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DALLAS - Women who develop chorioamnionitis during a first pregnancy have twice the risk for the amniotic infection in the next, suggesting a genetic component, researchers reported.

SHREVEPORT, La. -- When shown the instructions on five common prescriptions, only a third of mostly low-income patients of mixed literacy understood how to carry them out.

CHICAGO -- Hypnosis during a breast biopsy significantly reduces post-procedure pain and anxiety compared with standard care, investigators reported here.

CHICAGO -- When sperm motility is only minimally impaired by varicoceles, spermatic vein embolization may improve fertility, German researchers reported here.

BOSTON -- More than a third of clinical trials watchdogs have financial relationships with industry, calling into question the overall objectivity of institutional review boards, reported researchers here.

CHICAGO -- Milk does a bowel good -- or at least as good as a pricey commercial contrast agent that produces only marginally better results for abdominal CT scans.

BOSTON -- The biologic agents used to treat rheumatoid arthritis are no better or worse for the heart than methotrexate, according to a case-control study.

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Poor nutrition may lead to increased disability among older community-dwelling women, researchers here said.

CHICAGO -- A way to use ultrasound to measure the elasticity of tissue surrounding suspicious breast lesions demonstrated 100% diagnostic sensitivity and 99% specificity in a small study.

CHICAGO -- Neither slouching in a chair nor sitting up straight is good for the back, according to researchers from Scotland.

CHIBA, Japan -- Confusion and fuzzy thinking associated with cancer chemotherapy appear to be related to a temporary shrinkage of the brain, Japanese researchers proposed.

NEW YORK -- The thrombin-specific anticoagulant Angiomax (bivalirudin) as monotherapy in patients acute coronary syndromes reduced the risk of major bleeding by 47% compared with rates for heparin and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors, researchers reported.

NEW ORLEANS -- These days a psychiatrist may see an email from a patient that says, "I'm feeling suicidal."

NEW ORLEANS -- The newer atypical antipsychotic drugs may not always outperform the old ones in managing schizophrenia, investigators said here.

BOSTON -- Only two types of master cells are needed to build the heart, research teams here have found, apparently simplifying the challenge of using tissue engineering to repair congenital or acquired cardiac damage.

HANOVER, N.H -- Patients with a herniated lumbar disk did about the same in reducing pain and disability over two years with surgery or usual care, according to two studies.

HYATSVILLE, Md. -- The CDC reported today that the birth rate among U.S. teens fell to an all-time low in 2005.

TORONTO -- While stem cells have been widely heralded as holding the keys to the cures of chronic diseases, evidence is mounting that mutated stem cells are at the root of cancer.