An unprecedented, 10-year study of the human brain is expected to be unveiled by the Obama administration as early as next month, The New York Times reported Monday. President Barack Obama cited the need for brain research in his State of the Union address last week, and the Times reported Monday that scientists, government agencies and private foundations expect to team up in an effort to reveal the myster ...

Levels of ozone and of air pollution are directly linked to heart attacks, according to a new study from Houston. For both ozone and airborne fine particulate matter (tiny solid and liquid pollutants such as those emitted by cars and factories), peak exposure was found to increase the risk for heart attack nearly 5 percent. Men, blacks and people older than 65 were at greatest risk, the investigators found. ...

Doctors often urge older patients to get the shingles vaccine because it can prevent or cut the severity of this viral disease. But according to a new study, the vaccine may be less effective in people with untreated depression. Based on their findings, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, suggested the diagnosis and treatment of depression in older people could increase the effective ...

Some women with a gene linked to Alzheimer's disease may have rapidly aging body cells, even when they are in apparently good health, a small study suggests. On the other hand, researchers found, there were no signs of accelerated cell aging when those same women were on hormone replacement therapy. It's not clear what can be made of the findings for now, said senior study author Dr. Natalie Rasgon, a profe ...

Older black women who need vitamin D supplements don't need more to take more than white women, a new study concludes. Although black women produce less vitamin D in their skin with sun exposure, researchers found that black and white women absorb and metabolize the vitamin at the same rate. The study will be published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. "African-American women don't ...

Many vitamin D supplements may not contain what their label says they do, a new study warns. Some pills may pack a lot more vitamin D than the label states, and others may provide markedly less, according to the findings, published in a research letter Feb. 11 in JAMA Internal Medicine. The researchers are more concerned by pills delivering too little of the vitamin than pills providing too much. "It can be ...

Short stretches of physical activity -- such as taking the stairs or raking leaves -- throughout the day can be just as beneficial as a trip to the gym, according to a new study. Researchers looked at more than 6,000 American adults and found that this "active lifestyle approach" appeared to be as effective as structured exercise in providing health benefits such as preventing high blood pressure, high chol ...

Young Americans between 18 and 33 years old -- the so-called millennials -- are more stressed than the rest of the population, according to a new report from the American Psychological Association. What's stressing them out? Jobs and money mostly, said Norman Anderson, CEO of the American Psychological Association, during a Thursday morning press conference. On a scale of 1 to 10, the millennial generation ...

The ancient Chinese discipline of Tai Chi may help modern-day stroke patients avoid debilitating falls, a small new study suggests. Stroke survivors suffer seven times as many falls as healthy adults. These falls can cause fractures, decrease mobility and increase the fear of falling, which can lead to social isolation or dependence on others, the researchers noted. "Learning how to find and maintain your b ...

Obesity can lead to vitamin D deficiency, a new study indicates. British researchers looked at data from about 165,000 people, and found that a 10 percent rise in body-mass index (BMI) was linked with a 4 percent drop in concentrations of vitamin D in the body. BMI is a measurement of body fat based on height and weight. The link between BMI and vitamin D levels was found in men and women, as well as in you ...