A diet free of animal products and low in fat may help trim the waistline without the task of strict calorie watching, a new study suggests.

Read (Reuters)

People with challenging jobs may have to work hard, but the payoff could be some protection against Alzheimer’s disease later in life, new research suggests.

Read (Reuters)

Many people do not know carrying weight around the abdomen increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease, a survey suggests.

Read (BBC)

Smoking just one to four cigarettes a day almost triples the risk of dying of heart disease, say researchers.

Read (BBC)

Occupational exposure to motor oil and similar substances may increase the risk of arthritis.

Read (BBC)

Doctors in New Orleans warn of a “second disaster” if residents begin returning to the city too soon.

Read (BBC)

The main problem may not be in the floodwater. Diseases people normally harbour will spread more easily and cause more damage among the stressed people who could be living in shelters for months.

The most important vaccine for people in the disaster zone is the combination diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine.

The CDC is recommending the vaccination for everyone in crowded shelters, everyone under 18 displaced by Katrina wherever they are living, and for any displaced adult or relief worker who has not had a tetanus shot for 10 years.

But the federal stockpile contains none of this vaccine, a spokeswoman for the US National Vaccine Program Office told New Scientist. It is supposed to contain 10 million doses. This means relief agencies will have to acquire the vaccine on the open market, which could take time, and supplies might be limited.

Read (New Scientist)

Floodwaters in New Orleans contain bacteria associated with sewage that are at least 10 times higher than acceptable safety levels, making direct contact by rescue workers and remaining residents dangerous, the first government tests confirmed.

Read (AP via WWL)

A statewide ban against certain vending machine snacks in public schools would be the first of its kind.

Read (Christian Science Monitor)

It is likely to be weeks before the health consequences of Hurricane Katrina are known. But recent experience with similar natural disasters in the United States suggests that most deaths will have occurred when people trapped in automobiles drowned, that many survivors have minor injuries, and…

Read (Washington Post)

The departures concourse of the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport had become the newest and most chaotic hospital in the New Orleans area.

Read (New York Times)

As residents in Gulfport, Miss., struggle with the immensity of the destruction, the entire hurricane-ravaged region has been declared a federal health emergency.

The National Guard went out on Thursday to pick up the chicken.

Rotting away in plastic packages strewn all over the west side of Gulfport, bearing who knows what diseases, the chicken – 40 tons of it – is one of the more unusual public health concerns facing the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Read (New York Times)

Want to give your children a head start in school this year? Consider serving them oatmeal for breakfast.

After eating a bowl of oatmeal, boys and girls aged 9 to 11 showed enhanced spatial memory, a skill that helps with drawing and doing puzzles. Spatial memory can help not only with art, but also with geography as well as some technical skills used in math and science. Girls, but not boys, also displayed better short-term memory after eating oatmeal.

Read (Washington Post)

A brain-scanning technology commonly used to monitor patients during surgery could become the first definitive tool for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease before death.

Read (Wired)