Claire O'Connelllooks at what was weird and wonderful in the often weird and wonderful world of health in 2007
Trawling through the latest scientific literature can often be a sobering affair. But every so often a story crops up that just begs for headlines, or at least a second read. In 2007 the health-related eye-catchers included revelations about the bugs that lurk in women's desks and men's wallets, a shocking story about being zapped by lightning while jogging with an MP3 player and the health benefits of sending good vibes to your chocolate before scoffing it.
Last February we heard that women's desks harbour up to four times more bacteria than those of their male colleagues. The reason? Probably because women tend to stash microbe-inviting snacks and make-up around their workstations, according to the study's lead researcher at the University of Arizona, which sampled 100 offices across the United States.
"I was really surprised how much food there was in a woman's desk," Prof Charles Gerba told the BBC. "If there's ever a famine, that's the first place I'll look for food."
But before the males get too smug about their desk cleanliness, Gerba notes the research revealed that men's wallets also provide a happy playground for bugs: "It's in your back pocket where it's nice and warm; it's a great incubator for bacteria."
And what you keep in your back pocket while you go for a run may also alarm. A freak incident in Canada caused a stir in medical literature when a 37-year-old runner in a thunderstorm suffered burns when lightning stuck an adjacent tree and, it is thought, a resulting side flash threw him several feet in the air.
The case study in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine noted that the unfortunate jogger had been wearing an iPod, and some of his burns followed the tracks of its wires into his ears.
However, the heated correspondence that followed confirmed that the lightning strike itself had less to do with the MP3 hardware and more to do with the folly of running in inclement weather.
The authors of the original report note: "A final note on jogging in thunderstorms: much of the very interesting debate that has followed the publication of this case report would perhaps be unnecessary if common sense were as ubiquitous as the iPod."
And if all this talk of exercise is making you peckish, how about chowing down on some meat enhanced with collagen?
Injecting pork meatballs with collagen - a connective tissue found naturally in the body that is used to plump up lips in cosmetic procedures - can help retain the nutrients iodine and thiamine, according to researchers from the Agricultural University of Poznan in Poland.
Or if collagen doesn't take your fancy, how about a few isotopes? Irish reporter Marina Murphy describes in Chemistry & Industry magazine last March how research on worms shows that food enriched with natural isotopes (naturally occurring atomic variations of elements) builds bodily components such as DNA that are more resistant to the processes of ageing. If the same holds for humans, the result could be an extra 10 years onto our lifespans.
But perhaps a tastier option is to send good thoughts to your chocolate before eating it. Last September we found that chocolate exposed to "good intentions" can enhance mood more than unexposed chocolate. Good intentions? The paper in Explore, The Journal of Science and Healing describes how experienced meditators and a Mongolian shaman conveyed the following message to the food: "An individual who consumes this chocolate will manifest optimal health and functioning at physical, emotional and mental levels, and in particular will enjoy an increased sense of energy, vigor and wellbeing."
Participants in the randomised, double-blind trial then ate "intentioned" or normal chocolate over a few days and reported mood changes. On the third day of eating chocolate, mood had improved significantly more in the group eating "intentioned" chocolate rather than normal chocolate.
However, there are certain hazards associated with studying chocolate, as noted in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which last month described a controlled trial to see whether participants who received either dark or milk chocolate were happier than those who received no additional chocolate. The trial went awry when many participants switched groups mid-study because of their personal chocolate preferences.
"It demonstrated the difficulties associated with performing a truly blinded clinical trial," notes the journal report. Although it was the study's official title that had this author double-checking to make sure it hadn't been published on April 1st: Chocolate Happiness Undergoing More Pleasantness (Chump).