Mind over body
Two US studies have made significant advances towards enabling people with brain or spinal damage to speak and move objects - by imagining the actions. Both preliminary studies of so-called neuromotor prosthetics, whereby electrodes wired to the brain detect signals and transmit them to a computer, are reported in Nature magazine. In one case, a 25-year-old paralysed man was able to open e-mail, operate a television and make a fist with a prosthetic hand. The other study has found a way to speed data transmission so that paralysed people can communicate at up to 15 words a minute.
Solo risk of heart trouble
Older people who live alone are twice as likely to suffer serious heart problems as those living with a partner, according to a two-year Danish study of more than 138,000 people aged 30 to 69. Aarhus Sygehus University Hospital researchers say many of the women over 60 and men over 50 who live alone are smokers, obese, have high cholesterol, see a doctor less often, and have less social support. Those with the lowest risk typically live with a partner, are well educated and have a job, Web MD reports. Divorced women also have a lower risk. Meanwhile, a British study has found that having long legs may mean less risk of heart disease. Previous research has shown that leg length is linked to childhood factors such as breastfeeding, high-energy diets between the ages of two and four, and general affluence. The latest University of Bristol study of more than 12,250 people, reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found a direct link between longer legs and the thickness of blood vessel walls - a measurement used to detect early stages of hardening of the arteries, Reuters reports.
Stress induces snack attacks
Women who work long hours are more likely than men to develop unhealthy habits such as smoking and eating snacks, according to a British study of the effects of stress. University of Leeds researchers found that stress disrupts normal eating habits: women, in particular, typically respond by eating smaller main meals, but more high-fat, high-sugar snacks. Unexpectedly, both men and women under stress drink less alcohol, healthday.com reports.