IBT Staff Reporter

Health literacy level among US adults is pathetic. Almost half of American adults don't understand health information such as dosage and timing of prescription medicine, according to researchers. The researchers have also suggested healthcare professionals should use plain language, not professional jargon and ensure a patient understands directions.

If you think pumping iron vigorously at a gym or doing 100 Yoga postures daily is the best way to lose weight, think again. Instead watch what you are eating and cut calories. According to a paper published in the International Journal of Obesity, a balanced diet is instrumental in shedding that extra flab.

Autistic children's cognitive skills can improve over time, according to Australian and British researchers.

Idyllic and attuned to tourism, the allure of the Virgin Islands in US lies in its solid tourism infrastructure and its beautiful settings.

A group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean, Pitcairn islands are amongst the most remote in the world, lying approximately halfway between New Zealand and the Americas and to the north of Antarctica.

To his fans, George Clooney could be one of the best on-screen gunfighters of Hollywood. But the actor says he is scared of guns.

African nations whose populations have been devastated by AIDS have made big strides in fighting HIV, with new infections down 25 percent since 2001 in some of the worst hit places, a U.N. report said on Friday.

For the first time in four years, Jennifer Aniston has made it to People magazine's Best Dressed list (2010).

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's patent lawsuits often give rise to a complaint that there are more of them filed; but that isn't the case, according to data from LegalMetric. Rather, it has brought out discussions of how to fix the patent system.

According to a research article published in the British Medical Journal, the joint pain medications glucosamine and chondriotin help reduce pain in osteoarthritis but do not treat the symptoms of the problem.

Scientists have created the first artificial human ovary with the ability to mature human eggs, outside the human body. A tremendous advancement from the test tube baby, this provides a potentially powerful means for conducting fertility research and could also offer solutions to many a cancer patient.

British doctors urge men above age 60 to enroll themselves for a national screening program for prostate cancer. The $15 prostate specific antigen test would rule out the risk in half of the male population and allow doctors to concentrate their scarce resources on those most susceptible to developing and dying from the condition, The Daily Telegraph reported.

It's quite common to find many people - not just children - to fear needles. Dr. Deborah Wiebe, a US health psychologist says for most people these are manageable fears that can be addressed through a variety of simple pain-management strategies.

A new study in the US says physically fit children in the age group 9-10 tend to be brainier and often do better in memory tests, as compared to their less fit peers. The study was based on how effectively children used oxygen while running on a treadmill.

The Department of Education (DoE) said that default on student loans climbed to 7.0 percent in fiscal 2008, up from 6.7 percent in the prior fiscal year - yet another manifestation of the sluggish economy and bleak jobs market.

US fund manager Franklin Templeton plans to invest heavily across the Asia-Pacific region aims to launch a new Asian property fund of funds. It also intends raising about $300 million from institutional investors in Europe and Australia, a Reuters report said.

NYC's biggest 'affordable' housing project in 35 years attracts numerous real estate powerhouses, who will participate in the first phase of the bidding process, a recent Reuters report said.

Australian real estate analysts said increasing home loan applications are suggestive of a positive outlook for the residential property market.

The Government of Singapore Investment Corp's (GIC) real-estate arm warns India will be flooded with luxury hotels and malls. However, it remained optimistic about the country's longer-term prospects.

Theo's original résumé was visually appealing, however the design did not connect with the target audience.

Not now, say experts. Because there are more unsold homes in the market because of what the banks and speculators have done.

Jefferson County in Louisville, Kentucky has always prided to be the home for million dollar houses in the U.S.

New Orleans, which was hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, has lost more than 75,000 homes, nearly 13% of the total housing units in the district. At the same time, the monthly cost of housing rose 33% to $882 due to shortage of these houses making it expensive to live.

Some elderly borrowers may benefit from a Federal government decision to reduce upfront costs of reverse mortgages in the US.

In the Big island of Hawaii, more people are buying Condominium and single family homes compared to last year, as home prices are still going cheap.

In the first of this year, more than $132 billion worth of real estate deals were signed globally, up 74% over $76 billion deals signed during the same period last year.

In contrast to the rest of Asia, South Korea's real estate sector is in the midst of a crisis with residential property in Greater Seoul area being marked 10 percent below recent levels and down twice that figure in the other regions of the country.

Listed below are five such qualities that we believe will help you make that informed decision and boost your fortunes:

Named after the 'Naini Tal' or lake shaped in the form of the eye, Nainital is perhaps one of the most popular hill resorts, tucked away in the sylvan surroundings of Uttaranchal Himalayas.