—LUIS CANTRELL, head of business at Nestle SA, explaining why the company sat on $28.3 billion in cash this year instead of acquiring or investing in troubled businesses, as its competitors did. Instead, Cantrell said, Nestle focused its spending on advances in nutrition products in a bid to compete with pharmaceutical companies [via Bloomberg]
Adderall, Ritalin and other “smart drugs” have become popular among college students and young professionals, who use them to enhance performance.
Percentage of young women aged 18-64 who tanned indoors in the previous 12 months, compared with about 6% of men, according to a study of more than 2,800 people. Only 13% of women and 4% of men said they thought avoiding tanning beds could reduce their risk of skin cancer. [via Archives of Dermatology]
There are aspects of our lives that we like to think are totally under our control — political affiliation is certainly one of them. But a growing field of researchers asserts that there may be some biology underpinning our liberal or conservative bent.
Nearly 1 million American children living mostly in rural areas have no doctor to call if they get a get a sore throat or an ear infection. Meanwhile, some metropolitan areas are crawling with family physicians and pediatricians — about one doctor for every 140 kids in some places.
More evidence for the conventional wisdom of “everything in moderation”: even a small increase in alcohol intake can up the risk of several different kinds of cancer, according to researchers at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas, so revelers would be wise not to overindulge this holiday party season.
Jack Frost doesn’t just nip at your nose. Sudden cold fronts can increase your risk of heart attack too.
Dyslexia, the underlying biology of which is not well understood, affects somewhere between 5% and 17% of the population.
Ecstasy (MDMA) is known as the “love drug,” because it prompts cuddles, hugs and, often, a sense of deep understanding between people.
A recent survey conducted by the American College Counseling Association found that 44% of students seeking counseling already had diagnosed psychiatric disorders. But Hwang and other experts agree that modern college students may not necessarily be less mentally healthy than in past generations. Rather, it could be that psychotropic medications now allow vulnerable teens — [...]
