health/fitness

The Food and Drug Administration approved the new swine flu vaccine Tuesday. But health officials across the nation have been planning for months on how to best distribute the vaccine.

Around Louisville, Ky., public health officials have long since scoped out banks with drive-up teller stations that might be used to dispense swine flu shots instead of cash.

Blessings come in many forms.

Those who come to Harmony Hill Retreat Center on a hillside across from a canal often find them in the most unlikely sources -- the cancer diagnoses they thought were death sentences.

Years ago body language expert Patti Wood was speaking in Orlando, Fla., in front of hundreds when, she recalled, "a speaker's nightmare occurred."

Valerie and Chris Grady want so much for their two young sons, but from the outside looking in, it doesn't sound extravagant: To see their kids playing in the yard, running around at school, learning to recite their ABCs.

Yet it would take practically a miracle for that to happen, one they don't plan to stop pursuing until there's nowhere else to go.

Hacking loudly but on the mend, Duke University freshman Sean Cadley emerged from two days of self-imposed isolation this week sporting a new pair of "bronchitis flip-flops."

Patients take home a lot of things when they leave the hospital -- get-well cards, maybe a plant or stuffed animal, even the occasional disposable plastic medical device that might come in handy during recovery.

Jimmy Hathcock arrived at Tampa General Hospital in February by medical helicopter, with a heart so damaged he was put on the list for a transplant.

Now the 67-year-old is out of the hospital, with his own heart beating in his chest.

Go into any health-food store or pharmacy, and you're liable to see large plastic tubs in the supplement aisle promoting amino acids. Wait, don't we get enough amino acids from the food we eat? Australian sports nutritionist Clare Wood investigated amino acid supplements. Take our quiz based on her results, published on the Web site www.topendsports.com.

For about 10 years, Tom Berner felt "a kind of shaking" in his chest between heartbeats.

The 49-year-old Grantsburg, Wis., guidance counselor and football coach figured he was just getting older. But when he went in for a medical procedure last December, a heart monitor told a different story.

Cancer patients who have trouble getting sleep at night are being sought for a new pilot study exploring the potential of meditation techniques as sleep aids.

The study will probe the effectiveness of "mindfulness meditation" and "mind-body bridging."