Behind the Headlines 2013 Quiz of the Year

In 2013, Behind the Headlines has covered more than 500 health stories that made it into the mainstream media. If you've been paying attention you should find this quiz easy and fun.

Why not test your knowledge of 2013's health news with our month-by-month quiz?

Answers are at the foot of the page (no peeking!).

In January 2013's health news...

According to the Daily Mail, spiritual people were said to be more likely to be?

A) Happy
B) Obese
C) Mentally ill

The Daily Mail also said that Vietnamese mums can teach their baby’s potty training by doing what?

A) Withholding food
B) Sign language
C) Whistling

In February 2013's health news...

What, according to the Daily Express, was said to boost brain power?

A) Playing Sudoku
B) Chewing gum
C) Tai Chi

What did Canadian researchers do to a group of kittens?

A) Kept them in a pitch black room for 10 days
B) Fed them ketamine and then got them to navigate a maze
C) Made them listen to Swedish death metal music

In March 2013's health news...

What was said to be at its lowest quality during the summer months, according to Israeli research?

A) Sperm
B) GP services
C) Menopausal women’s memory

What did the BBC say might cut the risk of lorry drivers crashing?

A) Playing music in the cab
B) Carrying out relaxation exercises before every journey
C) Caffeine

In April 2013's health news...

What new regional diet and lifestyle combo was touted as a route to good health, according to The Independent?

A) The Finnish diet – a mix of a fish-rich diet, saunas and plenty of cold water swimming
B) The Hawaiian diet – a mix of a rice-rich diet, lot of fresh fruit and dancing
C) The Cuban diet – a mix of a low-calorie diet and plenty of cycling

What did the BBC say could be the price of fame?

A) Unhappiness
B) Early death
C) Paranoia

In May 2013's health news...

What did the BBC suggest you should never do if hungry?

A) Have sex
B) Go swimming
C) Shop

What did the Metro say was keeping some of us up at night?

A) Money worries
B) iPads
C) Indigestion

In June 2013's health news...

What, according to Polish and New Zealand scientists, was upsetting young children?

A) Angry LEGO faces
B) 3D films
C) Clowns

What was judged as England’s most unhealthy local authority, according to the Daily Mirror?

A) Hull (technically the City of Kingston upon Hull)
B) Portsmouth
C) Manchester

In July 2013's health news...

What substance could be used to grow new teeth, according to Metro?

A) Urine
B) Bone marrow
C) Skin cells

What, it was claimed in The Daily Telegraph, could help reduce anxiety during pregnancy?

A) Massage
B) Eating fish
C) Acupuncture

In August 2013's health news...

What do Princess Diana, Humphrey Bogart and Elvis Presley have in common, say US researchers?

A) They are all thought to have been colour-blind
B) They all used homeopathic remedies
C) They were all used in a screening test for memory loss

Which outdoor activity could "reset your body clock"?

A) Potholing
B) Camping
C) Dogging

In September 2013's health news...

Men with bigger what make worse fathers, a US study claimed?

A) Feet
B) Testicles
C) Wallets

What rather unpleasant sounding treatment was described by the BBC as a potential cure for inflammatory bowel diseases?

A) Inhaling the smell of raw sewage
B) Eating slugs
C) Drinking bottled mucus

In October 2013's health news...

What did the Mail Online say was the best cure for a hangover?

A) Sprite
B) Coffee and ibuprofen
C) Going for a morning jog

What did The Daily Telegraph say might increase your risk of throat cancer?

A) Wearing a tight belt
B) E-cigarettes
C) Using a Bluetooth phone headset

In November 2013's health news...

What did the Metro say could be a sign that you are intolerant of alcohol?

A) You become irritable and prone to violence
B) You become teary
C) Your face flushes red

Manipulating what, according to the Mail Online, could lead to improved health?

A) The plotlines of popular children’s cartoons
B) The output of celebrities Twitter feed
C) The layout of food on a breakfast buffet table

In December 2013's health news...

What did Scottish marine researchers say could help you bust your acne problem?

A) Mud from the Firth of Forth
B) Seaweed
C) Kippers

Who sits down more than they did in the 1960s, according to the Daily Mail?

