MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that you should steer clear of using ordinary spoons when taking or giving liquid medicines, because the practice raises the risk of potentially dangerous dosing mistakes.

MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Smokers who give up the habit have an increased risk of developing diabetes over the next few years, a new study finds.

MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking and obesity are known to lead to a host of life-threatening conditions from cardiovascular disease to cancer, but poverty may be even worse for your health, new research suggests.

MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Most depressed adults in the United States don't get the minimum recommended treatment, and the vacuum is especially dramatic among minority populations.

MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that body measurements and laboratory tests may predict the likelihood that a child will develop type 2 diabetes later in life.

MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- The rate of children aged 2 to 5 who are given antipsychotic medications has doubled in recent years, a new study has found.

MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Children whose parents refuse to have them vaccinated for chickenpox have a ninefold greater chance of contracting the disease than those who are vaccinated, a new study finds.

MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- A panel of experts says evidence is lacking that placing autistic children on special diets might ease behavioral and other problems.

MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental drug called imetelstat shows promise in treating glioblastoma brain cancer and prostate cancer, according to the results of preclinical studies in which the drug was tested on human prostate cancer cells and in rodents with glioblastoma.

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

MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers say they've discovered an agent that appears to make sexual transmission of HIV less likely.

MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Inherited genetic variations could explain why blacks develop type 2 diabetes at a higher rate than whites, new research suggests.

MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Want to feel more fit in 2010?

MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Boys should get the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to protect them against genital warts, and all children should receive the H1N1 vaccine to guard against swine flu, according to updated guidelines on childhood and teen vaccines.

(HealthDay News) -- The influenza (flu) vaccine is available in two forms -- as an injection and in the form of a nasal spray.

(HealthDay News) -- Chronic fatigue syndrome is characterized by extreme fatigue that makes it difficult to complete life's daily tasks.