• Lifelines

  Vitamin supplements containing beta-carotene can increase a smoker's chances of developing lung cancer, warns the UK Cancer Research Campaign, which is calling for health warnings on vitamin supplements. A study of 29,000 smokers in Finland found smokers were 18 per cent more likely to get lung cancer if they were given beta-carotene. Although tomatoes, carrots and other yellow fruits and vegetables are rich in beta-carotene, there seems to be a difference between the naturally occurring substance and tablets which contain it. p
  

• Beam me up

  Chris surprises me with his pleasant confidence on the telephone. We arrange to meet in the lobby of a Dublin hotel, so I ask him how I will recognise him. "I'm six-foot-one, I'll be wearing a black suit and I look like George Clooney," he answers. I smile to myself, thinking Chris was being ironic as a way of hiding his discomfort at being insecure, unattractive and socially awkward - if that doesn't sound too cruel. p
  

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