Through the course of modern human history, chocolate has been considered the most special of all confections. Chocolate inspires deep love and devotion from those who partake of it, and its ability to enhance one’s mood has been advertised by men, women and children — and candy manufacturers — everywhere. Now, new evidence may put all that positive information under wraps; a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine reports that individuals who eat more chocolate are at a greater risk of depression. Continue Reading…

Eight out of every ten Americans have searched for medical information online. Three-quarters of these searchers do not scrutinize the quality, validity, or date of the information. With the overabundance of healthcare information available on the World Wide Web, people looking for quality medical information could easily be led astray. The unnecessary escalation of health concerns — newly-termed “cyberchondria” — is the focus of a study conducted by Microsoft, and it could have serious implications for many patients. Continue Reading…

A child with a high IQ is more likely to get good grades, be accepted to a prestigious college, accrue successes in life and career, and make healthy lifestyle choices compared to lower-IQ peers. Now, a Swedish study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) concludes that children with a high IQ also have a reduced risk of mortality as adults.

Many studies have shown similar associations between adult IQ and mortality, but the Swedish study is one of only a handful to link intelligence and cognitive performance at a young age — 10 years in this study — to decreased mortality in adulthood. Continue Reading…

Goal setting is a funny thing. Like many of you, I’m sure, I’ve had a long and checkered relationship with it. I’ve gone back and forth, was a big fan, hated it, went back to goal setting again. What is it that fascinates and repels about goal setting? I set out to look at some of the research and found a great meta study by Latham and Locke in 2006. They say

more than 1,000 studies conducted by behavioral scientists on more than 88 different tasks, involving more than 40,000 male and female participants in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America, show that specific high goals are effective in significantly increasing a person’s performance – regardless of the method by which they are set. Continue Reading…

While England’s football coach, Fabio Capello, follows a strict disciplinarian approach, banning the England WAGs from travelling with the team in South Africa, cricket team coach Andy Flower has stated that he will not be following suit.

“I have absolutely no problems with the football team WAGs travelling with my boys during the Ashes. Alex Curran, Abbey Clancy and the rest of them are fine ladies, and the ECB has absolutely no objections to their presence with the team during Continue Reading…

Pakistan batsman Misbah-ul-Haq is upset about his omission from the team’s forthcoming tour of England, saying his average in all forms of the game is better than most of the touring members. Pakistan had announced the squads which will face Australia in two Twenty20 matches and two Tests followed by four Tests and two Twenty20 matches against England. Misbah was left out of both squads.

“It is very disappointing,” Misbah told AFP. “You find yourself in the XI and suddenly you are not even in a preliminary squad of Continue Reading…