(HealthDay News) -- The holidays may represent excess, but you don't have to let that translate to excess weight.

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Police officers who have to draw or fire their gun or use other weapons often report feeling powerless, guilty, angry and fearful afterward, Canadian researchers report.

THURSDAY, Dec. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Despite decades of public health efforts aimed at snuffing out cigarette smoking, 20 percent of Americans still light up. New research suggests it might be because of their genes.

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Racial and ethnic differences in diet, exercise and weight may be due to differences in socioeconomic status, a new U.S. study suggests.

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Opera legend Beverly Sills never smoked. Neither did actress and health advocate Dana Reeve, wife of the late actor Christopher Reeve.

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Having an abusive boss can do more than ruin your workday, it can also harm your family life, new research suggests.

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Children with sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder, who also have high blood pressure and/or anemia are at increased risk for so-called "silent strokes," according to a new study.

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Topical treatment with moisturizers and emollients such as petroleum jelly should be the first line of therapy for treating psoriasis in pregnant and breast-feeding women, according to new recommendations from the National Psoriasis Foundation Medical Board based in Portland, Ore.

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Prescriptions for opioid painkillers to treat chronic abdominal pain more than doubled in the United States between 1997 and 2008, according to a new study.

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- First-time mothers and fathers have a tougher time adapting to their new roles if they believe society expects them to be perfect parents, a new study finds.

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Major depression and conflicts with intimate partners increase the risk of suicide among pregnant women and new mothers, a new study indicates.

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Child safety and booster seats protect children of all weights, including those on the heavy side.

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have identified the first gene associated with frequent herpes-related cold sores.

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- People who have been diagnosed with colon cancer have a poorer prognosis if they're obese or have type 2 diabetes, new research suggests.

FRIDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- The antidepressant Prozac may help ease repetitive behaviors in some adults with autism, a new study indicates.

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