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Some obese children as young as 3 years old have elevated levels of a marker that is linked to heart disease in later life, a new study says.

With new food-safety legislation making its way through Congress, safety advocates are hoping the FDA will soon have sweeping new powers to protect the nation’s food supply, as I write in the Informed Patient column today.

Some time ago, 20 obese men traveled by cogwheel train and cable car to the awesomely named Umwelt Forschungsstation Schneefernerhaus, a research station (pictured) in the shadow of Germany’s highest mountain.

The men were the subjects of a study on altitude and weight loss. They were allowed to eat whatever they wanted during their week on the mountain, and their activity was restricted to slow walks through the research station.

There’s more research out today indicating that being overweight can be less harmful for the elderly than for younger people and saying that dieting may not be helpful for the post-70 crowd.

Merck shares rose 3.7% yesterday; the WSJ, among others, cite Credit Suisse analyst Catherine Arnold’s decision to raise her rating on the stock to “outperform.”

So what did Arnold say in the note that apparently added a few billion to Merck’s market cap? Here’s a bit of her reasoning:

The pipeline has potential “to offer upside relative to investor expectiations.” She cites experimental drugs for blood clots and hepatitis, and a vaccine for staph.

For patients with mild depression, a couple popular antidepressants don’t work any better than placebos, according to a study in this week’s JAMA that mined data from previously published studies. Earlier analyses have come to similar conclusions.

Medical research is finally starting to catch up with millions of Americans who have been taking vitamins and supplements for years. But people who swear by their pills to stay fit and sharp may not like the evidence that’s starting to accumulate.

A couple pieces of news today on Merck’s big cholesterol drug Vytorin, which has seen its share of trouble in the past couple years but remains widely prescribed:

Sure, you know all about gray matter. But its lesser known counterpart white matter — the stuff that coordinates communication between regions of the brain — is coming on strong. The latest example is this paper published today in the journal Neuron.

Despite a push to get more people to donate organs, and trying new approaches to reduce shortages, transplant demand still far outstrips organ supply. So it’s worth noting one more idea to increase supply: transplanting kidneys from donors with cancer.