FRIDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer is one of the most feared diseases on the planet, and the second leading cause of death in the United States.

FRIDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Lee Smith of Marietta, Ga., set himself up with an unusual 50th birthday gift: He scheduled a colonoscopy for a couple of days later.

(HealthDay News) -- Rickets, a Victorian-era disease marked by weak, deformed bones and caused by a deficiency in calcium, phosphorus or vitamin D, has made a comeback in recent years.

(HealthDay News) -- Restless leg syndrome is characterized by uncomfortable feelings in the legs and feeling the urgent need to move them.

FRIDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. soldiers with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer more physical ailments than those with no mental health issues, and this effect is stronger in women than men, a new study shows.

FRIDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Drug therapy that combines a derivative of the antibiotic tetracycline and a synthetic derivative of an amino acid may help patients suffering from traumatic brain injury, a new study in animals suggests.

FRIDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Malnutrition and inflammation may be important risk factors for cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and need to be considered when doctors are assessing patients' cholesterol levels, a new study suggests.

FRIDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Fine particles of pollution that linger in the air can increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest, warns a new study.

FRIDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- You burn your hand on a hot stove. You grab that hand with the other, and sometimes the pain goes away. Ever wonder why?

FRIDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Nerve inflammation may be the cause of pain, numbness and weakness that some patients experience after surgery, according to a new study.

FRIDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Efforts to expand research on women's health issues in the United States over the past two decades have led to lower disease rates and fewer deaths among women from heart disease, breast cancer and several other major diseases, a new government report shows.

THURSDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- For people whose carotid arteries have become narrowed, restricting blood flow to the brain, having a surgical procedure to widen them reduces the risk of stroke over a 10-year period, British researchers report.

FRIDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Children in the United States are not drinking as much water as they should, and the deficiency can have wide-reaching implications, a new study suggests.

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

(HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of ClinicalConnection.com: