Lots of health items in the news this week.  For your perusal, thoughts, and comments:

• Religious people who are suffering from terminal cancer are three times as likely to pursue aggressive, life-prolonging treatments like mechanical ventilators than those who do not profess a religious faith, according to a new study. “People think that spiritual patients are more likely to say their
  lives are in God’s hands — ‘Let what happens happen’ — but in fact we
  know they want more aggressive care,” the study’s senior author told The New York Times.

• Home-cooked meals are healthier than restaurant meals, but how healthy they are depends on who cooks them, according to Cornell University researchers. A family’s “food gatekeeper” has great influence over the quality–and quantity–of food consumed in the household. Even the choice of serving vessels influences portion control.

• The blood test that measures the protein PSA and screens for prostate cancer saves few men’s lives, two large new studies have found. The findings call into question whether PSA changes should lead to prostate treatments like radiation or surgery, which can lead to other complications.

• Is your carbon footprint shrinking? Scientists are racing to develop a standard measure of how green your lunch, car, and home really are. Some of their findings are surprising,
  like how buying bottled water shipped in from Fiji can actually produce
  less greenhouse gas than buying American ( Fiji’s bottling plants use
  geo-thermal power, America’s uses fossil fuels).