From WebMD…
Fear may heighten people’s sense of smell, changing the way people respond to scent, a new study shows.
The findings may hold clues for new anxiety disorder treatments, according to the researchers.
For the study, 12 healthy young adults took smell tests while getting their brains scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging.
First, participants sniffed scents from [...]

From the New York Times…
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then try to be beheld by a feminist.
A new study finds that women who describe themselves as feminists are more forgiving than other women when assessing the attractiveness of women who are either very underweight or very heavy.
Writing in the journal Body [...]

From Scientific American…
Sleep is such a fundamental biological drive that it’s shared by practically every species, from fruit flies to humans. Indeed, sleep is so essential that animals will die as quickly from sleep deprivation as they will from food deprivation. And yet despite such alarming evidence (not to mention all the things your mother [...]

From Medical News Today…
Millions of Americans took the advice to get a flu shot this season, but many are still becoming infected with the flu. This flu season is lasting longer than initially expected and has introduced unforeseen new strains of the virus, making other flu prevention steps even more important. Today, the Visiting Nurse [...]

From the Hartford Courant…
Colleges across Connecticut have taken a number of steps to cast off the drinking culture that infuses so much of campus life.  The tactics they’ve employed include strictly enforcing existing rules, aggressively screening students for signs of risky behavior, establishing peer support programs and enlisting the help of local police, bar owners [...]

. . . but probably not in the way you imagined. Spending it on yourself may not do much for your spirits, but spending it on others will make you happier, according to a report from a team of social psychologists in the new issue of Science.
The researchers confirmed the joys of giving in three [...]

 From Medical News Today… 
A new study published by the Canadian government has found that the use of healthcare services and self-assessment of health status differ depending on sexual orientation.
The study, which included responses from 346,000 gay, lesbian and bisexual persons, appears in Health Reports, a publication of the Canadian government’s statistics bureau.
“This study confirms what [...]

“Sex and the City” may have cemented shoe shopping as both urban sport and retail therapy, but it did little to address the basics of shopping for shoes in a way that helps the health of your foot. 
The Mayo Clinic Health Letter offers this advice for shoe shopping:
The foundation for preventing corns and calluses is properly fitting [...]

As an alternative to cough medicine, consider honey, reports the University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter.
A recent study from Pennsylvania State University of children (2 and older) with colds found that a teaspoon of honey at bedtime worked better than a cough suppressant (artificially honey-flavored) or no treatment. Never give honey to infants less than [...]

From the New York Times…
Q. Is there any truth to the idea that if you eat heavily late in the evening, you will gain weight?
A. The research is not conclusive on a clinical effect of late meals, but there are suggestions that there might be one.
“If the calories are exactly the same, it [...]