Your Health: Aug. 5, 2002

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MEN, WOMEN, MEMORY Why do women remember lovers' quarrels that men can only dimly recall? A team of psychologists may have found the answer. They tested women and men for their ability to recall emotionally laden photos--guns, gravestones, dirty toilets--and found that the women's brains were significantly more active and their recollections stronger. The findings suggest that women are wired to feel and recall emotions more keenly than men.

TURNING POINT E. coli has overtaken group B streptococci as the most common bacterial blood infection among new-borns. Strep infections fell sharply after doctors began administering antibiotics during delivery; E. coli is resistant to antibiotics prescribed for strep.

HOLD THE TUNA An FDA advisory panel has urged the agency to warn pregnant women to limit the amount of canned tuna they eat because it contains mercury, which can harm the nervous system of an unborn child. (Last year the FDA advised pregnant women not to eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel or tilefish, but it did not include tuna on the list.) Health officials say there is no need for women to cut out tuna entirely but advise that it may be prudent to limit consumption to one can a week if they eat other fish, or two if tuna is the only fish in their diet.

--By David Bjerklie

Sources: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; New England Journal of Medicine