By ANDRE PICARD, Toronto Globe and Mail

Wearing a helmet while skiing or snowboarding reduces the risk of head injury by 35 percent, new research shows.

"That's significant and we're probably looking at the lower end of the protective effect," Brent Hagel, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Calgary, said in an interview.

The earlier a girl begins menstruating, the higher her risk of developing heart disease and cancer later in life, a new study suggests.

Consuming an extra teaspoon a day of salt jacks up a person's risk of stroke by 23 percent and their risk of developing heart disease by 17 percent, according to a new study.

An estimated 35.6 million people worldwide are living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and the toll in developing countries is doubling, according to a new report.

The number of people living with the condition is expected to hit 115 million by 2050. That is, of course, barring a significant breakthrough in the prevention or treatment of the brain-destroying illness.

The lifestyle choices people make that cause cardiovascular problems in middle age can lead to dementia later in life, according to two new studies.

One study, published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, followed more than 11,000 women and men with atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) over a 15-year period.

People who consume, on average, more than one alcoholic drink daily face a significantly higher risk of developing six types of cancer, according to sobering new Canadian research.

A swine-flu Q&A:

Q: What is swine flu?

Injuries sustained in motor vehicle crashes, scalding burns, poisonings and the like kill more than 830,000 children a year worldwide, according to a grim new report.
And millions more children suffer non-fatal injuries that leave them physically and mentally disabled and saddle families with devastating treatment costs, says the new study by UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

MEXICO CITY -- It has been 15 years since the female condom was unveiled, but the anniversary is an inauspicious one. Once touted as a key tool in the fight against HIV-AIDS, a way of empowering women whose partners shun traditional condoms, the female condom has largely been forgotten.