Ideal amounts of vitamin D supplementation for breast-feeding infants are unclear, according to a new study. Vitamin D is important for infant bone growth, but breast-feeding infants are susceptible to vitamin D deficiency due to low levels of the vitamin in breast milk, according to background information included in the study, which was published in the May 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical A ...

Smokers and former smokers are at increased risk for rheumatoid arthritis, a new study says. Researchers analyzed data collected from 34,000 women, aged 54 to 89, in Sweden, 219 of whom had rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis causes inflammation in the joints, resulting in swelling, stiffness, pain and reduced joint function. It can also affect other parts of the body. The number of cigarettes smoked ...

Media use is a serious distraction for college freshmen, with a new study finding young women devote up to 12 hours daily on pursuits such as texting, posting status updates and surfing the web. And the more time spent using media, the research suggests, the worse their academic performance. "The implication of these results would seem to be that reducing college students' media use might improve their acad ...

Need to lose weight? Running will help more than walking, according to new research. And to keep off those lost pounds, continue running, suggests Paul Williams, a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, who compared weight loss and weight control in thousands of runners and walkers over six years. The same amount of exercise in adults with a body mass index over 28 (deemed o ...

Cases of a fungal lung infection called Valley Fever increased sharply in several southwestern states since the late 1990s, according to a report released Thursday. In Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, the number of cases climbed from less than 2,300 in 1998 to more than 22,000 in 2011, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. During that time, Arizona and California had th ...

Low levels of vitamin D during pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of complications in mothers-to-be and low birth weight in their newborns, a new study finds. The research shows an association but doesn't prove that insufficient vitamin D causes complications. Still, taking vitamin D supplements may help reduce these risks, the researchers noted. Researchers examined data from 31 studies publis ...

Five-year-olds who watch television for three or more hours a day are a bit more likely to fight, steal and have other antisocial behaviors by the age of 7, a new study suggests. The researchers also found that time spent playing computer or electronic games had no effect on children's behavior, according to the report published online March 25 in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. For the study, the inv ...

Girls who are sexually abused or neglected during adolescence are more likely to become teen moms, regardless of their race, family income or if they come from a one- or two-parent home, according to a new study. Childbirth rates of teenagers who were the victims of abuse or neglect were more than 20 percent, which is five times higher than the national rate of roughly 4 percent, the researchers say. "Teen ...

Parents and caregivers can help reduce the risk of accidental poisonings by storing pesticides and household chemicals in locked cabinets out of children's reach, experts say. Each year, more than 145,000 reports made to U.S. poison control centers involve pesticides and disinfectants, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That includes about 65,000 children aged 5 and younger who are ...

Life-threatening infections of the heart valve are twice as common in the United States as previously thought and have increased steadily in the last 15 years, according to researchers. The new study also found that many cases of these infections -- called endocarditis -- are acquired in health care facilities and may be preventable. Without antibiotic treatment, these infections are fatal. Even with the be ...