Grown-ups mellowing with age
Becoming more cantankerous with age may be a myth. People can become more 'mellow' in response to negative emotions over their lifetime, BBC Online reports. An Australian brain imaging study from the University of Sydney studied people aged 12 to 79. It found that emotional stability continues to improve, even into the seventh decade. And older people were found to be less neurotic than teenagers, the site continues. The results were published in the Journal of Neuroscience, and combat negative beliefs that brain function declines with age. A total of 242 healthy men and women were assessed for the study using 'emotional well-being questionnaires'. The report concludes that neurotic traits were found to decrease with advancing age - with the 12 to 19 year age group being the most neurotic and the 50 to 79 year age group being the least neurotic.
Laugh your way into labour
Psychotherapy - including a good laugh - may help restore fertility in so-called superwomen who become so stressed that they stop ovulating. The condition typically occurs among seemingly healthy, young women who over-exercise, eat sparely and are stressed. Four out of every five women in a small trial at Emory University in Atlanta, who received therapy designed to help put their problems in perspective, began ovulating again, after not menstruating for more than six months, AFP and Nature report.
Cashews reduce blood pressure
Unsalted cashews are good for your blood pressure - but you might want to give the walnuts a miss, according to research at North-West University in South Africa. On the other hand, too many cashews can boost blood sugar, Reuters reports. The researchers say the nuts' different effects on the so-called baroflex, which helps maintain healthy blood pressure, are probably because cashews contain monounsaturated fatty acids, whereas walnuts contain polyunsaturated fatty acids. Both types of nuts contain ingredients that help blood flow, such as fibre and folic acid.
