THURSDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Most people think of arthritis as a disease of old age, with people's joints growing creaky and painful later in life.

THURSDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Liz Smith has six kids, and her fifth child has juvenile arthritis.

(HealthDay News) -- Tinnitus is the medical term that describes hearing ringing, whistling, buzzing or other noises in your ears when there's no source for those sounds.

(HealthDay News) -- Joint pain and stiffness are classic symptoms of osteoarthritis, but there are many other factors that can make your joints hurt.

THURSDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Cynthia Duggan was so surprised to learn her Australian shepherd puppy, Molly, needed dental braces that she hesitated to give her veterinarian the OK.

THURSDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Driving is a bad idea for people who have to wear a cast, splint or brace while recovering from an injury or surgery to their right foot, a new study reports.

THURSDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Hospital-wide patient death rates may not be a reliable way to assess a facility's quality of care, a new study indicates.

THURSDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Dealing with family worries and demands can increase a person's risk of developing the painful symptoms of angina, researchers say.

THURSDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Hard-hearted Scrooge may not have been able to help being so mean.

THURSDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Use of electronic medical records has had only a limited effect on improving quality of care at U.S. hospitals, suggests a new study. But the problem may not be the technology but rather the methods used to assess its effectiveness.

THURSDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Eating a vegetarian diet lowers kidney disease patients' levels of potentially toxic phosphorus in the blood and urine, says a small new study.

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

THURSDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Here's another reason not to pile on too many excess pounds: A new study finds that the obese and very obese are at raised risk of death in severe car crashes.

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

THURSDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Flu activity in the United States was low this fall throughout most of the nation, but government health officials expect flu viruses will infect more people in the weeks and months to come.