A global study led by Keele University has found that marriage may protect against the development of heart disease/stroke as well as influencing who is more likely to die of it.

According to calculations from the World Health Organisation, depression occupies first place in the global "disease burden" and, by 2030, experts estimate that there will be three mental illnesses in the Top 5: depression, Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia and alcohol addiction. Even Austria is seeing an increase in mental problems such as burnout and, since 2010, these have been the main reason for invalidity retirement. Researchers from MedUni Vienna and the Health Insurance Agency’s Health and Prevention Center have now shown that burnout can be identified by means of a simple saliva test. The hormone cortisol is the marker used for this.

A new study has shown that women who gave birth as adolescents tend to have a greater chance of an early menopause or a hysterectomy. The study, which looked at reproductive histories of women from several countries and income groups, was presented at the World Congress of Menopause in Vancouver.

Exposure to tobacco smoke prenatally and postnatally was associated with hearing impairment in a Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology study of young children in Japan.

Wind turbines are a source of clean renewable energy, but some people who live nearby describe the shadow flicker, the audible sounds and the subaudible sound pressure levels as “annoying.” They claim this nuisance negatively impacts their quality of life.

In a statement published in the European Respiratory Journal, a coalition of respiratory doctors and scientists from six continents have warned of the dangers posed to children and adolescents by electronic cigarettes [1].