By Marlene R. Fedin, The Wellness Concierge®

Post-Super Bowl Car Crashes Rise: A University of Toronto study reveals that "Fatal and non-fatal crashes increase after the game..." by an estimated 40 percent. Researchers speculate that "drinking during the game, driver fatigue because of the late hour, and distraction and disappointment..." may be partially responsible. The biggest increase, unsurprisingly, was registered in the losing team’s locale.

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Italy Passes Anti-Smoking Law: If you’re an Italophile who has had to curtail your outings because of smoke-filled venues, take heart. The Italian Senate passed a law in late December that would ban smoking virtually everywhere (except private homes and in designated smoking areas). That includes movie theaters, offices, buses, trains, bars, restaurants, and airports. The ban is scheduled to go into effect in 2004. Given the Italians' (an estimated 58 million are smokers) and other Europeans' love of lighting up, it's hard to imagine that even escalating fines will discourage die-hard puffers.

Aspirin No Deterrent to DVT: A study of 1,000 people by the New Zealand Medical Research Institute found that taking aspirin may not prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in long-haul flyers. Want to learn more about DVT research and get prevention tips? Read Jane E. Brody's New York Times article and Michael Conlon's "Economy Class Syndrome Update" for Reuters.

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U.K. Courts Reject DVT Suits While Aussies Green Light Flyer Claims: Apparently location counts when it comes to filing a lawsuit over DVT. In late December, a few days before Christmas, a London court dashed the hopes of some 56 people seeking compensation from airlines for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) contracted during flights on major carriers. The court "upheld the airlines' claim that the circumstances in which passengers developed DVT, commonly dubbed "economy class syndrome", fell outside the terms of the 1929 Warsaw Convention." Claimants have until January 28 to file an appeal.

At almost the same time, an Australian court ruled against Qantas and BA and allowed a lawsuit against them to proceed. The carriers have until February to appeal the decision.

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Smoking Bans Surface Throughout U.S.: As someone who's very allergic to smoke, I'm always thrilled to learn that local laws are being enacted to protect my and others' lungs. In recent weeks a number of major cities such as New York and Boston have passed smoking bans. (Dallas passed its new ordinance on Wednesday, January 22.) Now Connecticut is also considering a statewide ban, as is New York State.

The Other 'Face' of Air Rage: Passengers' bad behavior generally gets the press coverage but The Wall Street Journal turned the tables recently, exploring air rage as demonstrated by flight attendants. From the included comments, it's pretty clear that some FAs may want to rethink their career choices.

The article, which cited the poor behavior of many passengers as contributing to FA stress, included suggestions on how to improve the in-flight situation. Surprisingly, no one suggested the obvious: Expert training in stress management.

And speaking of deterrents...The New Zealand Herald reports that Australia is contemplating taking more more serious and immediate action against abusive passengers. Flyers will face "hefty instant fines and a higher chance of being prosecuted for assault" under a law change due this year.

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Flu Death Toll Higher Than Earlier Estimates: A January report in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that some 47,000 Americans are dying each year from the flu and a common respiratory virus called RSV. That's a significant increase when compared to the CDC's data, which shows an average of 36,000 deaths annually in the 1990s.

Although the study says that 90 percent of those who die are aged 65 and older, medical professionals caution that individuals with chronic illnesses such as diabetes or asthma (or people who interact with others who have such illnesses) consider getting a flu shot, regardless of their age.

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Sarasota-Bradenton Intl. Airport Employees Test Positive for Tuberculosis: After two skycaps test positive, almost 300 other employees are tested with 13 (or about 6 percent) also showing positive skin results, indicating exposure to the highly contagious disease. The Tampa Bay Business Journal details how the airport is addressing the issue and educating staffers.

Travelers With Disabilities Would Up Spending—If Travel Vendors Offered Improvements: If the airlines (and hotels) are looking to woo some new business, they should take a long and close look at a study released in mid-January by the Open Doors Organization, the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), and the Society for Accessible Travel (SATH). A Harris interactive poll of over 1,000 people with disabilities indicates that these travelers are spending serious money, and are willing to spend even more provided travel vendors do more to accommodate their needs.

