How solid is your marriage? If you really want to know, you might try asking two questions: How happy are you in your marriage relative to how happy you would be if you weren’t in the marriage? [Much worse; worse; same; better; much better.] How do you think your spouse […]

No, not marijuana. The researchers at the University of Washington were looking at drugs like Benadryl, anti-depressants like Sinequan, anti-histamines like Chlor-Trimeton, and antimuscarinics for bladder control like Ditropan.  A university news release reports that the scientists, who tracked nearly 3,500 Group Health seniors participating in a long-running joint Group Health-UW study […]

OK, it’s not surprising, but it’s nice to know that it’s backed up by science: exercise increases the flow of oxygen to the brain. HealthDay reports that researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand used imaging techniques to gauge the flow of blood in the brains of women […]

Two good things about whole grains: they actually taste like something; and they could keep you alive a little longer. It’s true. A new study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health has found that eating more whole grains is associated with up to 15 percent lower mortality—particularly cardiovascular disease-related mortality. […]

Still more evidence of the health benefits of moderate drinking: The New York Times reports that a study just published in the European Heart Journal found that moderate drinkers have a lower risk of heart failure than either heavy drinkers or abstainers. The study, which followed 14,629 people for 24 years, starting […]

Can exercise really help to ward off breast cancer? Researchers at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque think so. The Wall Street Journal, reports that scientists at the school have been studying the cancer fighting effects of irisin, a hormone that is released from muscles after vigorous exercise. When the researchers tested […]

For years, athletes have been drinking beet juice before working out to increase blood flow to muscles and boost performance. Now comes a study from researchers at Penn State suggesting that the beet juice strategy was all for naught. A Penn State news release reports that while beetroot juice is in […]

Yes, it’s yet another study on the health risks of too much sitting, which is now described, in some circles, as the new smoking. This study, a meta-analysis of others, comes from scientists at Toronto’s University Health Network (UHN) and Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, and like others, identifies a definite […]

If sitting is the new smoking, is standing the healthful alternative? The Boston Globe reports that many experts think it is. The Globe cites a recent Harvard study of more than 92,000 women that found that the more time participants spent sitting at work, driving, or watching TV, the greater […]

How much exercise does it take to cut the risk of early death? Not much, according to a study by researchers at the University of Cambridge.  A news release reports that researchers at the school are convinced that a brisk 20-minute walk a day could do the trick. The researchers […]