The Health Report

Life's Lumps and Bumps
Ever notice that your acne gets worse when you're stressed out? While it was well known that acne can be a source of stress, no one had conducted formal research to find out whether stress can aggravate acne. Researchers at Stanford University in California studied the effects of stress in the form of examinations on a sample of college students. They found that acne severity increased as stress increased. They proposed several reasons for why this happens. One is that several hormones known to worsen acne are released during periods of emotional stress. Another is that psychological stress can slow wound healing, in this case, acne lesions.
Archives of Dermatology, July 2003

Say That Again?
Today, you hear a news report that cell phones cause cancer. Tomorrow, you hear about a different study that says they don't. Confused? You're not alone. Over the years, some scientists have hypothesized that radio frequency emissions from cell phones may cause brain cancer. The research is conflicting: some studies have found a connection; others refute it. The latest in the cell phone-cancer debate comes from St. Vincent's Hospital in Australia, where researchers concluded that long-term cell phone use is not as dangerous as people once thought. Several long-term studies, one by the National Cancer Institute, are underway to try to determine the risks, if any, of cell phone use. The FDA stresses that current scientific evidence does not show any negative health effects from the low levels of electromagnetic energy emitted by mobile phones.
National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Say Cheese to a Sneeze
Next time someone sneezes, smile and say, "Cheese!" It just might help you ward off catching that cold. In a study at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, researchers interviewed 334 healthy volunteers several times over two weeks and ranked their emotions. During the next week, the researchers squirted cold viruses up the volunteers' noses and looked for signs of infection. People with positive emotions (such as being happy or cheerful) were less likely to develop a cold than people with negative emotions (such as being sad or angry). People with positive emotional styles tend to have better health habits, but this study controlled for those variables. Another explanation is that stress and emotions affect immune responses.
Psychosomatic Medicine, July 2003