First BPA: It’s the chemical Bisphenol A, and it’s used to make resins that coat the inside of some cans. And yes, it’s associated with health problems, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease. While some studies have simply looked at the levels of BPA found in the food contained in cans, […]
Author: Art Jahnke
Cosmetics’ Chemicals May Make Us Lazy
It sounds crazy, but, as Gretchen Reynolds reports in the New York Times, research suggests that a common chemical found in many cosmetics and personal care products may influence our will to exercise. The Times reports that scientists at Texas A&M University set out to determine if the chemicals, called phthalates, […]
Chronic Fatigue: It’s In Your Gut
After years of doubt about whether the condition known as chronic fatigue syndrome is really a syndrome, researchers have identified biological markers of the disease in gut bacteria and inflammatory microbial agents in the blood of chronic fatigue sufferers. A Cornell University news release reports that researchers at the school […]
Working Long Hours Hurts Women More Than Men
Working long hours can be bad for your health, particularly if you are a woman. Researchers at Ohio State University have found that women whose work weeks averaged longer than 60 hours for three decades were three times as likely to suffer from diabetes, cancer, heart trouble and arthritis than […]
Health Benefits Of Retirement
Is retirement good for your health? Researchers at the University of Sydney think it may be. The New York Times reports that after following more than 27,000 men and women who retired during a three year period, the researchers found that when compared to people who were still working, the retirees walked […]
Trees Are Good For Your Health
Yes trees. And other greenery, too. Researchers at Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found that during an eight-year study period, there were fewer deaths among women who lived in the greenest surroundings. In fact. their mortality rate was 12 percent lower than those […]
Stressed? Make Some Art
Feeling stressed? Paint a picture, even a bad picture. Researchers at Drexel University are convinced that making art, pretty much any art, reduces the stress hormones in our bodies. Most of the time.  A Drexel news release reports that the researchers studied 39 adults, ranging from 18 to 59 years old, […]
Whole Grains = Longer Life
People who eat four servings of whole grains have a lower risk of dying than do people who eat little or no whole grains. That’s the verdict from researchers at Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health, where a meta-analysis combined results from 12 published studies, and included health data from 786,076 […]
Exercise Is Best Defense Against Dementia
Apparently, you can do something to stave off dementia, but you have to do it in middle age. A landmark 20-year study conducted by researchers at the University of Melbourne strongly suggests that regular exercise in middle age is the best lifestyle change a person can make to prevent cognitive […]
Mid-Life Fitness Prevents Late-Life Strokes
It’s true, even in Texas, where researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas have found that among nearly 20,000 adults in their mid to late 40s, the most fit had a 37 percent lower risk of having a stroke after 65, compared with the least fit. HealthDay […]