^{_{Married men are nicer, and here's why}}

^{_{The researchers found that men with fewer nasty qualities were more likely to eventually end up married. But among men who did marry, some showed signs indicating that their bad behaviour decreased after the union.}}

^{_{These findings address a long-standing debate among researchers, concerning why married men display fewer qualities associated with anti-social personality disorder, such as criminal behaviour, lying, aggression and lack of remorse. Is it because marriage reforms them, or because men with more of these nasty traits are less likely to get married in the first place?}}

^{_{The answer: A little bit of both, study author Dr S Alexandra Burt at Michigan State University told Reuters Health. Married men "are just not as anti-social to begin with," she said. "And when they get married, they get even less anti-social. So both things are going on."}}

^{_{Burt and her colleagues adopted a ‘novel approach’ to investigate the link between marriage and anti-social personality disorder, said Dr Ryan King at the University at Albany, who was not involved in the study.}}

^{_{Specifically, they followed 289 pairs of male twins for 12 years, between the ages of 17 and 29. More than half of the twins were identical, meaning they shared all of their genes — and, largely, their childhood environment as well, since both were raised in the same household.}}

^{_{The authors found that men who eventually married during the study period — about 60 per cent of them — showed less anti-social behaviour at ages 17 and 20, suggesting that men with more of these traits are less likely to get married in the first place. Specifically, they found that by the age of 29, unmarried men had an average of 1.3 anti-social behaviour, compared with 0.8 among married men.}}

^{_{However, among identical twins in which one was married and one wasn’t, the married twin had less anti-social behaviour after the union than the unmarried twin. Given that identical twins, with their similar genetics and childhood environments, are likely to have the same anti-social tendencies, these findings indicate that marriage helped weed out the bad behaviour.}}

^{_{"Not everyone is equally likely to enter the institution of marriage," King said. "But those that do enter into it get some benefit from it."}}

^{_{It’s not clear why men’s behaviour might improve after marriage, he noted. Married men may spend more time with their spouses than their friends, King said, and bad behaviour such as delinquency and binge drinking tend to be group activities. In addition, married men "have more to lose" if they’re caught doing illegal activities, and may care what their spouses think.}}

^{_{It’s also not clear why men with more anti-social behaviour may not marry in the first place, Burt said. They are probably not the most eligible bachelors, she noted. "You may not be looking to settle down with someone who’s prone to aggression, theft and other things." And for men with these tendencies, marriage may not be so appealing, she added.}}

  ^{_{Sources of bad and good cholesterol}}

^{_{By FLORENCE RIAKO}}

^{_{During a visit to hospital for her bi-annual health check-up, Rita was baffled when the doctor told her she has high ‘bad’ cholesterol in her system.}}

^{_{When he advised her to do something about it, she realised it was a serious matter.}}

^{_{Cholesterol is a waxy substance in blood that the body needs for important processes, like creating new cells. The body makes most cholesterol, but some come from diet, specifically animal products like meat and dairy.}}

^{_{Cholesterol cannot dissolve in the blood. It is transported to and from the cells by carriers called lipoproteins. Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, is known as ‘bad’ cholesterol. High-density lipoprotein, or HDL, is known as ‘good’ cholesterol.}}

^{_{When too much bad cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the inner walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain. Together with other substances, it can form a thick, hard deposit that narrows the arteries and make them less flexible. Heart attack or stroke may result when a clot forms and blocks a narrowed artery.}}

^{_{High cholesterol foods contain saturated fat and cholesterol. Saturated fats, found mostly in animal products, raise bad cholesterol level. Other sources include processed food with high levels of trans-fat, cookies, pastries, muffins and deep friend foods like crisps.}}

^{_{About one-fourth to one-third of blood cholesterol is carried by high-density lipoprotein. High levels of HDL seem to protect against heart attack.}}

^{_{Experts say HDL carries cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it is passed out from the body. Sources of ‘good’ cholesterol include orange juice which is not only a good source of Vitamin C but is highly instrumental in hydrating body cell increasing good cholesterol in the body and enhancing fluidity. Others are cocoa, eggs, garlic and Omega-3 fats.}}