WASHINGTON - WOMEN who breathed in secondhand smoke as children or young adults were later more likely to have trouble getting pregnant and suffer more miscarriages than women not exposed to smoke, US researchers reported on Thursday.

They said toxins in the smoke could have permanently damaged the women's bodies, causing the later problems, and said their finding support restrictions on smoking.

LONDON - HAPPINESS is infectious and can 'ripple' through social groups such as family and friends - but work colleagues are apparently immune to each other's moods, according to a study published on Friday.

The effect creates 'clusters' of happy and unhappy people, both socially and in geographical terms, said the study, stressing that contentment 'is not merely the province of isolated individuals'.

WASHINGTON - US REGULATORS remain concerned about serious risks from a class of asthma drugs and will ask outside advisers if approval for treating the lung disease should be revoked, documents released on Friday said.

Staff in the Food and Drug Administration's drug-safety office unanimously have recommended withdrawing clearance of all long-acting beta agonist drugs (LABAs) for children under 18 amid evidence of an increased risk of asthma-related deaths and asthma attacks.