- MONDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) — Some obese people don't seem to be
at increased risk for heart disease, while some normal-weight people have
a number of heart disease risk factors, according to two studies.

In the first study, German researchers analyzed 314 people, ages 18 to
69, and divided them into four groups: normal weight, overweight, [...]

- MONDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) — Living a healthy lifestyle can cut
your risk of stroke by about 80 percent, new research suggests.

Women who pursued healthy habits — not smoking, maintaining a healthy
weight, exercising regularly and drinking moderate amounts of alcohol —
had a 79 percent reduced risk of any stroke, and an 81 percent [...]

- MONDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) — It may, in fact, be possible
to outrun death — and even the creeping ravages of time — at least for a
while.

Research spanning two decades has found that older runners live longer
and suffer fewer disabilities than healthy non-runners.

And the findings probably apply to a variety of aerobic [...]

- MONDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) — Inadequate vitamin D could
increase your risk of death by 26 percent, a new study concludes.

Yet many people are not getting enough vitamin D, which the skin makes
naturally when exposed to sunlight. A nationwide survey found that 41
percent of men and 53 percent of women in the [...]

- MONDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) — About half of all American
adults don't have the 20/20 vision physicians consider optimal because
they are nearsighted, farsighted, or have an irregular corneal curve known
as astigmatism, a large, new study reports.

The study revealed that such common eye-focus problems — collectively
known as “refractive errors”– affect young, middle-aged and older [...]

- MONDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) — New Canadian research shows
that long-term use of proton pump inhibitors for acid reflux, peptic
ulcers and related disorders elevates the risk of osteoporosis-related
fractures.

This is now the third large study finding an increased risk of such
fractures in people who use these medications. This latest study, reported
in the current issue [...]

- MONDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) — A Swiss study of 50 children
found that almost half of those who were small at birth — about 5.5
pounds or less — had a significant increase in blood pressure when they
ate a high-salt diet, a condition known as salt sensitivity.

“Salt sensitivity in children is low and rises [...]

- MONDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) — A study of blind athletes
shows that the proud victory stance of a gold medalist and the slumped
posture of a non-medalist are innate and biological, rather than learned
responses to success and failure.

The University of British Columbia study, published in this week's
online Proceedings of the National Academy of [...]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
A new strain of H5N1 bird flu has
shown up among birds in Africa in a worrying development, the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported on
Monday.

The new strain of H5N1 avian influenza is genetically
different from the strains that circulated in Nigeria during
earlier outbreaks in 2006 and 2007 and is new to Africa, the
FAO [...]

A sunrise in Florida. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to 26 percent greater risk of death in men and women, according to a study published Monday that appears to confirm the importance of this essential nutrient. Chiefly produced by exposure to the sun, vitamin D plays a vital role in the immune system.(AFP/File/Don Emmert)

WASHINGTON [...]