0 From the Consumer Reports labs: Bodyguard 260P treadmill lets you run workouts with your iPad

The Imagine app for the Bodyguard 260Pbrings exercising into the high-tech realm. We're currently reviewing the Bodyguard 260P treadmill ($3,399, shown below), the first such piece of exercise equipment we've tested with iPad integration, in this case via the Imagine by Bodyguard fitness app. To use the feature, you'll need at least an iPad 2 running iOS6 and the free app. You can use the fourth-generation iPad and iPad Mini, with the Lightning adapter. This iPad integration is also available on the following Bodyguard treadmills: T280P, T460XC, T520P, and T560X; we are not testing any of those at this time. (Explore our buying guide...

0 As the flu spreads across the country, Boston declares an emergency

Boston already has 700 confirmed cases of the flu, 10 times as many as this time last year, and the state has 18 reported deaths from the virus. Nationwide, nearly 6 percent of Americans have already contacted a health care provider about the flu. To combat the problem, Boston declared a public health emergency and will offer free vaccines this weekend. We think everyone in the city and across the country should take that and several other preventive measures, including hand washing. The flu is now widespread in 41 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 29 states are experiencing higher than average hospitalizations....

0 Avoidance of HPV vaccine may contribute to increase of some cancers

While the overall death rate from cancer has dropped in recent years, more people than ever are being diagnosed with anal cancer and certain cancers of the throat and mouth. Both are linked to infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV), the most common sexually transmitted disease. That's frustrating, since a relatively new, but underused, vaccine can help prevent the infection. Two vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, can prevent HPV infection. Both are recommended for girls and women ages 11 to 26 to help prevent cervical cancer. But Gardasil also protects against most genital warts and possibly other cancers, including anal cancer,...

0 What works for knee arthritis? Not vitamin D

If you're taking vitamin D pills to ease arthritis in your knee, you might want to reconsider. The supplement didn't stand up to rigorous testing in a clinical study out this week. In the 2-year study, 146 men and women with painful symptoms of the disease received at least 2,000 international units a day of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) supplements, or a placebo. The recommended daily intake is 600 to 800 IU for adults. People who took vitamin D did not report less pain than those who got the placebo. And MRIs taken of their knees showed no significant differences in the cartilage volume. The study appeared in the January 9 issue of...

0 FDA cuts dose of Ambien and related insomnia drugs

If you take a sleeping medication that contains zolpidem (Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar, Zolpimist, or generic), you could still have levels in your body the next morning that are high enough to impair driving, even if you feel wide awake. That's according to the Food and Drug Administration, which said Thursday it was requiring manufacturers to lower the recommended dose of the insomnia drugs by half to help reduce the risk of traffic accidents. Women are especially at risk because they clear the drug slower than men. The FDA said the move was prompted by data from clinical trials and driving simulation studies that showed that both the...

1 New federal mortgage rule aims to protect you from risky home loans

Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a new "ability to pay" rule aimed at protecting you from such risky home loans by requiring lenders to ensure you have the ability to repay your mortgage. A key element of the housing crisis and meltdown was lenders making high-risk, and sometimes deceptively packaged, home loans without any real regard for whether borrowers would be able to repay them. The new rule will take effect a year from now. "In the run-up to the financial crisis, we had a housing market that was reckless about lending money," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. "Lenders thought they could make money...

0 Financial elder abuse by relatives: There is help

An episode of "Dr. Phil" this week that focused on elder abuseboth financial and physicalstruck a chord with a number of people, if the show's comments section is any indication. Numerous commenters reported abuse of their own parents by professionals in nursing-home settings and by relatives in the elderly people's own homes. Our own investigative report on financial exploitation of older people underlines how widespread such abuse is. Financial exploitation of elders is broadly defined as the illegal or improper use of the funds, property, or assets of people 60 and older. In one national study, 5.2 percent of older Americans said they'd...