Cholesterol-lowering statins have been shown to be ineffective for the main reason they're prescribed — to prevent a first heart attack (primary prevention) in those with high cholesterol. To put that surprising fact in perspective: taking a statin to lower cholesterol in people without known heart disease lowers the risk of heart attack by a measly 1% — and dark chocolate is 25 times more powerful than that! Still, for anyone who has had a heart attack or has known heart disease, statins can be a very helpful way to prevent a second attack (secondary prevention).

There are numerous studies linking a lower blood level of vitamin D to a higher risk of diabetes. The latest is from researchers at Emory University in Atlanta.

In an 8-year Harvard study involving 18,555 married women, results showed that regular use of multivitamin supplements were associated with a reduced risk of ovulatory infertility. During 8 years of follow-up, 438 women reported infertility caused by ovulatory disorder. Women taking two or less multivitamin tablets per week showed a 12% reduced risk of ovulatory infertility, women taking three to five multivitamin tablets per weeks showed a 31% reduced risk, and women taking six or more multivitamin tablets per week showed a 41% reduced risk, compared to women who did not use multivitamin supplements. The association between frequency of multivitamin supplement use and risk of ovulatory infertility was partly explained by folic acid.

In this randomized study of 44 women with insomnia between the ages of 22 and 56 year, daily therapy with acupuncture for 3 days followed by therapy every 3 day for the next 11 days significantly improved sleep. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture or medication (estazolam) plus sham acupuncture. Acupuncture therapy consisted of needling the following abdominal acupuncture points: CV-17, CV-10, CV-4, CV-6, KI-17, ST-24, Xiafengshidian, and Qipang.