A) Mothers
B) Fathers
C) Hippies

Answers

January

Spiritual people are more likely to be:

C) Mentally ill – researchers found that people who described themselves as spiritual were more likely to have mental health and substance misuse problems

Vietnamese mums can teach their baby’s potty training by:

C) Whistling – apparently whistling to encourage a child to start urinating is a widely used technique amongst Vietnamese mothers

February

What was said to boost brain power:

B) Chewing gum – fMRI scans found that chewing sum stimulated blood flow in regions of the brain associated with concentration

Researchers did what to a group of kittens:

A) Kept them in a pitch black room for 10 days – this wasn’t just random animal cruelty, but an attempt to cure the conditions "lazy eye" by rewiring visual circuits inside the kittens’ brains

March

What was said to be at its lowest quality during the summer months?

A) Sperm – sperm morphology dropped over the summer months – we're not sure why

What was alleged to cut lorry drivers' risk of crashing?

C) Caffeine – an Australian study found that drivers who consumed caffeine to stay awake were 63% less likely to crash compared with drivers who didn’t

April

What new regional lifestyle and diet was touted as a route to good health?

C) The Cuban diet – a mix of a low-calorie diet and plenty of cycling – a combination of a cash-strapped government and a US oil embargo left the Cubans feeling healthier (and hungrier)

What was said to be the price of fame?

B) Early death – researchers working their way through 1,000 New York Times obituaries claimed to have found a pattern between fame and an early death

May

What should you never do if hungry, we were told?

C) Shop – during a "simulated shopping" experience, the researchers found that people who were hungry selected more high-calorie foods than people who had just eaten a snack

What is keeping some of us up at night?

B) iPads – an opinion piece argued that the widespread use of LED lights, which we rely on to view smartphones, tablets, televisions and laptops screens, is disrupting our sleep

June

What was said to be upsetting young children?

A) Angry LEGO faces – a team analysed the faces of Lego "minifigs" over the course of the last 35 years and found a trend of an increasing proportion of "angry faces"

What was judged as being England’s most unhealthy local authority?

C) Manchester – it may have given the world New Order, The Smiths, Stone Roses and Oasis but it also topped the league for premature deaths

July

What substance could be used to grow new teeth?

A) Urine – we are not taking the p* – researchers did indeed use stem cells generated from human urine cells to grow teeth-like structures in a group of mice

What, it was claimed, could help reduce anxiety during pregnancy?

B) Eating fish – a cross-sectional study of 9,500 pregnant women found those who reported eating lots of oily fish were less likely to report high levels of anxiety symptoms

August

What do Princess Diana, Humphrey Bogart and Elvis Presley have in common?

C) They were all used in a screening test for memory loss – other faces used by the US researchers included Oprah Winfrey and Pope John Paul II

What type of activity could "reset your body clock"?

B) Camping – it was claimed that spending a week under canvas away from artificial lights would bring the sleep-wake cycle back into balance

September

Men with bigger what make worse fathers a study claimed?

B) Testicles – researchers claimed to have found an association between larger testes and less caregiving activity from the father

What, arguably unpleasant, treatment was touted as a potential cure for inflammatory bowel diseases?

C)Drinking bottled mucus – like a more disgusting version of probiotics, drinking mucus can help protect the friendly bacteria in the digestive system

October

What was said to be the best cure for a hangover?

A)Sprite – the fizzy lemon-lime combo was said to be most effective in clearing the body of the toxins produced by alcohol, according to Chinese research

What was said to increase a person’s risk of throat cancer?

A) Wearing a tight belt – in what could be bad news for weightlifters, wearing a weightlifting belt may cause acid reflux, theoretically increasing your risk of throat cancer

November

What is a sign that you could be intolerant of alcohol?

C) Your face flushes red – a Korean study suggest that facial flushing is a sign that the body cannot break down acetaldehyde – a harmful substance found in alcohol

Manipulating what could lead to improved health?

C) The layout of food on a breakfast buffet table – putting healthier food at the beginning of a buffet table led to people eating a healthier breakfast

December