'Pessimists are more likely to live longer', the Mail Online tells us, while The Daily Telegraph claims, "Victory for Victor Meldrew, as pessimistic people 'live longer'". These headlines are based on a wide-ranging study into the associations between people’s expectations of their life and how accurate their predictions turn out to be, as well as various health outcomes. The researchers found that the more participants overestimated their future satisfaction, the higher their risk of disability or death over the following decade. They speculate that people with a 'happy-go-lucky' attitude may cut corners when it comes to personal health and safety, which may increase their risk…more

"Study finds obesity can lead to lack of vitamin D," BBC News has reported. This fascinating, insightful and accurate BBC story highlights a new danger to add to the list of problems caused by obesity. The headline is based on a large, complex and broad study investigating the link between obesity and vitamin D levels in the body. Previous research has suggested a link between vitamin D and obesity. Until now it has been unclear whether obesity caused vitamin D deficiency or whether low levels of vitamin D made people more likely to put on weight. This research found that people with genetic variations that are known to be associated with obesity had lower levels of vitamin D.…more

"Boosting sleep 'may slow memory rot'," says the BBC, in a headline that could provide us with a plausible excuse to give our bosses when we fall asleep at our desks. The news is based on a complex study that involved testing younger and older people's memories before and after sleep. Researchers gave participants word pairs to remember in the evening, tested them on half of the word pairs before sleeping, and the other half of the words after they had slept. Older adults were found to have smaller grey matter volume in an area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in generating slow brain waves…more