SUNDAY, Aug. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Daily supplements of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids -- the kind found in fish oil -- reduced deaths and hospitalizations of people with heart failure, an Italian study found.

But a cholesterol-lowering statin drug had no beneficial effect in a parallel heart failure trial.

FRIDAY, Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Statins reduce the perils facing obese people after they have the bypass surgery that restores blood flow to an endangered heart, a study finds.

The study was done to help settle a running controversy about the ill effects of obesity in such cases, said Dr. Christina C. Wee, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, co-director of research in the division of general medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital and lead author of a report in the Aug. 19 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

THURSDAY, July 31 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists say they've spotted a gene that may lessen the risk of migraines with aura.

However, the risk is still there, and if the person goes on to develop migraines with aura, this migraine-protective gene actually boosts their risk for stroke.

TUESDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- A protein dysfunction could help drive amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, according to a study by researchers at Brandeis University and Harvard Medical School.

WASHINGTON - Researchers have uncovered a new clue to the cause of Alzheimer's disease.

The brains of people with the memory-robbing form of dementia are cluttered with a plaque made up of beta-amyloid, a sticky protein. But there long has been a question whether this is a cause of the disease or a side effect. Also involved are tangles of a protein called tau; some scientists suspect this is the cause.

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Patients Pleased With Laparoscopic GERD Surgery

FRIDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- High levels of patient satisfaction and low rates of re-surgery were found in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) who had minimally invasive laparoscopic fundoplication (anti-reflux surgery) performed by an experienced surgeon, says a U.S. study.

THURSDAY, May 22 (HealthDay News) -- New animal research suggests the body's biological clock, which regulates sleep cycles based on the rise and fall of the sun, can be overridden in extreme situations by an internal "food clock."

The finding is based on work with mice and has not yet been tested among humans. But early indications are that, when faced with starvation, the animals automatically adjust their wake-sleep schedule to adapt to the best time to access food.

(HealthDay News) -- If an expectant mother is exposed to high levels of stress, her baby may be more likely to develop asthma or allergies later in life, new research suggests.

Babies born to mothers experiencing high levels of stress had more IgE in their blood at birth than did babies born to less-stressed moms. IgE is an antibody involved in allergic and asthmatic reactions.

By Steven Reinberg
Empower's HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- A gene called COMT, already known for its role in schizophrenia, also plays a significant part in the dangerous obstetric complication known as preeclampsia, a new study finds.

Although the current study was done in mice, the researchers envision a time when the findings could be used as a test to identify women at risk of preeclampsia -- and even as a means of preventing the condition.

TUESDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- The grapefruit flavonoid naringenin inhibits the secretion of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in infected cells and could offer a new approach for treating the disease, according to a Harvard Medical School study.

About 3 percent of the global population is infected with HCV, which can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. The current standard therapy of interferon and ribavirin is only effective in about 50 percent of cases and can cause major side effects, according to background information in the study.