Headache? Sneezing? Wheezing? Itchy and watery eyes?

You are not alone.

This spring is turning out to be one of the worst allergy seasons in years because of high pollen counts in cities across the nation, according the Associated Press.

The unseasonably cold winter is a likely culprit of the extreme allergy season, according to AccuWeather.com. Many plants may have bloomed later than usual, and this late blooming has overlapped the normal blooming of other plants. Right now, some areas in the deep South are seeing double the normal amount of pollen.

When a Web site reported that a recent government study erroneously reported that African American women have the highest rate of herpes infections in the United States, word spread across cyberspace with the speed of Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt. The unspoken message: The mainstream media were caught again painting African Americans in a bad light.

But the government agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), quickly stood by its March report that Hiphopwired's facts actually were erroneous.

"We at CDC want to make it clear that CDC has not changed its position on the recently released HSV-2 data and firmly stands by the important findings of that report based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey-- or NHANES -- a nationally representative survey of the U.S. household population that assesses a broad range of health issues,'' an official said in an statement released Thursday.

The practice of going from doctor to doctor to fraudulently obtain prescription drugs is not just a habit of the rich and famous. Most recently, the alarming practice was thrust into the spotlight when former child star Corey Haim was reportedly found to have as many as "553 prescriptions for dangerous drugs in the last year of his life,'' and it was the result of doctor shopping,'' according to CNN.com.

He was not alone. Doctor shopping reared its head in a number of recent celebrity deaths, including Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith, according to some news reports.

But people from all walks of life doctor shop. Just ask Dr. Rani G. Whitfield, who said patients come to his practice in Baton Rouge, La., seeking prescriptions for addictive painkillers such as Oxycontin and Vicodin, also known as Lortab. The telltale signs of drug-seeking behavior are that patients need a certain drug because they are allergic to this drug or that drug, he said. It's not just crackheads, he said. It's lawyers, athletes and doctors, too.

The good news: Fruits and vegetables are good for you.

The bad news: They don't fight cancer as much as medical experts thought in the past.

A study published in the current issue of The Journal of the National Cancer Institute showed that "an additional 200 grams a day of fruits and vegetables (about two servings) resulted in only a 3 percent reduction of cancer risk, which was described as "very weak,'' according to an article on CNN.com.

"This doesn't mean fruits and vegetables aren't important,'' said lead author Dr. Paolo Boffetta, deputy director at the Tisch Cancer Institute at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. "They aren't the only factor. There is no one factor.''

Still, African Americans, who are more likely to die from heart disease than whites, should continue to consume fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy diet, experts say. A large body of evidence shows that increasing vegetable consumption is good for the heart, according to The New York Times. "Eating five or more fruit and vegetable servings daily was associated with a 30 percent lower risk of heart disease or stroke, compared to those who ate less than 1.5 servings a day, the article reported.

A federal advisory board recently met to determine what to do about the sale of menthol cigarettes, which are heavily marketed to blacks who have the highest rates of smoking-related diseases.

The advisory board of the Food and Drug Administration began meeting on Tuesday in Washington to weigh the health risks of "menthol flavorings in cigarettes, which account for almost a third of the nation's $70 billion cigarette market,'' according to an article in The New York Times. Some health advocates have called for an outright ban of the product, whose allure is that it hides the taste of cigarettes.

The issue is important to the African American community because menthol brands have long been favored by 75 percent of black smokers, the article says. And African Americans who smoke menthol cigarettes may be less likely to quit than those who smoke regular cigarettes, according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey-School (UMDNJ) of Public Health, which was published by The Medical News.

Rodney Peete was on top of the world working as a quarterback for the Oakland Raiders. But then he had a so-called "come to Jesus moment'' when he learned that his then-three-year-old son R.J. had autism, a developmental disability that causes significant social, communication and behavioral challenges.

He was grief-stricken. But he and his wife, actress, author, activist and philanthropist, Holly Robinson Peete, fought hard to overcome the challenge. He retells his poignant story in 'Not My Boy: A Father, A Son, and One Family's Journey with Autism.' He writes how the family pulled together to seek help for R.J. to help manage the disorder. He also writes how he and his wife became closer as a result of the diagnosis. The timely release of the book helps puts a name and face on the sometimes baffling disorder and comes just in time for World Autism Awareness Day, which kicks off today, April 2 and National Autism Awareness Month, which began yesterday, April 1.

African Americans and Hispanics are at a higher risk for developing Alzheimer's disease, but most shocking is the fact that blacks are more likely than any other race to develop the degenerative disease, according to a new study released by the Alzheimer's Association.

Older African Americans are nearly twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's than whites, and Hispanics are about 1.5 times more likely than whites to develop the disease, results show.

While it is unclear why the disease takes such a devastating toll on minorities, the report says conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes-both of which are known risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and dementia-are more common in older blacks and Hispanics than in whites and probably contribute to the prevalence among the groups.

With more and more Americans losing the fight against obesity, the American Dietetic Association is serving up a menu of healthy food choices through its overhauled Web site to help people make informed choices to battle the bulge.

Overall, 26 percent of U.S. adults were obese in 2008, compared to 25.6 percent in 2007, according to statistics recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The results were based on interviews in 2008 with more than 400,000 adults based on their their height and weight.

Now, in an effort to combat the problem, the ADA has relaunched its Web site, Eatright.org.The site provides readers with up-to-date information about diets, tips for eating out, disease management and nutrition guidance, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune.

Here are five healthy suggestions:

Drug-maker Sanofi-Aventis has developed a new medication that extended the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer in clinical trials and could become a last-chance medication for certain patients, according to a recent news article.

It is good news for African American men. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death among black men after lung cancer. When compared to all causes of death, it is the fourth leading cause for men over 45, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Nap much? If not, you need to get on that.

Young adults who slept for 90 minutes after lunch increased their "learning power,'' apparently readying their memories to soak up new facts, according to an article in The New York Times, which cites new research presented at the the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego.

"You need to sleep before learning, to prepare your brain, like a dry sponge, to absorb new information,'' Matthew P. Walker, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Califorinia, Berkeley, said in the article.