Reader realities: True impact of health reform

Msnbc.com readers, like the Cooper family, reveal the real-world impact of changes coming to the health care system. Who benefits? Who pays? And when does it all hit home?

Is your boyfriend making you fat?

  When you get comfy and secure in a relationship, the numbers on the scale tend to creep up. Follow our advice to keep the "boyfriend layer" at bay.

Lancet: Sharp drop in maternal deaths worldwide

The number of women dying in childbirth worldwide has dropped dramatically, a British medical journal reports, adding that it was pressured to delay its findings until after U.N. meetings this week on public health funding.

NYT: In some adoptions, love doesn't conquer all

  NYT: One girl sexually abused other kids.  Another boy constantly bit and screamed at his adoptive family. For some families who have faced the challenges of international adoption, the case of a boy sent back to Russia strikes a chord.

Some cancer patients more likely to get blood clot

Men with prostate cancer being treated with hormone therapy have a slightly higher risk of developing a blood clot, new research says.

Love, Sex and Success: Take our survey

Bowel disease tied to autism may not exist

A new autism disease identified in a flawed paper linking a common children's vaccine to autism, may not exist, new research says. British surgeon Andrew Wakefield had been hired by a lawyer in 1996 to find a new syndrome so vaccine makers could be sued.

Furry terrors: Coping with an infuriating pet

Dogs chewing through table legs. Biting cockatiels. At a time when many people are scrimping on themselves to indulge their animals, the love is lost for owners of infuriating pets. How does a human make peace with a problem pet?

Want a better workout? Don't stretch before

Want a better workout? Then don't stretch beforehand, some experts say.

Medicare panel to weigh prostate treatments

  At a time of growing debate over prostate cancer treatments, U.S. Medicare officials will take a closer look at radiation therapy and its ability to reduce deaths and side effects in men.

Heidi Montag had her ‘back scooped.’ Huh?

Earlier this week, Heidi Montag said that among the myriad plastic surgery procedures she's had done, she's also had her "back scooped." Wait, what?