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GENDER BIAS: A study by Michigan State University found that older men who had sex once a week or more were twice as likely to have cardiovascular episodes five years later than men who were not sexually active.

But women who participated in the study and who said they found sex to be extremely pleasurable or satisfying were found to be at lower risk of hypertension.

The study, surveyed 2,204 people aged 57-85 between 2005-2006, and then again five years later.

Hui Liu, associate professor of sociology at the university, said: “These findings challenge the widely held assumption that sex brings uniform health benefits to everyone.”

FAT CHANCE: Children delivered by Caesarean section are more likely to be obese than those born naturally, new research suggests.

The study found that those born by C-section are 15% more likely to be obese in childhood.

And the increased risk may persist through adulthood, according to researchers from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

Babies born via Caesarean delivery were 64% more likely to be obese than their siblings born by vaginal birth.

PARTICLE POLLUTANTS: Tiny particles breathed in and taken into the brain through air pollution could be linked to diseases such as Alzheimer’s, research has found.

Experts have discovered the presence of magnetic nanoparticles, which have previously been associated with the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, in the human brain.

According to researchers from the UK and Mexico, the shape and features of the nanoparticles suggest they are less likely to have been formed naturally in the body and more likely to have come from an outside source, possibly air pollution.

Alzheimer’s disease is caused by a build-up of proteins in the brain, leading to the loss of brain tissue, the death of nerve cells and a shortage of important brain chemicals.

Researchers said they cannot say for sure whether there is a causal link between these nanoparticles and Alzheimer’s.