We've long known that overuse of antibiotics is causing problems. It can lead to antibiotic resistance, which is both a personal and global health issue: An increase in drug-resistant bacteria may result in the spread of infections that are very difficult to treat, making them highly dangerous, even deadly.

But these dangers, no matter how dire and how much we hear about them, may still seem hazy and remote to many of us. It can be hard to grasp how taking that round of penicillin for what may be an infection (or may be only a virus) just to be "on the safe side" is really putting ourselves and our society at serious risk, even though, on a larger level, we understand that's true.

Now, however, comes news that may finally cause us to stop overusing antibiotics -- a danger that hits us right in the gut, literally. There's growing evidence that antibiotics may be making us ... fat.

Exciting news on the women's health front this week: a vaccine that shows promise in halting the progress of breast and ovarian cancer and increasing the survival rates of women with advanced cases of the disease.

Hooray!

Although the study exploring the effects of the PANVAC vaccine, conducted at the Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, was small, the effects were dramatic. Twenty-six women were treated (all of them with breast or ovarian cancer that had already spread to other organs) with the vaccine. In four women, the disease was brought to a halt. One woman experienced what sounds like a miracle: Her cancer just totally disappeared.

And now, another one for the "wish I didn't know that" files. You know those latex gloves doctors wear? They're not as helpful as we'd like them to be. Allow me to introduce you to the hideous phrase "back spray." It's what can happen when doctors remove their gloves and bio-hazards splash off the gloves and back onto their hands.

I'll let you sit with that horror image for a moment or two before I drop the next info bomb. (OMG NOOOOO!!! Etc. etc.) Okay, ready? When doctors wear gloves, they wash their hands less often. A new study on hospital hygiene shows that the usual hand-washing rate in hospitals is around 47.7 percent, but when doctors are using gloves, it slips to 41 percent. Oh no, why doctors, why?

Every year you probably ask yourself the same thing: Should I get a flu shot this year, or should I pass it by?

It's understandable that you might feel uncertain. There's a lot of confusing information floating around out there about flu vaccines, which are available either as a shot or as a nasal spray. For instance, a recent study indicated that flu vaccines offer you only "moderate protection" from catching this season's flu. That's hardly inspiring. On the other hand, "moderate protection" is better than no protection at all, right?

What should you do? The CDC recommends that everyone over the age of 6 months receive the flu vaccine each year, unless you are allergic to the vaccine. But even still, there's no one-size-fits-all answer.

Here are a few flu shot pros and cons to consider as you weigh what's right for you:

Dr. Oz is such a good listener.You know a doctor is something special when you feel better after merely shaking his hand. That's what happened to me yesterday when I had the pleasure of meeting medical superstar Dr. Mehmet Oz at a roundtable interview on the set of The Dr. Oz Show: A little eye contact, a warm handshake -- and the dull headache and nagging neck pain that were plaguing me all morning disappeared like magic.

Okay, perhaps my miraculous healing had something to do with the fact that Dr. Oz is even more handsome and charming in person than you'd expect. But only a little something.

Because in all seriousness, it was the good doc's words of wisdom that really got me buzzed. No matter what we bloggers asked, Dr. Oz had an instant, remarkably informative response. Previously mystifying physical ailments (one writer asked about psoriasis, others asked about weight loss) suddenly seemed simple, easily solved.

A new study has confirmed what many of us have probably suspected all along: Flu shots are a lot more hit-or-miss in terms of protection than we've previously been led to believe.

And actually, since flu shots shield us only from whatever strains doctors think will be dominant -- not from all the other nasty bugs that might be floating around out there -- the vaccine is providing "moderate protection" at best. Meaning it’s only about 59 percent effective in healthy adults. Great.

Let's face it: That sounds pretty unimpressive.

You know how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends that girls, generally when they're around 11 or 12, get immunized against sexually transmitted forms of human papillomavirus, which causes most cervical and anal cancers, in addition to mouth and throat cancers? Today, the committee is mulling whether to extend its recommendation to boys and young men. (It has previously been optional and not expressly recommended for boys ages 9 through 26.)

I'm no medical expert, but considering the fact that HPV can be passed along from boys and to boys, it sounds like it makes a lot of sense (and seems only fair) for boys to be routinely vaccinated as well. Doctors say vaccinating people of both genders will help protect everyone, saving thousands upon thousands of lives.

We've long been aware that Christina Applegate – whom we've loved in shows like Married … with Children, Samantha Who? and the new Up All Night – is a terrifically adaptable actress. A Hollywood survivor and serial master of the situation comedy, Applegate finds humor and heart in whatever TV writers throw at her.

In recent years, Applegate has also proven herself to be another kind of survivor: a breast cancer survivor, and one who has worked dedicatedly to raise awareness of the disease in young women. Thanks to her good prognosis and reconstructive surgery, she has joked, "I'm going to have cute boobs 'til I'm 90." 

To mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the actress is teaming up with online designer-label retailer Gilt to raise money for her foundation, Right Action for Women, which she set up in the hopes of teaching other women about the early-detection methods she thinks saved her life.