Health briefs: Smartphones make us less fit

Smartphone users just might be the new couch potatoes. Researchers studying college students found that cellphone use -- much like watching television -- may significantly decrease physical activity and fitness levels. "Using a cellphone doesn't have the same kind of negative stigma that sitting on the couch and watching TV has, but it can be just as bad for you," said study co-author Jacob Barkley of Kent State University in Ohio. The study found that students spend an average of almost five hours on their cellphones and send hundreds of text messages every day, Barkley said. When people text on the way to the bus stop, they walk more slowly, trying to do two things at once. Going to the park for a run, they stop to look for messages, check movie times and make a date. Walking past a beautiful scene, they halt and take a photo, and then send it to their friends via Facebook.

HEART SURGERY AND MOON CYCLES

Scheduled for heart surgery? A new study by the Cardiovascular Institute at Rhode Island Hospital suggests you might fare better or worse depending on the moon's cycle at the time of the procedure. Researchers found that patients who had a type of heart surgery called acute aortic dissection repair during a waning full moon were less likely to die and had shorter hospital stays than if the same operation happened at other points in the lunar cycle. -- HealthDay