Incense smoke may increase risk of cancer
Scientists have now found that regularly burning joss sticks increases the risk of certain mouth, throat and lung cancers. In the 12-year study, researchers interviewed over 60,000 ethnic Chinese people in Singapore aged between 45 and 78 between 1993 and 1998. They asked the people how much incense they used and collected detailed information on their lifestyle, including their diet, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. All participants who had previously had cancer were excluded from the analysis. In December 2005, the team checked the subjects’ health by using the detailed records in Singapore’s National Cancer Registry. Of the original group, 325 had developed cancer of the upper respiratory tract and 821 had developed lung cancer. The researchers said that people should be more careful of incense sticks and should use them sparingly.

Stressed mothers may raise fat children
Millions of poor children in the United States may be getting fat before age 10 because their mothers are stressed out and the youngsters seek escape in unhealthy comfort food, a research says. Researchers at Iowa State University and Michigan State University looked at data on 841 children in families living below the poverty line who were part of a government nutrition survey conducted from 1999 to 2002. Children in stressed homes where there was plentiful food were more likely to be overweight or obese than those living in stressed situations where food was scarce, they said, because while both were reacting to stress, the former group had food available in which to find refuge.