It is possible to be fat and fit at the same time, a surprising new study has revealed. In the first national study of its kind, researchers found that at least half of overweight adults, and close to a third of obese men and women, have normal blood pressure, cholesterol and other measures of heart health. Researchers from the University of Michigan also found that close to a quarter of U. S. adults in the recommended-weight range had risk factors for heart disease or diabetes. That means some 16 million of them are at risk for heart problems, the study said.

For some people the first puff of smoke they tried felt repulsive while for others those puffs came with a rush of pleasure. Researchers have identified a gene variant that may help explain why some smokers get addicted from their first cigarette while others seem immune to the addictive properties of tobacco. The paper published online in the journal Addiction reports an association between a variant in the nicotine receptor gene CHRNA5, initial smoking experiences and current smoking patterns. This gene is far more common among smokers than in those who have the occasional cigarette.

For the first time, Britain has allowed an oral antibiotic used to treat chlamydia to be sold without prescription, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said on Wednesday. People over 16 will be able to buy the azithromycin pill Clamelle, manufactured by Icelandic drugmaker Actavis, after testing positive for the infection. The drug will also be made available over-the-counter (OTC) for their sexual partners. The new regulation will come into effect later this year.

Methadone, an agent used to break addiction to drugs, has ability to destroy leukemia cells without harming healthy cells, a study has found. The study, published in the August 1 issue of Cancer Research, suggests that methadone holds promise especially in patients whose cancer no longer responds to chemotherapy and radiation.

Suspicious wives from Persian Gulf states are eyeing cosmetic stores in Kuwait that sell a magic potion to catch cheating husbands. Several women, including some from Bahrain, are on the waiting list to purchase Ka-Fashto, which translates to "key to truth," an herbal medicine that claims to detect cheating husbands by their odor.