Although mammography remains standard for breast cancer screening, several newer technologies are helping to fine-tune diagnosis.

Doctors have been making radiologic images of women's breasts for almost a century. The first, taken in 1913, were x-rays of breasts that had been surgically removed. In studying these early images, doctors found that they could distinguish malignant from benign tissue, even when cancer hadn't been suspected. Here was a possible alternative to the then-standard detection method — removing a palpable lump (if not the entire breast) and examining the tissue under a microscope.

At first, breast x-rays were disappointing. The images were ...

Patellofemoral pain can make it hard to squat, go down stairs, or just sit through a movie.

As any reader of Harvard Women's Health Watch knows, exercise offers many benefits for health and well-being, but it can also put stress on muscles and joints. For one thing, that mountain hike or four-mile run on the first beautiful spring day (after a long, sedentary winter) might just reward you with pain in the front of your knee.

Patellofemoral pain — pain at the junction of the kneecap (patella) and thighbone (femur) — is one of the most common problems in sports ...

For several years, concerns have been mounting about the safety of a class of drugs known as thiazolidinediones (TZDs), used to treat type 2 diabetes. In 2007, after research found a higher rate of heart failure among people who took the TZDs rosiglitazone (Avandia) and pioglitazone (Actos), the FDA required a "black box" warning label on these medications. Other studies have prompted further worries: a 43% higher risk of heart attack in people who took rosiglitazone, as well bone loss and fractures in people — particularly women — taking either rosiglitazone or pioglitazone.

Now a study has confirmed the finding ...

Q. My mother took DES when she was pregnant with me. I'm now 69, my daughter is 41, and we've both had gynecological problems. What particular risks do we have because of our DES exposure, and what can we do about them?

A. DES, or diethylstilbestrol, is a synthetic estrogen that was prescribed in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s to prevent miscarriage and premature delivery. In 1971, the FDA issued a warning against its use in pregnant women after researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston linked it to a rare cancer of the vagina and cervix — clear cell ...

I've been trying to lose weight for a long time and nothing seems to work. What do you know about the HCG diet?

From time to time, my eyelids twitch. What causes this, and is there anything I can do about it?