BOSTON -- In Wednesday's medical news, NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported on a warning for women about the levels of mercury you may be exposed to; a breast-feeding bonus; and news that natural products may not solve all health problems.

Natural Products

Saw palmetto is the latest herbal extract coming under fire by doctors.

It's heavily marketed and used by millions of American men to treat symptoms associated with an enlarged prostate. But new research in the New England Journal of Medicine found that taking saw palmetto was no more effective than taking a sugar pill.

While some doctors want more research, most said this just proves what they already knew.

Breast-Feeding Benefits

New research points to another reason for mothers to breast-feed their babies for a full six months.

Babies who were breast-fed less than six months are four-times as likely to get pneumonia and twice as likely to get middle ear infections by the time they turn 2-years-old, according to the research.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that mothers breast-feed their babies for one year or more.

Mercury

Mercury is a particular health risk for women of childbearing age, but what is the most common source of it? Eating fish like tuna steak, swordfish and mackerel, according to new research.

Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Quality Institute at the University of North Carolina tested the mercury in thousands of women from all 50 states and found that in Massachusetts, one in five women of childbearing age is at or above the level recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Mercury is a toxin that can damage the developing nervous systems and brains of unborn babies and young children.

Last week, Beacon Hill passed a bill banning the sale of thermometers and other mercury-containing products. It also called for the products to be disposed of in environmentally safe ways.