Women who spend a lot of time exercising or eat a heart-healthy diet appear to reach menopause earlier, according to a Japanese study — findings that researchers say could be important for cancer prevention.

Treating pregnant cancer patients with powerful chemotherapy drugs appears not to harm their unborn children, but pre-term delivery to avoid subjecting them to chemotherapy does, according to a study by cancer experts on Tuesday.

Women trying to conceive are better served by a urine test to determine if they are ovulating than the more commonly used calendar method, the makers of the test said at a Stockholm conference Tuesday.

Hot flashes and night sweats at menopause are uncomfortable and annoying to many women. But they are also associated with a reduced risk of future heart attacks and strokes, researchers reported on Feb. 24.

Fertility treatment such as in-vitro fertilization (IVF) may not be tied to an increased risk of cancer despite the hormones used, said a study from Sweden.

Mothers who puff a pack a day or more while pregnant run a 30-percent higher risk of having kids who become criminal offenders, according to a study published Tuesday

Use of mild painkillers such as paracetamol, aspirin and ibuprofen during pregnancy may partly account for a sharp increase in male reproductive disorders in recent decades, according to a study published on Monday.

Although acupuncture is promoted as a way to induce labor in women who go past their due date, a Danish study had added to evidence casting doubt on its usefulness.

Pregnant women who drink six cups of coffee every day may have smaller babies than women who consume less caffeine, according to a Dutch study.

Doctors could one day use a blood test to predict decades in advance when women will go into menopause, scientists say.