Two recent studies have revealed that taking leave before and after birth of the baby is beneficial for the health of mother as well as baby.

Study led by Sylvia Guendelman, professor of maternal and child health at UC Berkeley''s School of Public Health studied whether taking maternity leave can affect health outcomes in the United States or not. This study revealed that women who took leave before they gave birth were almost four times less likely to have a primary C-section as women who worked through to delivery.

Recent research has revealed that children must spend some time in sun to prevent myopia. The study found that children's eyesight was not as much affected by long hours spent in front of the television or playing computer games as by the lack of sunlight.

The study showed that exposure to bright light can help regulate the eyeball's growth in childhood, dramatically reducing the risk of myopia.

Hong Kong - Live chicken sales are to resume in Hong Kong, three weeks after a bird flu outbreak that led to the slaughter of tens of thousands of birds, officials said Monday.

Imports of live chickens from mainland China will restart and markets will be able to sell live poultry from Tuesday morning, the territory's government announced.

The resumption of live chicken sales comes after the most severe bird flu scare to hit the city of 6.9 million in recent years, triggered by an outbreak on a chicken farm on December 9.

Beijing - China's first face transplant patient, who was the world's second person to undergo such surgery, has died in the south- western province of Yunnan, local media said on Sunday.

The death of Li Guoxing, 32, was apparently unrelated to his surgery, reported the Chuncheng Wanbao (Spring City Evening News), based in the provincial capital of Kunming.

The cause and date of death remained unclear, but there was speculation that his death could be linked to his reported refusal to continue taking drugs to suppress his immune system.

New York  - The United Nations on Friday said the number of deaths in Zimbabwe had increased as new outbreaks of cholera were reported in the capital Harare and other cities.

More than 20,800 people were infected and more than 1,100 deaths were reported since September, the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in New York said.

Washington, Dec 15 : A new study has shown that regular, moderate exercise may help relieve the symptoms of peripheral artery disease (PAD), via some unexpected mechanisms.

PAD is characterised by dangerous deposits of fatty plaques in arteries resulting from poor diet and lack of exercise. However, the disease not only affects the heart, but also blocks the blood flow to the legs, leading to pain when walking, immobility and even in extreme cases, amputation.