Health bits: Sex won’t make you thin

City Press health reporter Zinhle Mapumulo’s pick of health and lifestyle research that came out this week.

» “Sex burns calories” myth debunked
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday bust a long-standing myth about sex and it ability to shed at least 200 calories during a vigorous session.

The study found that, on average, sexual activity lasts about six minutes and a person would lose only about 21 calories in that time.

» New hope for vascular dementia sufferers
A drug made from pig brain proteins may help relieve symptoms of vascular dementia, new research has found.

Currently there is no specific treatment for vascular dementia and health professionals rely on the normal dementia drugs to treat this rare condition.

Researchers from the department of neurology at Sichuan University in Sichuan, China, discovered that Cerebrolysin, which is used to treat normal dementia can also help improve cognitive and global function in patients with mild to moderate severity vascular dementia.

» South Korea tops plastic surgery list
One in 77 people in South Korea had a cosmetic procedure in 2011.

The shocking new figure was released by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons on Thursday.

The most popular surgical procedures in the Asian country appears to be the double eyelid surgery – which reduces excess skin in the upper eyelid to make the eyes appear bigger and make them look more “Western”.

» Veggies let you heart beat longer
Vegetarians are 34% less likely to suffer from heart ailments or die from it than people who eat meat, a new study conduct by the University of Oxford in the UK has revealed.

Researchers believe vegetarians derive the benefits from lower blood pressure and improved cholesterol levels through eating low-fat diets based on vegetables, whole grains and fruit.