Running is supposed to be good for you. Running for president — and winning — maybe not so much. A new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Case Western Reserve University suggests that becoming president of the United States is a good way to take a few years off your life.

Writing in the journal The BMJ, researchers compared lifespans of presidents against those who ran unsuccessfully against them. They also looked at presidents and prime ministers in 17 other Western democracies.

They found winning heads of state lived 2.7 fewer years than the candidates they beat.

It's not possible to know exactly what causes presidents to live shorter lives, but there are some good guesses. Stress is an obvious and likely culprit. Also, the hectic schedule of presidents generally means they don't eat as healthy or exercise as much as they should — or could — if they weren't managing the country.

Being president may be a job for the ages, but apparently not one for the aged.

Gut Night, Eat Dreams

Even asleep, your body is burning calories to sustain critical functions like, say, breathing. The actual number of calories burned depends, at least in part, upon your weight. If you weigh 160 pounds, for example, you burn approximately 69 calories per hour — the equivalent of a small apple. A 120-pound person burns 51 calories per hour.

That's not much, but it adds up: 552 calories and 408 calories burned during eight hours of sleep, respectively. That would be enough to eat a McDonald's Egg McMuffin (290 calories) guilt-free in the morning if it wasn't for those abundantly pesky fats and carbs.

But as you sleep, tiny things may be conspiring against you and your gut. A University of Iowa study reports that an unhealthy shift in your gastrointestinal microbiome can reduce how many sleeping calories you burn. Or at least that's what happened in mouse studies.

"Our research leads to the conclusion that it is probably bacteria (in the gut) that are responsible for the calories you burn while you are asleep," said one of the study authors, John Kirby, professor of microbiology and urology at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.

Researchers say the findings suggest tweaking the gut microbiome may be another way to treat obesity.

Body of Knowledge

The human eye can differentiate more shades of green than any other color, which explains night vision goggles.

Number Cruncher

One Olive Garden breadstick contains 140 calories, 14 from fat. It has 2 grams of total fat, or 2 percent of the recommended total fat intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet.

It also contains 270 milligrams of sodium (11 percent), 26 grams of total carbohydrates (9 percent) and 5 grams of protein.

Counts

213: number of unequivocal references to Bob Dylan lyrics published in scholarly biomedical papers over the past two decades,

135: number that cited "the times, they are a-changin'," the most popular reference.

— British Medical Journal

Doc Talk

Eigengrau: translates as "brain gray," the color your eyes see in total darkness. The term is somewhat archaic. Doctors more commonly describe the phenomenon as "visual noise" or "background adaptation."

Phobia of the Week

Harpaxophobia: fear of being robbed.

Never Say Diet

The Major League Eating record for glazed doughnuts is 49 in 8 minutes, held by Eric Booker. And how does someone feel after such a feat? Donut ask.

Observation

"I'm sorry, 'herbal medicine'?"

"Oh, herbal medicine's been around for thousands of years!"

"Indeed it has, and then we tested it all, and the stuff that worked became 'medicine.' And the rest of it is just a nice bowl of soup and some potpourri, so knock yourselves out."

— Irish comedian Dara O Briain

Medical History

This week in 1896, the Austrian newspaper, Wiener Presse, published the first public account of an observation made several weeks earlier by German physicist Wilhelm Rontgen of the new form of radiation, which ultimately became known as X-rays.

Self-exam

Q: What is an empty calorie?

A: A light beer and a handful of nuts have roughly the same number of calories. The difference is in how they are metabolized and their nutritional content. The latter has fiber, protein and fat; the former almost none of these. An empty calorie is a calorie that meets no nutritional need.

Sum Body

Fourteen Things That Trigger Migraine Headaches

1) Stress (the biggest reason).

2) Lack of sleep or jet lag.

3) Food additives, such as MSG or aspartame.

4) Hunger or dehydration.

5) Highly caffeinated beverages.

6) Medication overuse, particularly analgesics.

7) Alcohol.

8) Bright lights or loud sounds.

9) Odd or strong smells.

10) Some medications.

11) Weather changes.

12) Hormones.

13) Physical activity.

14) Certain foods.

Mycrobes

As its name suggests, Staphylococcus epidermidis is a bacterium that lives on human skin. It's part of the normal human flora and usually non-threatening. In fact, it helps protect us from nastier strains, such as S. aureus, by taking up space. In persons with compromised immune systems, however, it can be problematic infectious agent too.

Medical Myths

Reading in dim light or sitting too close to the TV will not ruin your eyesight. It might strain your eyes by making them work hard, but the effect is temporary. Modern TVs and computer monitors do not emit radiation that can cause eye damage. Sitting too close may be a sign of nearsightedness, but it's not a cause.

Translational Meds

Demerol (meperidine) is a prescription-only opioid medication — or narcotic — used to treat moderate-to-severe pain by blocking signals in the central nervous system. It is addictive and should not be used for pain that is expected to last a long period. It should not be used by persons with severe asthma or breathing problems.

Epitaphs

As you pass by

And cast an eye

As you are now

So once was I.

— Headstone at Bridge Street Cemetery, Eastham, Mass.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by otherCreators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.