About 10 percent of the U.S. population has nutritional deficiencies--mostly for vitamins B6, D, and iron--according to a report released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A new study has found potentially harmful chemicals, such as asthma-related compounds and endocrine disruptors, in common consumer products including cosmetics, household cleaners, and personal care products, and many of the detected chemicals are not listed on product labels.

Integrative medicine, which combines conventional care with complementary and alternative therapies, has become an established component of some healthcare systems, hospitals, and medical and nursing schools. This according to a survey of 29 U.S. integrative medicine programs, treating a total of about 19,200 patients each month. The survey was conducted by the Bravewell Collaborative, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to advancing integrative medicine through education, research, and practice.

A recall of RegenArouse, a "natural female intimacy enhancement" supplement, is being conducted by its maker, Regeneca, Inc., said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today. The herbal pills actually contain, tadalafil, the drug found in Cialis and other pills used to treat erectile dysfunction in males.

Mindfulness training, in which people learn to focus more completely on what they are doing at the moment, can change brain wave activity in a crucial area, according to a study in the December 13, 2011 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Investigators used fMRI brain scan mapping to observe what happened in the brains of 12 experienced and 13 inexperienced meditators. They found that experienced meditators were better able to stay focused and bypass what’s known as the brain’s Default Mode Network. This network is activated when we experience “mind-wandering” throughout the day.

Taking vitamin D with calcium supplements reduces fracture risk, especially for institutionalized seniors, but whether the sunshine vitamin prevents cancer is uncertain, according to a systematic review of the medical research published earlier this week in Annals of Internal Medicine.

High oral doses of milk thistle, a botanical supplement used extensively by patients with chronic liver disease, is no more effective than placebo against chronic hepatitis C, according to preliminary findings of a clinical trial presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in San Francisco earlier this month.

As daylight savings time came to an end this weekend, so did our extra daily dose of vitamin D from sunlight. But just because most of the U.S. won’t be singing “Here comes the sun” during the winter months ahead, that doesn’t mean we need to say goodbye to vitamin D. And despite widespread worries about vitamin D deficiency in this country, most of us don’t need to be concerned, according to a recent report by the Institute of Medicine.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use 20 weight-loss supplements found to contain the drug sibutramine.

Taking folic acid supplements from four weeks before conception to eight weeks afterward may substantially reduce the risk of a rare but severe delay in language development in offspring at age 3, according to a study of women in Norway, where everyday foods are not routinely fortified with folic acid, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Daily supplementation with vitamin E increases the risk of prostate cancer, according to a study released online today by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Older women who use iron pills or some other common vitamin and mineral supplements daily might be at an increased risk of premature death compared with nonusers, while those who take calcium pills might be at a decreased risk, researchers reported in the current issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Doctors and nurses are more likely than patients to turn toward alternative therapies than patients. Yet health professionals, as well as patients, are concerned about the safety and efficacy of alternative medicine. Those are the somewhat contradictory findings of two recent studies that crossed my desk—findings that are mirrored in our own recent survey on alternative medicine.

An extract made from saw palmetto, a kind of dwarf palm tree, has been used for hundreds of years, first by Native Americans and now by legions of men with enlarged prostate glands. But a study published today in JAMA found that even at triple the standard dose, the herb was no better than a placebo at easing urinary problems. It’s the latest in a series of disappointing results—including from our own recent survey of alternative medicine—for the once-promising, and still popular, herbal remedy.

Seniors with low blood levels of B12 might be more likely to lose brain cells and develop problems with cognitive skills, according to a report released today in the journal Neurology.