Health briefs: How to survive rip currents

If you're swimming in the ocean and find yourself in a rip current, don't fight it by trying to swim directly back to shore. Instead, swim parallel or at an angle to the shore. If that's not possible, float on your back until you are beyond the pull of the current and then swim diagonally to shore. Rip currents are narrow channels of water that move out to sea at high speed. They are not always visible and may occur even in calm-looking waters. Many people die in them because they do not know what to do, and panic.

-- The University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter

Sleepless wife, unhappy life

When wives can't fall asleep, it tends to trigger marital tensions the next day, a new study suggests; whereas, the sleep issues of husbands barely impact spousal relationships. Researchers tested the sleep patterns of 35 young and healthy married couples for 10 nights using noninvasive sensors that monitored rest and activity cycles. Wives with sleeping difficulties sparked significantly more negative marital interactions the next day, according to the research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

-- HealthDay