GOOD NEWS

Attractive thinking

According to a report in The Journal of Sex Research, maintaining a healthy sex life for an ageing woman can be as simple as thinking she is at least as attractive as she was 10 years earlier. The moment she thinks her best days, in terms of attractiveness, are over, it will have an impact on her sex life. The study was conducted on 300 hetero-sexual women in the US for over a decade by researchers from the Pennsylvania State University.

Diet hormone

Diet freaks can heave a shy of relief. Researcher Aaron Hsueh from Stanford University says in an article in Science that the hormone called obestatin can be used as a potential appetite-suppressing drug. Hsueh and his colleagues feel that the discovery will allow them create new drugs that can not only suppress appetite but also make it easier for people to lose weight.

BAD NEWS

Cola risk

A report in the Journal of American Medical Association says women who drink lots of cola may suffer from high blood pressure. However, those who drink lot of coffee can relax, since data from the two large nurses health studies ? which followed some 155,000 women for 12 years ? show that heavy coffee drinkers don’t risk developing high blood pressure. The study was conducted by Wolfgang C. Winkelmayer of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University in Boston and it found that women who drank one can of cola a day increased their high blood pressure risk by nine per cent and 13 per cent in two different surveys.

Arthritis warning

According to a paper presented at the American College of Rheumatology annual scientific meeting in San Diego, rheumatoid arthritis patients are less likely to take the daily doses of aspirin recommended to reduce cardiovascular problems despite their increased risks of heart attacks. US medical agencies recommended adults who have a greater chance of heart attack over the next 10 years to take a low-dose aspirin routinely to help prevent possible attacks. These drugs reduce clotting of blood. Those with rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases are at even more risk of having heart attacks.