Health Headlines-Friday

ANIMALS FLU:

THE H1N1 FLU VIRUS IS NOW AFFECTING MORE THAN JUST HUMANS.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION OFFICIALS SAY SOME PIGS, TURKEYS AND HOUSEHOLD PETS HAVE BECOME INFECTED WITH THE H1N1 FLU.

BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THE VIRUS DOES NOT YET APPEAR TO BE SPREADING QUICKLY AMONG ANIMALS.

OFFICIALS ARE SURE HOW THE ISOLATED ANIMALS HAD CONTRACTED THE VIRUS.

BIG FAMILIES AND HAPPINESS:

BEING MARRIED AND HAVING LOTS OF CHILDREN MAY BE THE KEY TO HAPPINESS.

A NEW SCOTTISH STUDY DISCOVERED THE MORE CHILDREN A COUPLE HAS.. THE MORE MERRY THEIR MARRIAGE IS AND THE HEALTHIER THEIR FAMILY IS.

A Doctor says, "When you have a large number of kids many times what you do is concentrate on preventative health care -- good nutrition, education, talking to each other, communication, so the whole family begins to take care of themselves and I think this observational study really points to that. Big families are happy families. Big families are healthy families."

IN AN INTERESTING TWIST.. THE SURVEY FOUND UNMARRIED COUPLES WHO HAVE LOTS OF KIDS DON'T EXPERIENCE THE SAME POSITIVE EFFECT.

OBESITY CANCER:

RESEARCHERS SAY ONE WAY TO REDUCE YOUR RISK FOR CANCER IS TO LOSE WEIGHT.

THEY SAY OBESITY CAUSES MORE THAN 100,000 CASES OF CANCER IN THE U-S EACH YEAR.

NEARLY HALF OF THE CANCER CASES CAUSED BY OBESITY WERE ENDOMETRIAL CANCER IN THE UTERUS.

A THIRD INVOLVED ESOPHAGEAL CANCER.

RESEARCHERS PREDICT THOSE NUMBER WILL LIKELY INCREASE AS AMERICANS GET FATTER.

RED MEAT:

MEN MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER WHAT PROTEINS ARE ON THEIR PLATE.

A NEW STUDY SAYS MEN WHO EAT A LOT OF RED AND PROCESSED MEATS HAVE A HIGHER RISK OF DEVELOPING PROSTATE CANCER.

RESEARCHERS SAY MEN IN THE STUDY WITH THE HIGHEST INTAKES OF RED MEAT -- INCLUDING BEEF AND PORK -- WERE 12% MORE LIKELY THAN THOSE WHO CONSUMED THE LEAST TO DEVELOP PROSTATE CANCER.

SIMILAR FINDINGS WERE ALSO SEEN WITH PROCESSED RED MEATS -- LIKE BACON, SAUSAGE, AND HOT DOGS.

Health Headlines-Friday