A study of Hong Kong students suggests that children and teenagers exposed to secondhand smoke at home may get poorer grades than their peers from smoke-free homes. Secondhand smoke is a well-known health threat to children, being linked to increased risks of asthma, as well as bronchitis, pneumonia and other respiratory infections. Other studies found a connection between smoking during pregnancy and higher risks of childhood behavior problems and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Some studies found that children exposed to cigarette smoke in the womb may trail from their …

What gets dirtier and dirtier the more it cleans? A sponge! The squishy clean-up helpers soak up spills, scrub pots, and scoop up crumbs off of countertops. After multiple uses – and lots of time spent dripping wet – a sponge can become a breeding ground for microscopic and sometimes stinky bacteria. And yet they still get dragged across dishes and dinner tables all the time. Proper care and handling of a kitchen sponge could protect you and your family from foodborne illnesses.
Use sponges wisely – but not all the …

According to a new study the average mobile phone carries 18 times more potentially harmful germs than the flush handle on a men’s toilet.
The analysis of handsets found that almost a quarter were so dirty that they had up to ten times the acceptable level of TVC bacteria.
One of the phones in the test had such high levels of bacteria that it could have given its owner a serious stomach upset.
Elevated levels of TVC indicate poor personal hygiene and act as a breeding ground for other bugs.
The findings from Which? …

Sex after menopause? Some experts will tell you it’s a downhill ride of waning sex drive and dried up hormones.
Sorry, we’re not buying it. We happen to think there are plenty of 50-plus babes who are rocking it just as much as in their younger days. (See Madonna.) And there’s no reason the rest of us shouldn’t too.
“You’re not bothered by menses. You’re not bothered by kids in the house. You can have sex in any room in the house,” says Irwin Goldstein, MD, the director of San Diego Sexual …

Moms who shower their infants with affection equip them to cope well with life stressors as adults, indicates research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Despite growing interest in the role of early life experiences in adult health, most studies have relied on recall; few have tracked participants from childhood to adult life, say the authors.
They base their findings on 482 people, who were part of the US Providence Rhode Island birth cohort of the National Collaborative Perinatal Project.
The quality of their interactions with their mothers at …