Your health
An upside to migraines?
Here's something to think about the next time you're bedridden with a throbbing migraine: You might be less likely to get breast cancer than women who don't get these painful headaches.
A recent first-of-its-kind study found that women with a history of migraines had a 30 percent lower risk of breast cancer. Researchers don't know why, but suspect it has something to do with fluctuating hormones.
"Migraines seem to have a hormonal component in that they occur more frequently in women than in men, and some of their known triggers are associated with hormones," said Dr. Christopher I. Li, breast-cancer epidemiologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. For example, women on the birth-control pill get more migraines during their "off" week, while migraines are less frequent during pregnancy.
The study opens up a new avenue for researchers working on reducing breast cancer risk, Li said.
Not couch potatoes
A study of avid online computer gamers shatters the popular stereotype. Instead of pale and pudgy, they might actually be in better-than-average shape.
Researchers in California and New Jersey quizzed 7,000 adult players of the role-playing game EverQuest II about their physical and mental health, New Scientist magazine reports.
The gamers had an average body mass index of 25.2, compared to the national average BMI of 28. They reported getting vigorous exercise once or twice a week, which the researchers say is more than most Americans.
But it's not all good news. Gamers reported more cases of depression and substance abuse than non-gamers. "They may be drawn to use the game to help deal with emotional distress," said researcher team member Scott Caplan of the University of Delaware.
The study focused on adults who play multiplayer online games - not kids who play console video games.
Bean counting
"Flexitarianism" - basically, a mostly vegetarian diet that permits the occasional pepperoni pizza or chicken satay - is gaining traction among people who want to eat more healthfully. Plant-based proteins (black beans, garbanzos, lentils and nuts) rule, but you don't have to limit yourself exclusively to veggie burgers.
Chicago-based registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner explains it all in "The Flexitarian Diet" (McGraw Hill, $24.95.)
Blatner appears regularly on Fox News Chicago to talk about nutrition and teaches cooking classes at the Chopping Block Cooking School in Chicago. Visit www.DawnJacksonBlatner.com.