Three must-reads in this week's "Sunday Review"

The New York Times "Sunday Review" section carried several must-reads about health issues this week.

On the cover, "Status and Stress," by Moises Velasquez-Manoff, explores the toxic effects on stress for those who feel helpless about their life circumstances. "Even those who become rich are more likely to be ill if they suffered hardship early on."

"The Hype Over Hospital Rankings," by Elisabeth Rosenthal, explores the meaning - or lack of meaning - in all those Best Hospital rankings that marketing departments like to pass along as news.

Frank Bruni's column, "Our Pulchritudious Priesthood," describes the fad among New Yorkers of hiring personal trainers. "What therapists were to the more cerebral New York of yesteryear, trainers are to the more superficial here and now: designated agents of self-actualization, florid expressions of self-indulgence, must-have accessories, must-cite authorities."