By ANAHAD O’CONNOR

THE FACTS

With all the open bars, people on the road and rejoicing in the streets, it is easy to imagine that New Year’s is a risky time. Holidays are the most hazardous time for drivers, a result of sharp increases in travelling and drunken driving. And when it comes to New Year’s, research over the years offers sobering statistics.

According to research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which examined accident data in the United States from 1986 to 2002, the day of the year with the most fatalities from accidents is the Fourth of July, with an average of 161. Not far behind are July 3 (149) and Dec. 23 (145). New Year’s Day is fourth, with 142.

By Martha Kerr

CHICAGO (Reuters Health) - In older individuals, exercise is associated with an increase in the number of large-diameter vessels in the cerebral region of the brain and with an increase in blood flow in the three major cerebral arteries, researchers announced at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, which is being held here this week.

As the investigators noted, narrowing and loss of small vessels may contribute to cognitive decline. This area of the brain controls functions that include consciousness, memory, initiation of activity, emotional response, language and word associations.

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co’s claims that its Diet Coke Plus include a variety of vitamins and minerals does not meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s standards, the agency said in a warning to the company.

“The FDA does not consider it appropriate to fortify snack foods such as carbonated beverages,” the agency said in a December 10 letter to the beverage giant released on Tuesday.

Additionally, the product’s label does not include the additional amounts of nutrients included in the “plus” product as the agency requires, the letter said.

Representatives for Coca-Cola defended the product’s claims.

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older adults might want to take an interest in their grandchildren’s’ video games, if early research on the brain benefits of gaming is correct.

In a study of 40 adults in their 60s and 70s, researchers found that those who learned to play a strategy-heavy video game improved their scores on a number of tests of cognitive function.

Men and women who trained in the game for about a month showed gains in tests of memory, reasoning and the ability to “multi-task.”
The findings suggest that video games that keep players “on their toes” might help older adults keep their brains sharp, the researchers report in the journal Psychology and Aging.

That extra slice of log cake could worsen an existing chronic health condition

Eveline Gan
eveline@mediacorp.com.sg

AFTER your Christmas dinner, you wolf down two slices of fruit cake and a can of soft drink.

What’s the big deal, you think. It’s the festive season after all.

Christmas may be the time to eat, drink and be merry, but health experts Today spoke to warned that overindulging during the festive season is not without attendant health risks.

From Jan 1, hotel lobbies and carparks are out of bounds to them

By Jermyn Chow and Amresh Gunasingham

PHOTO: REUTERS

THE short list of public places still open to smokers will shrink even further next month when a nationwide smoking ban is extended to hotel lobbies and carparks, among other areas.

The ban, part of a drive to stamp out smoking that began nearly four decades ago, comes into effect on Jan 1.

It will include non-air-conditioned offices, lift lobbies, multi-storey carparks and anywhere within five metres of the entrances and exits of buildings.