Sterilising a woman while performing an unplanned caesarean section is usually frowned on. But in countries such as Zimbabwe, some women are more likely to die of their next pregnancy than regret having an emergency tubal ligation. Among higher parity women who were offered sterilisation under such circumstances, 90% said they were happy with the outcome. Of those not offered sterilisation, 64% said they regretted not having had one, and urgent decision making didn't result in more regret than decisions made at leisure (British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2002;109:900-4).

Stressful working conditions have been linked to depressive symptoms, and personality traits could be relevant too. A three year follow up of over 1000 people working at the French National Electricity and Gas Company found that personality traits such as hostility and low self esteem were independent predictors of an increase in depressive symptoms. But highly demanding jobs and low social support at work also brought on more depression, regardless of personality (British Journal of Psychiatry 2002;181:111-7)

Volunteers injected with what's become known as the “fullness” hormone (PYY3-36) found that they helped themselves to a third less food from a free buffet than did controls and ate …