This Just In

A roundup of new and noteworthy insights from the week’s most talked-about studies:

1 MEDITATION MAY BE GOOD FOR YOUR HEART

In its first statement about the effects of meditation, the American Heart Association said evidence suggests meditating may lower risk factors for heart disease by lowering high blood pressure or stress hormones.

2 A WEEKLY HOUR OF EXERCISE COULD PREVENT DEPRESSION

A study in the American Journal of Psychiatry of more than 33,000 people who initially didn’t have depression found that those who didn’t exercise were 44% more likely to develop depression within 11 years of follow-up than people who exercised one to two hours per week.

3 NO BREAKFAST COULD BE BAD FOR ARTERIES

A study of more than 4,000 people in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that those who had under 5% of their daily calories at breakfast were 2.5 times as likely as those who had large morning meals to have atherosclerosis, the hardening and narrowing of arteries, with early signs of plaque buildup.

–J.Z.