FRIDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors and patients often have different expectations for knee and hip replacement surgery, and steps should be taken to close that gap, a new study shows.

FRIDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- If diabetics start the drug metformin early -- within three months of diagnosis -- it appears the drug will remain effective longer, a new study finds.

FRIDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- Children with behavioral problems are at increased risk for chronic pain when they reach adulthood, new Scottish research has found.

FRIDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- No matter how cheerful you felt as you wiggled your toes in the sand on that secluded beach, no matter how thrilled you were to finally lay eyes on that Renaissance masterpiece, your vacation bliss won't last long.

FRIDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- A new type of urine test shows that eating plenty of garlic may lower levels of a cancer-causing process within the body.

FRIDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- Pro football players are more likely to suffer certain types of knee and ankle injuries on an artificial turf called FieldTurf than on natural grass, a new study contends.

FRIDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- Most people will welcome the start of daylight savings time this Sunday because it starts to stay light longer, even if that means the early mornings will be dark once again.

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

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

FRIDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- Good news for women who have used birth control pills: A long-term study finds that those who took oral contraceptives at some point in their lives have a lower risk of death than women who never took the "Pill".

(HealthDay News) -- Ketoacidosis occurs when diabetic people develop dangerously high levels of ketones, which are produced when stored fat is burned for energy.

FRIDAY, March 10 (HealthDay News) -- An extract from dried papaya slows the growth of cancer cells in the laboratory, researchers report.

(HealthDay News) -- An epidural is an injected anesthetic often used during labor and delivery to ease the pain of childbirth.

THURSDAY, March 11 (HealthDay News) -- Challenging established medical wisdom about blood pressure and stroke, new British research suggests that extremely variable blood pressure, and not just high blood pressure, can greatly increase a person's risk of stroke.

THURSDAY, March 11 (HealthDay News) -- Obesity plus daily drinking boosts the risk of liver disease in men and women, researchers report in two new studies.

THURSDAY, March 11 (HealthDay News) -- Heat therapy is effective for treating lesions caused by a parasitic skin infection that afflicts U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, a new study shows.

FRIDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- Elderly people with failing memories often keep driving, but a study of Alzheimer's patients suggests the risk of getting lost -- even on familiar streets -- may be greater than once thought.

THURSDAY, March 11 (HealthDay News) -- The decrease in cancer deaths in the United States since 1990 is the result of reduced tobacco use, increased cancer screening and improvements in treatment, according to an American Cancer Society study.

THURSDAY, March 11 (HealthDay News) -- Two separate scientific teams announced this week that they had successfully sequenced individual genomes to pinpoint precise genetic causes of illness -- breakthroughs that open the door to a future of individualized, genomics-based medicine.