ABC News reports a new study suggesting that St. John’s wort is not a useful treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Although the researchers only studied 54 children between 6 and 17 years old who have ADHD for eight weeks, the study design was the gold standard randomized controlled trial. And, they found that St. John’s wort was no better than placebo when it came to improving the children’s attentiveness or hyperactivity.

According to MedPage, a new study has found that college students who consider themselves “morning people” are more likely to have better grades than those who are “evening people.” In fact, the benefit of being a morning person was a “full letter-grade difference.”

Researchers surveyed 824 undergraduate students about their sleep habits and daytime schedules. Even after they accounted for academic ability, social ability and SAT verbal scores, researchers found that students who were morning-types were more likely to have better grades than those who considered themselves evening-types.

Reuters is reporting new research suggesting that the correct interpretation of mammography results varies between facilities. Moreover, there are characteristics that predict which facilities are likely to provide more accurate readings.

“The most surprising finding,” according to one of the researchers, “was that there were characteristics that did explain some of the differences” in the facilities. “This is good news because it means that facilities could begin to consider adopting characteristics associated with better performance.”

According to the Associated Press, the FDA is declaring that “Plastic baby bottles and water bottles are safe.” Thus, the FDA is seeking to ease public concerns about the health hazards of a chemical used in the products.

Family News in Focus is reporting that a patient in Oregon, dying of lung cancer, has been denied payment for any more drug treatment. But, (and if this doesn’t shock you, your shocker is broke), the state will cover a fatal dosage of drugs so she can kill herself.

The good news is that the pharmaceutical company has stepped in to pay for the medicine Wagner was denied.

USA Today is reporting a three-year RAND Corp. study showing that virginity pledges do deter some teens from having sex. Of 1,517 adolescents ages 12 to 17 in 2001 when the research began, teenagers who vowed to remain virgins until they were married were less likely to be sexually active than others who didn’t make a pledge.

About one-quarter of the adolescents surveyed (23.8%) made a promise to wait until marriage to have sex; 34% had broken it by 2004, compared with 42% of those who didn’t make the pledge and had sex during that time.

USA Today also reports that parents are beginning to clean up their nutrition acts when it comes to the snacks they serve their children.

Fruit is the most common snack for children under 6, and cookies are second. In 1987, cookies ruled and fruit ranked second, according to findings from the NPD Group, a market research firm.

According to MedPage, a new meta-analysis shows that consuming high levels of omega-3 fatty acids (by eating fish twice a week) was associated with a 38% lowered risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) – a  disease that causes severe vision loss in the elderly.

WebMD Health News reports a small British study that suggests that a short siesta or a jolt of java help combat the mid-afternoon nods.

What doesn’t seem to work, the study showed, is trying to grab some extra winks in the morning in an effort to ward off problems later in the day.

And, of the three, the nap is best.

WebMD Health News is reporting that Brazilian researchers have found that the more fat you consume each day, the less likely you are to get a good night’s sleep.

Having a fat-laden cheeseburger and fries for dinner may be particularly disruptive to your sleep pattern, the small study suggests.

In yet another study of vitamin D, Reuters is reporting a study where scientists found that low vitamin D levels are associated with a higher risk for heart attack. 

Researchers studied medical records and blood samples from 454 men aged 40-75 who had either died from heart disease or who were alive but had a heart attack.

Superficially speaking, the statement (Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Occur More Often in Vaccinated People Than in Unvaccinated People) is true. However, it is important to understand why. 

Medical doctors Paul Offit and Louis Bell explain: 

Let’s say that among 100 young adults living in a college dormitory, 95 were vaccinated against measles and 5 were not. 

An outbreak of measles then strikes. 

Six of the 95 vaccinated people get measles, as do 4 of the 5 unvaccinated ones. 

This would seem to indicate that vaccinated people get measles more commonly than unvaccinated people. 

But let’s look more critically. 

The attack rate for measles in the unvaccinated group was 80 percent (4 of 5), whereas the attack rate for vaccinated people was only 6 percent (6 of 95). 

So people were much less likely to get measles if they received the measles vaccine.

A study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that unvaccinated people were thirty-five times as likely to get measles as vaccinated people.

You can read more about vaccine myths in my book God’s Design for the Highly Healthy Child.