You may already know that high overall cholesterol can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. What you might not know is that survivors of some cancers may be more prone to having high amounts of fat in their blood.

Whether in their schools, families or social circles, teenagers can face a range of pressures. School-based programs are among those aiming to ease challenges to young people's overall well-being.

For a person with diabetes, the risk of developing clogged arteries is high. An MRI can provide a noninvasive look inside the body that may help determine the chances of a heart attack or stroke in diabetes patients.

Concerns about child and teen obesity are not new, but they have been growing. In particular, the number of youth who are severely obese is increasing.

Cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, have been increasing in recent years in the US. The CDC recommends the pertussis vaccine to protect children and adults from the disease.

There is more to combating obesity than ensuring that children eat healthy food. There are other factors that can increase children's risk of obesity — and they can be addressed within a family.

Exercise can benefit arthritis patients by helping reduce pain, stiffness and disability. Certain electrical devices have been tried for the treatment of arthritis as well, and researchers recently studied whether one such device could add to the benefits of exercise for knee osteoarthritis.

Several surgery patients in New England were recently told that they may have gotten more than they bargained for when they went under the knife.

Most smokers pick up the habit when they are teenagers. And regular tobacco cigarettes may not be the only thing teens are smoking. Now, electronic cigarettes appear to be attracting young students at a faster pace each year.

In an effort to relieve their asthma, many patients have been drawn to alternative medicine. A recent study was conducted to examine whether alternative medicine was associated with better asthma control than conventional medicine.