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Folic acid is safe -- but it lacks any cardiovascular benefits -- according to researchers presenting at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008. The results from the Study of the Effectiveness of Additional Reductions in Cholesterol and Homocysteine (SEARCH), a 12,064-person, randomized study, were presented as a late-breaking clinical trial.

Vitamins E and C -- antioxidant supplements taken by many American adults -- don't protect against cardiovascular disease when taken individually, according to a long-term study of more than 14,000 male physicians presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008. Results of the Physician's Health Study II (PHS II) were presented as a late-breaking clinical trial. The study was simultaneously published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Type 2 diabetes is on the rise both in our country and worldwide and it no longer just affects older overweight people: children and adolescents are now being diagnosed with it. The key risk factors over which we have control are being overweight and leading an unhealthy lifestyle. Getting our little ones into good habits early on is the best way to prevent Type 2 diabetes and also heart disease.

Today, sixteen well-known experts, including professors Walter Willett and Ed Giovannucci of Harvard, Dr. John Hathcock of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, and Professor Reinhold Vieth of the University of Toronto, published an unprecedented warning about the ingestion of cod liver oil and resultant vitamin A toxicity.

More than 4,000 health professionals are expected to attend the upcoming IOF World Congress on Osteoporosis (IOF WCO) to be held from December 3 - 7, 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand. Detailed information about the congress is available on the IOF website at http://www.iofbonehealth.

Amid the international financial crisis, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation has warned that falling food prices and reduced access to credit are likely to hit agricultural production, threatening global food security.

Santa's Forest Fresh Christmas Tree Farm unveils its Adopt a Christmas Tree program, allowing families to purchase a newly planted Christmas tree and watch it grow, year after year.

Taking calcium and vitamin D supplements does not reduce breast cancer incidence in postmenopausal women, according to data from a randomized, doubled-blind, placebo-controlled trial published online november 11 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Several observational and preclinical studies have suggested that vitamin D supplements may reduce breast cancer risk, but results have been inconsistent.

Many children love sending and receiving text messages through their cell phones - sometimes to the great annoyance of their parents. But now a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests this technology could be used to reduce children's chances of becoming overweight or obese later in life, by helping them monitor and modify their own behaviors now.

Researchers have found that low potassium levels correlate with high blood pressure, regardless of salt intake or cardiovascular risk factors, and the association is stronger among blacks, according to a study presented this week at the American Society of Nephrology's annual meeting in Philadelphia, Reuters Health reports.