamied, chairman of generic drugs giant Cipla, last month slashed the cost of three medicines to fight brain, kidney and lung cancer in India, making the drugs up to more than four times cheaper.

Three out of four people with mental illness in the UK are receiving no treatment, experts have said in a new report.

The report, published by the London School of Economics (LSE), says the lack of treatment for people suffering from mental health problems is the most "glaring case of health inequality" in Britain.

Faulty breast implants made by PIP, the French company that sparked a global health scare, do not pose any long-term medical threats, British health authorities said in a final report Monday.

The silicone gel filler used inside the implants is not toxic and does not increase the risk of breast cancer, the National Health Service's (NHS) Medical Directors group said.

U.S. luggage maker Samsonite said Monday it had withdrawn some of its suitcases from Hong Kong stores after a consumer group found they contained high levels of chemicals that may cause cancer.

The company said its Tokyo Chic brand had been taken off the shelves even though its own tests indicated there was no threat to consumers from the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) in the side-carrying handles.

Fewer motorcyclists die in states that require helmets, and the costs to society are lower too, according to a new federal study released Thursday.

About five times as many no-helmet biker deaths occur in states with less restrictive laws, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found.

The first vaccine that protects children as young as six weeks against two potentially deadly bacterial infections has won approval from U.S. health regulators.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Menhibrix, a combination vaccine for infants and babies that prevents meningococcal disease and haemophilus influenza. Those bacteria can cause potentially deadly illness, or lead to blindness, mental retardation and amputation.