HealthDay - FRIDAY, Aug. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Canadian researchers are challenging the widely held belief that flu shots help protect older people from potentially deadly diseases such as pneumonia.

Reuters - While influenza vaccination does provide protection against catching the flu, it does not have a major impact on death in the elderly, contrary to what some studies have suggested, a new study suggests.

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of CenterWatch:

Reuters - The blood pressure drug valsartan (sold as Diovan) safely and effectively lowers blood pressure in youngsters aged 1 to 5 years who have high blood pressure (also called hypertension), a study shows.

HealthDay - FRIDAY, Aug. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Babies born prematurely to women who smoked during their pregnancy may be at higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than premature infants born to nonsmoking moms, new research suggests.

AP - As New Orleans residents warily track another threatening storm, a new report presents the clearest picture yet of deaths from Katrina in Louisiana. Of the nearly 1,000 who died, almost half were 75 or older, according to researchers.

Reuters - Levels of a protein linked with Alzheimer's disease rise as people recover from brain injuries -- a surprising finding that may help explain why injuries boost the risk of developing the disease, U.S. and Italian researchers said on Thursday.

AP - Scientists for the first time have peered into people's brains to directly measure the ebb and flow of a substance notorious for its role in Alzheimer's disease.

HealthDay - THURSDAY, Aug. 28 (HealthDay News) -- A group of researchers has described hourly changes in a protein in the brain that is thought to play a key role in Alzheimer's disease.

AP - Almost 12 percent of the deaths among American Indians and Alaska Natives are alcohol-related — more than three times the percentage in the general population, a new federal report says.