Health briefs: Fatty emotional comforts

Anyone who's ever dipped into a pint of premium ice cream after a breakup knows that certain foods feel emotionally healing. But is it all in the mind -- a connection to, say, childhood comforts? New research suggests that fatty foods do more than satisfy our stomachs. They may also soothe our psyches, literally serving as comfort foods. "Eating fat seems to make us less vulnerable to sad emotions, even if we don't know we're eating fat," said psychiatrist Lukas Van Oudenhove, co-author of a study that tracked people's responses to sad and neutral experiences while fatty acids were inserted into their stomach.

Heart history

Genetics may play more of a role in heart attacks than in strokes, a new British study suggests. "A family history of heart attack appears to be a stronger risk factor for heart attack than a family history of stroke is for stroke," said study author Amitava Banerjee, a clinical lecturer in cardiovascular medicine at the University of Birmingham in England. Researchers said the findings should alter the way doctors predict a patient's risk of heart attack and stroke based on family history. Both stroke and heart attack are leading killers of adults in the United States.