Cigarettes made with a blend of medicinal herbs and tobacco are no healthier than regular cigarettes, a new study finds. Increasingly popular throughout the world, herbal cigarettes are marketed as safer and less addictive than regular cigarettes.

For the study, researchers compared 135 people who smoked herbal cigarettes with 143 people who smoked regular cigarettes. Analyzing the participants' urine samples, they found no significant difference in four key markers that indicate delivery of nicotine and carcinogens.

Sizing up study members' responses to a questionnaire about their cigarette choices, the researchers also found that 24 percent of participants switched to herbal cigarettes because they believed the products to be a healthier alternative. What's more, most people who switched to herbal cigarettes reported an increase in the number of the cigarettes they smoked daily.

There are a number of natural remedies that may be helpful to those attempting to quit smoking. These include acupuncture, St. John's wort, ginseng, and hypnotherapy.

Exercise therapy may help soothe severe knee pain more effectively than standard care, according to a recent study.

Researchers focused on 131 patients (ages 14 to 40) with patellofemoral pain syndrome, a condition marked by pain at the front of the knee during or after exercise. For 12 months, 65 of the patients took part in a supervised exercise program, while the other 66 participants were assigned to usual care (a "wait and see" approach that involved resting during periods of pain and avoiding pain-triggering activities).

After three months, the exercise-therapy group reported significantly less pain and better physical function than patients receiving usual care. After 12 months, members of the exercise-therapy group continued to show lower pain levels. There was no significant difference in physical function between the two groups by the study's end, however.

In previous studies, exercise therapy has been found to alleviate pain in people with conditions like arthritis, chronic low back pain, and fibromyalgia.

A new study shows that taking cranberry supplements may help fend off urinary tract infections.

Researchers recruited 10 postmenopausal women (ages 46 to 60) who had developed more than three episodes of urinary tract infection in the previous year (or more than two episodes in the past six months). For six months, study members took cranberry supplements daily. Results showed that the supplements were effective in the prevention of urinary tract infection.

Cranberry contains compounds called proanthocyanins, which appear to protect against urinary tract infections by stopping bacteria from sticking to the walls of the urinary tract. The second most common infection after respiratory infection, urinary tract infections may cause a frequent urge to urinate and a painful feeling when urinating (among other symptoms).

In past studies, cranberry has also been found to help prevent peptic ulcer disease and gum disease.

Vitamin D may be crucial to fending off infection, according to a recent report. But as many as 70 percent of the U.S. population may be D-deficient, says report author Adrian Gombart, a principal investigator with the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

The report highlights vitamin D's role in inducing the expression of cathelicidin, a compound integral to the immune system's first line of defense against wounds, bacteria, and viruses. The report also underscores vitamin's D's role in reducing risk for conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and influenza. Vitamin D appears to curb inflammation, keep blood pressure in check, and protect against heart disease as well.

D deficiency may be particularly prevalent during the winter months, when lack of sunlight exposure slows up the body's synthesis of the vitamin. In order to maintain optimal levels of vitamin D, many health experts recommend taking a daily supplement.