Silly study makes bogus link between traffic and heart attacks

There always seems to be a new "threat" to your heart right around the corner. And in the case of this next story, I mean very literally right around the corner - assuming you're taking that corner in your car.

A new study from Germany claims that being stuck in traffic could actually put you at a much higher risk for suffering a heart attack.

The study was headed up by Annette Peters, an adjunct associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and head of research for Munich's Institute of Epidemiology. According to her, the very act of being in some form of traffic - whether driving a car, riding a bus or taxi, or even pedaling a bicycle - could trigger this heart risk.

Sound like a stretch? Well, I tend to agree. Especially when you take a closer look at the study methods. The study focused on 1,500 patients from the town of Augsburg, Germany who had already survived a heart attack between 1999 and 2003. Peter's research team asked the subjects to recall their experiences in the four days prior to their heart attacks.

From this, the researchers determined that eight percent of the heart attacks were attributable to every day, local commuting.

That's right: the researchers came to the conclusion that driving in traffic increases you risk of heart attack based on what a small group of 60-year-old Germans are able to remember about how they spent four days - six or more years ago.

In fact, the premise of this study is so outrageous, I can't even be bothered to tell you about the other statistical findings based on these conclusions.

What I find most disturbing is that other doctors have reacted to this study not with the skepticism that such shoddy research techniques fully deserve, but with a nodding approval that these "results" back-up long-held assumptions about the links between traffic and heart issues!

Amazingly, the results of this study were presented to no less than the American Heart Association's annual Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention conference, where learned cardiology specialist convened. I'm shocked that this adjunct associated professor wasn't laughed out of the conventional hall.

Chinese diet tip could keep breast cancer from mushrooming

The results of this new study about possible breast cancer preventative could grow on you like a fungus. Apparently, women who eat just a third of an ounce of fresh mushrooms every day could decrease their chances of developing breast cancer by a whopping 64 percent!

Even though this study comes from China - and you know how I feel about things from China - I'm inclined to be encouraged. After all, before China became known for its deadly imports, substandard pharmaceutical ingredients, toothpaste and milk products, it was also one of the birthplaces of natural cures.

In fact, this study found that the daily dose of mushrooms combined with regular consumption of green tea yielded a risk decrease of - hold on to your button caps - 90 percent!

Obviously, there must be something in the Chinese diet that's working right, because breast cancer rates in that country are significantly lower than in countries in the west - by as much as five times.