Older adults who are starting to have problems with memory may benefit from small amounts of nicotine therapy, according to a US study published on Monday.
The research in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, included 74 non-smokers with an average age of 76. Half were given a daily nicotine patch for six months, the other half wore a placebo patch. Those on nicotine therapy showed better results on cognitive tests for attention, memory, as well as how fast and consistently they could process information. After six months on the patch, the nicotine group “regained 46 per cent of normal performance for age on long-term memory, whereas the placebo group worsened by 26 percent over the same time period,” said the study.
However, the study authors cautioned that older adults should not begin to smoke cigarettes to help their brain function.

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Perry cancels her People’s Choice Awards appearance
Katy Perry, who is struggling with the media spotlight over her divorce from Russell Brand, has cancelled her appearance a People’s Choice Awards where she is up for two awards.
The singer was scheduled to attend the ceremony with Brand but after they decided to split, Brand declined the offer amid rumours that he was asked not to attend the event to avoid a possible clash. The awards ceremony, set for January 11, would have marked the pop singers first public outing since Brand filed for divorce. “Unfortunately I will not be able to attend the People’s Choice Awards. I want to thank u all for voting for me, fingers crossed!” the singer tweeted.
— PTI

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Snoop Dogg detained with cannabis on bus
Rapper Snoop Dogg has reportedly been detained for carrying small amount of cannabis in his tour bus, but later he was released. The 40-year-old, who has been jailed on numerous occasions over drug and firearm possession charges in the past, had his tour bus stopped by law enforcement officers at a border patrol checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, Texas, over the weekend, reports tmz.com. During a standard inspection of the vehicle, police were said to be alerted by a sniffer dog to a red prescription bottle containing drug. According to law enforcement source, Snoop admitted that the cannabis was his and while he has a prescription for the substance in his home state of California, there is a zero tolerance policy for the drug in Texas. — IANS

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Was stunned by David’s proposal, says Hudson
Singer Jennifer Hudson says she was shocked when her fiancé David Otunga proposed her four years back. The American Idol star, who got engaged on September 12, 2008 and gave birth to her first child with Otunga the year after, said the professional wrestler popped the question on a beach in California on Hudson’s 27th birthday. “He decides to propose on my birthday. In California. I remember him telling me like, ‘Put on your favourite dress.’ The day he proposed he made a specific scene with certain songs. And we’re driving and we’re listening to the music. “And (when we get to the beach) he had birthday cards and like each card... Threw another hint and then another hint and then another hint.” — PTI

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French fan ordered to stay away from Dunst
A US judge extended for three years on Monday a restraining order against a French fan of Kirsten Dunst, saying he must keep away and not contact the US actress or her mother.
The Spiderman star was granted a temporary order against Jean Christophe Prudhon, 51, last month after he allegedly sent her more than 50 love letters and confronted her mother at her home.
The order was extended later in December, and was due to run out on Monday, but Los Angeles Judge Carol Boas Goodson extended it for three years, until January 9, 2015. Specifically Prudhon must stay at least 100 yards away from Dunst and her mother and stop trying to contact the actress, who was not in court for the ruling. “Tell Ms Dunst we’re doing the most we can for her,” Goodson told Dunst’s lawyers, adding: “It’s one of the costs of being a celebrity but it shouldn’t have to be.” — AFP