Health Highlights: Nov. 22, 2008

National Public Radio wouldn't have aired Goodwin's program if his ties to drug companies were known, Margaret Low Smith, vice president of N.P.R., told the Times. She said "The Infinite Mind" will be removed from N.P.R.'s satellite service next week, the earliest possible date.

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Forward-Facing Strollers Stress Babies

Using forward-facing strollers may cause babies emotional distress because they aren't getting face-to-face contact with their parents, according to researchers at Dundee University in Scotland.

The researchers studied nearly 3,000 parent-infant pairs and found that 25 percent of parents using rear-facing strollers spoke to their babies, more than twice as many as parents using forward-facing strollers. The researchers also found that babies in rear-facing strollers had lower heart rates and were twice as likely to fall asleep than those in forward-facing ones, Agence France Presse reported.

Facing their parents gives infants positive reassurance and reduces mental stress, the researchers concluded.

"Neuroscience has helped us to learn how important social interaction during the early years is for children's brain development," said Suzanne Zeedyk, of Dundee University's School of Psychology, AFP reported.

"Our data suggests that for many babies today, life in a buggy [stroller] is emotionally impoverished and possibly stressful. Stressed babies grow into anxious adults," she added.

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Hairspray May Increase Risk of Male Birth Defect: Study

Women exposed to hairspray during pregnancy may be more likely to give birth to boys with a genital defect called hypospadias, in which the opening of the urethra is on the underside of the penis, instead of the tip, says an Imperial College London study.

The researchers interviewed 471 women whose boys were born with hypospadias and a similar number of women whose boys were normal. About twice as many women in the hypospadias group said they'd been exposed to hairspray through their jobs as hairdressers and beauty therapists, BBC News reported.