Best of BBC news

New NHS statistics reveal the number of attempts to quit cigarettes increased by more than a third last year.

More than half a million Britons go to work with a hangover each day and the figure is set to soar with the World Cup, experts say.

The number of births to older mothers in England and Wales almost trebled in 20 years, figures show.

In this week's Scrubbing Up, bioethicist Stephen Wilkinson argues that people should be allowed to make a choice on the sex of their baby.

Why being a bit of a loner can be good for you

The NHS in England is to be reorganised with the downgrading of Strategic Health Authorities, the government says.

Falls could be prevented if older people stop wearing varifocal glasses while out, an Australian study suggests.

A five-month-old boy is in hospital with 40% of his body burnt after a day in the sun with his mother on Brighton beach.

When does offering advice become a crime?

Testosterone makes the most trusting of women more socially vigilant, according to a study

The abortion rate has dropped for the second year running in England and Wales, statistics show.

A top scientist warns a patent on the first synthetic life form would give its creator a monopoly on a range of genetic engineering.

A mother demands the right to know exactly how her teenage son died after she was barred from a "lessons learned" review.

Premature birth risk is genetic, researchers suspect after finding early births tend to run in families.

Loneliness is more prevalent among the social-networking younger generation than in older people, a UK survey suggests.

The attacks of 9/11 may have led to an increase in miscarriages involving male foetuses in the US, research suggests.

Two social workers admit failing to follow procedures to protect Baby Peter in the months before his death.

One in three adults in the UK do not brush their teeth for a recommended full two minutes per day, experts believe.

The doctor who first suggested a link between MMR vaccinations and autism is to be struck off the medical register.

A look at the chief medical officer's 12-year tenure