Pot smokers don't puff away lung health: study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A few hits on the bong now and then don't seem to have any detrimental effects on lung health, suggests a new study. Researchers found that multiple measures of lung function actually improved slightly as young people reported using more marijuana -- at least up to a couple thousand lifetime joints. "There's no doubt, if you've watched a Harold & Kumar movie, marijuana triggers a cough," said Dr. Stefan Kertesz, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who worked on the new study. But questions have remained about the drug's longer-term effect on lung functioning. "Previous studies have had mixed results," Kertesz explained. "Some have hinted at an increase in lung air flow rates and lung...

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Natural trans fat may not boost 'bad' cholesterol

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The artificial trans fats that once abounded in processed foods have become notorious for their undesirable effects on cholesterol levels. But a small clinical trial suggests that natural trans fats may not do the same damage. When 61 healthy women followed a diet with a hefty dose of natural trans fats for four weeks, researchers found there were no changes in the women's LDL ("bad") cholesterol and only small changes in HDL, or "good," cholesterol, in some women. So-called industrial trans fat was once widely used in crackers, chips and other baked or fried processed foods, but the other kind of trans fat occurs naturally in meat and dairy products. It's known that industrial trans fats tend to...

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Posted in: HEALTH