News you can use. If you've become bored by the constant deluge of medical "news" implicating common food items as the cause of terminal ailments (Macaroons cause cancer! Film at 11!), you'll be happy to know that medical researchers are branching out. Ananova reports that a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine warns that

...anoraks (parkas in the USA) are a possible health hazard.

A study carried out at Birmingham (UK) City Hospital found the hooded coats reduce the field of vision by up to half.

The professor behind the research says this can be potentially dangerous when crossing a road.

He said: "Our researchers measured the binocular visual field of volunteers wearing four different styles of anorak.

"Most wearers pull the hood over their heads and we found that with the hood up the field of vision is more than halved."

The Daily Mirror quotes him as saying: "People need to be far more careful in their choice of head gear. And apart from that they look ridiculous."

Thanks Doc! Next time I go out to the back forty in a blizzard, I'll wear a bowler and carry a brolly.