HEALTH NEWS FROM THESTAR.COM

New research suggests an ancient four-herb Chinese formula may reduce side effects caused by chemotherapy.

Scientists now believe genes account for up to 70 per cent of risk of developing the disease.

If you're like me and sometimes get sleepy in the afternoon you are probably just caffeine deficient. Hyper energetic kids, who may be Ritalin deficient, can be easily treated by the doctor's prescription pad. Experiencing the hot flashes that come with menopause? Yup, that's an easy one to diagnose, you're estrogen deficient.

George Bernard Shaw hated doctors, and by avoiding them managed to live a vibrant and productive life until his death at age 95.

Three international teams of scientists, one led in part by Toronto researchers, have for the first time homed in on the genetic origins of lung cancer, the biggest cancer killer in the country.

Canada's ban on direct-to-consumer drug advertising probably saved Canadians with high cholesterol and their drug plans $150 million in 2006 alone.

At age 30, Kelly Perkins, an avid mountain climber, was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a chronic heart muscle disease. For more than three years, she lived in and out of hospital, so frail her husband Craig carried her up stairs.

Athlete: Dr. Frank Pasztor

Study: Canadian researchers looked at how often children who arrive in a hospital ER department have been taking pharmaceutical medications alongside natural health products and the potential interactions. The natural products included vitamins, ginger, echinacea and St. John's wort. The study's lead author, Dr. Ran Goldman, is now head of the ER at British Columbia's Children's Hospital.

Is menopause a good thing? Long a taboo subject that was acknowledged only with humour 20 years ago, open debate about the life stage now rages.