A study in over 15 000 women shows convincingly that women who have their babies “naturally” are more likely to develop incontinence than women who have caesarean sections (New England Journal of Medicine 2003;348:900-7). Insisting on a caesarean section every time reduces a woman's risk from about 10% to about 5%. The researchers make a plea (probably in vain) for women and their obstetricians not to use these data to increase rates of caesarean section yet further.

If your systolic blood pressure went up dramatically when you woke up in the morning, you might expect the blood pressure surge to increase your risk of stroke. A study from Japan shows that it does (Circulation 2003;107:1401-6). A morning surge in systolic blood pressure of over 55 mm Hg more than doubled the risk of stroke in Japanese patients with inadequately treated hypertension.

The link between hypertension and rhinitis is a little less obvious, but French researchers noticed one during a population study of respiratory health (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 2003;167:538-42). Men (but not women) with rhinitis had systolic blood …