Vitamin B12 may still help reduce stroke LONDON, Ontario, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Vitamin B therapy still has a role to play in reducing the risk of stroke, U.S. and Canadian researchers suggest. [News Source]

Diet may help prevent brain shrinkage CORVALLIS, Ore., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Elderly people with higher levels of vitamins B, C, D and E, and omega-3 fatty acids in their blood are mentally sharper, U.S. researchers say. [News Source]

Vitamin D proposal to prevent MS highlights bureaucratic blight on medical research Your report (24 December) on the proposal that there should be artificial supplementation of Scotland's food by vitamin D to reduce the frequency of multiple sclerosis did not address the two main questions of whole-population interventions. Is it effective? Is it safe? Current evidence strongly supports a role for low levels of vitamin D in the development of MS, as your article says. However ... [News Source]

The fat trap. Anyone who has ever dieted knows that lost pounds often return, and most of us assume the reason is a lack of discipline or a failure of willpower. But one researcher suspected that there was more to it, and he decided to take a closer look at the biological state of the body after weight loss. [News Source]

Alzheimer’s: Diet ‘can stop brain shrinking.’ A diet rich in vitamins and fish may protect the brain from ageing while junk food has the opposite effect, research suggests. [News Source]

Fat chance of breaking junk food grip. As the smoke rises from the battle over plain-pack cigarettes, a dark contest between healthy policy and healthy profits burns on. [News Source]

Global hunger for plastic packaging leaves waste solution a long way off. Five hundred tonnes of Christmas tree lights and at least 25m bags of plastic sweet wrappers, turkey coverings, drinks bottles and broken toys will be thrown away by UK homes this Christmas and new year. But only a tiny proportion of this waste will be recycled. [News Source]

Fat chance of breaking junk food grip. As the smoke rises from the battle over plain-pack cigarettes, a dark contest between healthy policy and healthy profits burns on. [News Source]

Global hunger for plastic packaging leaves waste solution a long way off. Five hundred tonnes of Christmas tree lights and at least 25m bags of plastic sweet wrappers, turkey coverings, drinks bottles and broken toys will be thrown away by UK homes this Christmas and new year. But only a tiny proportion of this waste will be recycled. [News Source]

Rutgers team gets Gates Foundation grant in bid to deal with Vitamin A deficiency The $100,000 in seed money will be used for laboratory experiments with mice in which researchers will try to develop a bacteria that could live in the intestines and colonize beta-carotene, a source of Vitamin A, which would then travel through the bloodstream. [News Source]

Howard County moves to stem erosion, pollution in Ellicott City waterway. When it rains, not only does storm water flow downstream, but so do the banks of small streams emptying into Red Hill Branch, bringing other pollutants with the eroding soil. In a move to stem environmental problems and add wildlife habitat, Howard County has begun four restoration projects for the waterway in Ellicott City. [News Source]

In the dark about energy usage. Many Quebecers are confused about the province’s energy profile, according to a Quebec-based environmental group. Quebec spends more on petroleum, natural gas and coal than it does on electricity, and the province is completely dependent on imports to satisfy oil and gas demands. [News Source]