A well-educated woman positively influences both her own and her partner's chances of a long life, Swedish research suggests. A man whose partner had only a high school education has a 25 per cent greater risk of dying early than if she had had a university education, it suggests.

The authors say educated women may be more likely to understand the various health messages their families need. The findings are based on a study of 1.5m working Swedes, aged 30 to 59. The study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Healthcare, says that in the case of men, it is their income and social status that affect women's lifespan.

The researchers looked at data from the 1990 Swedish census and followed up information on the causes of death, including cancer and circulatory diseases like heart disease and stroke from the cause of death registers up to 2003.

Source: StoneHearth/Journal of Epidemiology and Community Healthcare

Antioxidants raise diabetes risk

Instead of protecting against diabetes, antioxidants - compounds in foods and supplements that prevent cell damage - may actually increase the chances of getting diabetes, at least in the early stages, Australian researchers reported recently.

"In the case of early type 2 diabetes ... our studies suggest that antioxidants would be bad for you," Tony Tiganis of Monash University in Australia, whose study appears in the Journal Cell Metabolism, said in a statement. Antioxidants are protective proteins that can prevent cell damage caused by charged particles known as reactive oxygen species. This oxidative stress is thought to add to the progression of several diseases, including type 2 diabetes. Because antioxidants fight oxidative stress, they have become a popular food supplement. But Tiganis said the picture appears to be a bit more complicated.

"We think there is a delicate balance, and that too much of a good thing - surprise, surprise - might be bad," he said.

Tiganis' team studied the effects of oxidative stress in mice fed a high-fat diet for 12 weeks. One group of mice lacked an enzyme known as Gpxl, which helps counter oxidative stress. They found mice that lacked the enzyme were less likely to develop insulin resistance - an early sign of diabetes - than normal mice. But when they treated the enzyme-deficient mice with an antioxidant, "they lost this advantage and they become more diabetic," Tiganis said in an email. He cautioned that the study is in mice and more study in people are needed.

- Reuters