HEALTH NEWS FROM THESTAR.COM

A handful of parents is questioning a plan by Toronto's public board to put a vending machine in an elementary school, charging students 50 cents for water refills and $1 for flavoured water.

The virus that causes AIDS can hide in bone marrow, avoiding drugs and later awakening to cause illness, according to new research that could point the way to better treatments for the disease.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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