Learning a second language can slow brain ageing and other top health news this week.
International health news
- Slow brain ageing with second language – Learning another language has a positive affect on the brain, even if you start as an adult say scientists.
- WHO must ‘resist urge to control e-cigarettes’ – In an open letter, top scientists are urging WHO not to subject e-cigarettes to the same control as tobacco products.
- Global number of obese and overweight hits 2.1bn – Obesity rates are rising worldwide, and not one country has managed to halt the trend warn scientists.
Health advice
- Introduce vegetables early and often – Toddlers who are given vegetables regularly and often before the age of two learn to like them, say researchers.
Country health updates
- USA: Measles cases at 20-year high – Parents are being urged to vaccinate their children as measles outbreak linked to Philippines travel causes 288 cases.
- UK: The great antidepressant divide – The highest prescription rate for antidepressants is found in the North east and the lowest levels in London.
- Malaysia: Cadbury products given all clear – New tests show Cadbury’s chocolate bars do not contain pig DNA contrary to earlier results.