Briefs: Neurotic and conscientious

Stress for success

Being both neurotic and conscientious may be good for your health. That's the finding from University of Rochester Medical Center researchers investigating how psychosocial factors such as personality traits affect health. The study of more than 1,000 people found that those with moderate to high levels of both neuroticism and conscientiousness tended to have the lowest levels of a type of protein molecule called interleukin 6. High levels indicate the presence of inflammation linked to heart disease, stroke, asthma, arthritis, diabetes and some cancers.

Live longer

People who exercise and take statins to lower cholesterol levels can reduce their risk of dying, a new study suggests. "The reduction in death is independent; whatever statins do is independent of what exercise does," said Peter Kokkinos of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "When you combine the two, you get even better results. If you are taking statins, your mortality is about 35 percent lower ... but if you exercise ... you can reach a 70 percent reduction in mortality."

-- HealthDay