In 2002, the study says people with disabilities spent "$13.6 billion on 31.7 million trips" and "could increase expenditures by 100 percent per year."

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DON’T GET NEEDLED AND DRIVE: If you’ve never had an acupuncture session, you can’t imagine how relaxed you may feel afterwards. Apparently, some folks get so mellow after a treatment that they’re not fit to get behind the wheel. British scientists are cautioning motorists that acupuncture treatments may induce relaxation and drowsiness to the point that it could impair their ability to drive post-treatment.

VACCINATION ALERT: If you’ve received (or are scheduled to receive) the smallpox vaccination, take note. The Food and Drug Administration is advising that you should not donate blood for at least three weeks after the shot (or until the scab at the injection site has fallen off).

REAL-LIFE INSPIRATION: Delta’s Sky magazine profiles Mario Garcia, the high-flying man who redesigned The Wall Street Journal. A frequent flyer, he shares his on-the-road fitness regimen, which consists of "...the very same thing as always for dinner: a fruit salad, a broiled chicken breast and a glass of Moët & Chandon champagne." Thumbs Up for his discipline—but fitness experts caution that you shouldn’t exercise for several hours before bed.

Author David Bailey notes that "Over the years, Garcia has learned that feeling good about yourself as a business traveler requires a systematic approach, a lot of self-discipline and maybe even some personal redesign."

Movement Is Not Exercise: Because they’re often so physically exhausted at the end of the day, a lot of travelers equate the act of navigating car parks, airports, flying, and driving with movement and exercise. Although there’s no question that life on the road is physically challenging, unless you’re regularly jogging across concourses, you’re not getting any kind of real workout. Hurling yourself through locations, though fatiguing, even dragging and lifting heavy luggage, are no substitute for a cardio or weights workout.

Before you can up your activity level, however, you need a realistic idea of how much you’re actually moving around when you’re traveling. (Fitness experts are advising that we all get a minimum of 10,000 steps a day.) If you don't already own a pedometer, pick up a compact model and wear it. You’ll be amazed at what you do—or don’t—log in terms of actual "mileage."

COLD- AND FLU-FIGHTING FOODS Prevention magazine pinpoints healthy food options to boost your immune system and up your resistance to debilitating colds, flus. "Poor diet is the biggest cause of a weakened immune system in healthy individuals," observes William Boisvert, PhD, a nutrition and immunity expert. Meal lovers take note: lean beef tops the list.

GO MEATLESS, WIN BIG: I have to say, I like the idea of throwing out cash to motivate serious change in lifestyle habits—or reward healthy choices—so I was intrigued by the "challenge yourself to make a change" promotion by the Boca Burger folks. The creators of the tasty meatless burgers favored by many of us who’ve deleted red meat from our menus, are giving away some big bucks.

A "Go Meatless" contest features a $100,000 check for the lucky winner while the "Go Meatless on Mondays" Challenge Sweepstakes (Enter weekly from 12/31/2002 to 4/28/2003) is offering prizes that include: a 4-day trip for 2 to Canyon Ranch Spa in Tucson, Arizona; home-gym equipment; a personal chef for one year (up to $5,000); one weekly first prize of $500 and a year’s supply of BOCA® products and 10 weekly second prizes of a year’s supply of Boca® products.

Tell the Boca folks (in 100 words or less) about a "change you want to make in your life and how BOCA® Meatless products will help achieve that goal." (You’ll also need a UPC code from any Boca product.)

And in a nice twist, they’ve included a Writer’s Block section with some ideas to get you going and a detail of the judging criteria so you’re not flying blind. You can also enter more than once (up to once a day) but you’ll need a new written entry each time.

The promo folks are working overtime: They’ll e-mail you recipes on Friday for the weekly sweepstakes.

Mail-in entries must be received by May 8, 2003; online entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. (EST) on April 28, 2003.