Health News for the Week of 8/10/2008

Time for another round-up of health links. Grab yourself a snack and sit back, but you may want to be careful what you eat.

A new study says that the popular energy drink Red Bull, may be bad for your heart.  The manufacturer says that it's no worse for you than coffee, you just shouldn't drink more than two cans a day. Caffeine has a lot of bad press, but most of it isn't true. In fact, coffee has several benefits, and there's a chance that green tea might protect against breast cancer.

Scientists are also saying that farm-raised tilapia and catfish are as unhealthy as bacon. These fish have none of the good fats of other fish - they're just plain fatty. They're especially bad for people with heart disease, arthritis, asthma and other allergic and auto-immune diseases.

If you're looking to lose a few pounds, here's not how to do it! This list of the worst exercise inventions of all time will amuse you, and probably scare you too. The "prostate warmer" is bad enough (it's a light bulb that you stick...never mind), but actually swallowing tapeworms to get thin? That seems a little extreme.

Want to stop snoring, or better yet, stop someone else from snoring? Rest easy, because there are new treatments available.

Worried that your granite countertop may be radioactive? Don’t panic. Here’s some advice on what to do about it, as well as some alternatives.

Scientists have known for a while that light deprivation causes depression, but a new study has given them more insight into why that happens. The study might shed light on both Seasonal Affective Disorder and depression in general.

Yet another study has found a gene that seems to control anxiety and fear. Different expressions of the gene determine who jumps if you sneak up behind them and yell "Boo," and who takes it in stride.

There are more links that didn't make it into the round-up. If you'd like to see and talk about them, visit our FriendFeed room.