The standard medical advice has long been a Pap test every three years for most women, but new advice from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say that might be a bit much. While it’s still true that women ages 21 to 29 whose Paps show no sign of trouble should be tested every three years, healthy women ages 30 to 65 can wait five years between screenings if their Pap—plus a test for the cancer-causing HPV virus—shows everything’s fine. These guidelines agree with advice issued earlier this year by a government panel, the American Cancer Society, and other medical groups. The Best Way To Protect Your Brain? [CNN] If you were hoping crossword puzzles would be your ticket to warding off Alzheimer’s, you might want to rethink that—or at least do them on the treadmill. A new study in the journal Neurology showed that of the nearly 700 participants from Scotland, the people who participated in more physical activity showed less brain shrinkage and fewer white matter lesions, both of which can be signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Side Effects You Weren’t Told About [Medical News Today] Europe’s drug regulator has started an investigation against the drug company Roche to look into its alleged failure to properly report tens of thousands of potential drug side effects for 19 drugs, including cancer treatments like Herceptin and Avastin, and its popular flu drug Tamiflu. If found guilty, the world’s biggest maker of cancer medicines could be fined billions of dollars. Minnie Mouse’s Extreme Diet [Jezebel] In August, Barneys New York announced the concept for their holiday windows: A partnership with Disney in which Minnie Mouse, Goofy, and Daisy Duck—among others—are re-imagined as high fashion models. Meaning: Given impossibly proportioned ultra-thin bodies. Minnie was rendered approximately 5'11" and a size 0. A petition was started in protest—which a number of celebs have now signed—saying there’s something wrong with changing a beloved children’s character’s body so that it looks good in a dress that almost nobody looks good in.
