Smoke your heart out
Smoking - even if you've long since given up - significantly increases the risk of atrial fibrillation, the most common type of heart-rhythm disorder, which can lead to stroke or heart failure, say Dutch researchers, based on a seven-year study of about 5,700 people aged 55 and over. Current and former smokers were about 50 per cent more likely to develop atrial fibrillation than those who never smoked, Reuters reports.
Stay healthier by sleeping longer
Even an extra hour's sleep appears to reduce the risk of hardening of the arteries by more than 30 per cent, say University of Chicago researchers who studied the sleeping habits of 500 middle-aged people over five years. Their levels of coronary artery calcification were checked at the start and finish of the study. On average, participants slept for six hours a night, with few getting more than eight hours. Over the five years, 12 per cent developed thickened arteries; those who slept longer were much less likely to do so, WebMD reports.
Fat men are less fertile
Obese men tend to have lower sperm counts - and what they have often aren't much use, say University of Utah researchers, based on a study of 400 men over two years. Those with the highest body-mass indices were three times as likely to have lower sperm counts than men of normal weight, and three times as likely to have low motility, meaning the sperm don't swim ahead, Reuters reports.