Health briefs: Beware of small studies

When initial findings about an experimental drug or treatment sound too good to be true, they probably are, according to a new study. Stanford University researchers found that after a single study reports large benefits for a new medical intervention, additional studies almost always find a smaller effect from the treatment. The study authors suspect a small study size contributes to the initially inflated benefits. "Beware of small studies . . . the truth about these may be more modest," said researcher Dr. John Ioannidis.

A good reason to be happy

Do you know a happy kid? Good news: He or she is more likely than an unhappy child to be more affluent later in life. So finds a new study that links well-being in American adolescents to greater wealth by the time they reach 30. The research doesn't definitively prove that happy kids have a better chance of making more money when they grow up. And it's not clear if inheriting money -- or marrying into it -- could be important factors. Still, the findings do suggest the value of creating happy environments for children, said researchers at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

- HealthDay