Health briefs: Buy happiness?

If you buy life experiences such as an exotic vacation or tickets to a concert to impress other people, you won't get much of a happiness boost, a new study finds. But if you spend money on a trip or an adventure for the right reasons (because it fits your interests and values), you can derive happiness, said Ryan Howell of San Francisco State University. "Why you buy is just as important as what you buy. When people buy life experiences to impress others, it wipes out the well-being they receive from the purchase," he said.

Carefree tanners

Young people who use tanning beds rationalize the risky behavior with statements like "everything causes cancer these days," a new study finds. Almost 40 percent of more than 500 U.S. college students surveyed said they use tanning beds even though they're aware of the cancer risks associated with ultraviolet (UV) light exposure. And most do it because they want to look more attractive, according to a study by researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. -- HealthDay