Health

• Kudos for an experimental HD mammogram machine

  You're lying face down on a massage table, your breast encased in a water bath through an opening in the table. Tiny ports from a surrounding ring fire ultrasound waves.

• Pregnant women should get flu shots

  Some women ask if it's safe to get a flu shot during pregnancy. The Mayo Clinic gives this answer:

• A Viagra for women study that has some problems

  Most studies have found that drugs such as sildenafil (Viagra) have not been helpful for women suffering sexual dysfunction. A small study published in July, however, reported that sildenafil may improve sexual functioning in some women being treated with antidepressants.

• Botox may ease migraines, study says

  Antiwrinkle injection Botox may help relieve migraines by reducing the number of days people suffer from the headaches, drugmaker Allergan Inc. reported in September. A company-funded study showed that those who received Botox injections experienced a greater decrease in both the number of headache days and number of headache episodes compared with a placebo group.

• Brown tide algae returns to South Shore bays

  The brown tide algae that darkened South Shore bays for months is back, blooming off Islip and Babylon and spurring fresh concern about its effect on clams in the Great South Bay.

• HEALTH & SCIENCE: BRIEFING

  Most people over 75 should stop getting routine colon cancer tests, according to a government health task force that also rejected the latest X-ray screening technology. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, in a break with other medical and cancer organizations, opted not to give its stamp of approval to the newest tests: CT colonography, an X-ray test known as virtual colonoscopy, and a stool DNA test. The panel, in guidelines published in today's Annals of Internal Medicine, said more research is needed. The task force for the first time did endorse three tests and said everyone age 50 to 75 should get screened with one of them: a colonoscopy of the entire colon every 10 years; a sigmoidoscopy of the lower colon every five years, combined with a stool blood test every three years; and a stool blood test every year. After reviewing research on the tests, the government-appointed panel of independent medical experts concluded that the benefits of detecting and treating colon cancer decline after age 75 and the risks rise. Colonoscopy complications can include infection, perforated colon and reactions to sedatives.

• Joint-replacement redos on the rise

  WASHINGTON - One in 75 patients who gets a knee or hip replaced must get it replaced again within three years, new research finds, although the studies underscore a question: Just how much pounding can a new joint take if you want it to last?

• Unlucky serve: A dance injury

  Yeah, Misty's out of "Dancing With the Stars. " And the minute she appeared on stage last night, 20 million viewers instantly knew as much.

• French, German scientists share medicine Nobel

  Two French scientists who discovered the AIDS virus and a German who defied convention in showing a viral cause for cervical cancer shared the Nobel Prize in medicine yesterday for breakthroughs that have led to lifesaving drugs and a vaccine.

• Flushing out the facts about colonic irrigation

  A friend recently told me she was getting colonic irrigation. She is generally healthy but had been feeling rundown. After three sessions, she felt much more energetic and believes that the treatment removes toxins from her body. Is this true? Is colonic irrigation safe?