Aging, cellphones, red yeast rice and gym etiquette

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In other health-related offerings from around the Web...

From NPR: Can ‘Blue Zones’ help turn back the biological clock?

‘Sardinian sheepherders, Japanese grandmothers and Seventh-Day Adventists in Los Angeles don’t seem to have that much in common. But within these groups there are some of the longest-lived people in the world.’ ... A look at author Dan Buettner’s new book: ‘The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest.’

From the New York Times: Experts revive debate over cellphones and cancer

‘What do brain surgeons know about cellphone safety that the rest of us don’t? Last week, three prominent neurosurgeons told the CNN interviewer Larry King that they did not hold cellphones next to their ears. ‘I think the safe practice,’ said Dr. Keith Black, a surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, ‘is to use an earpiece so you keep the microwave antenna away from your brain.’ ‘

From ABC News: Chinese supplement may cut heart risk

‘New research finds that for heart patients ... who are unable or unwilling to tolerate a statin drug to lower their cholesterol levels -- taking a Chinese supplement purchased from a local grocery store might be just as effective at lowering their heart risks.’

And from Newsweek: Gym sins

‘It was perhaps the most extreme case of gym rage -- ever. While taking a Manhattan spin class last August, Christopher Carter became so annoyed by the unrelenting grunts and shouts of a fellow spinner that he tipped the other guy right off his bike and into a wall. The grunter was hospitalized for two weeks after the incident.... Because any gym rat can tell you, grunting isn’t the most irritating thing people do in fitness clubs. From making lunch in the sauna, to sporting unsavory yoga attire, club managers report that some of their patrons are clueless when it comes to gym etiquette, or general decency, it seems. Here are nine of the most outrageous fitness club offenses.’

There you have it: This week’s Editor’s Picks. Read, wonder and worry or, in the latter case, feel abashed.

-- Tami Dennis