Thinking that you’re less fit than others, even if you are actually just as fit as they are, can shorten you life. That’s the verdict from researchers at Stanford University, who analyzed surveys from more than 60,000 U.S. adults, documenting participants’ levels of physical activity, health and personal background, among […]
Health
Clipping Knee Cartilage Doesn’t Help
For decades, surgeons treating meniscal tears have clipped and smoothed any dislodged cartilage they found. Why?  Because it seemed like it would help. But now comes a study from doctors at the University of Buffalo suggesting that the practice, called debridement, doesn’t actually benefit the patient. In fact, patients who […]
Better Food Means Longer Life
No, it’s not surprising, but it’s important: people who eat better food– more whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and fish and less red and processed meats and sugary beverages–live longer than people who don’t. We know that because, well it makes sense, but also because researchers at Harvard’s T. H. […]
Better Sleep With A Life Purpose
Want to stop tossing and turning? Get yourself a purpose in life. Researchers at Northwestern University and Rush University Medical Center have found that people with a purpose in life were 63 percent less likely to have sleep apnea and 52 percent less likely to have restless leg syndrome. They also had […]
No, The Pool’s Chlorine Won’t Hurt You
Writing in the New York Times, Karen Weintraub tells a concerned reader not to worry about the chlorine in swimming pools. Weintraub quotes Lindsay Blackstock, a doctoral student in analytical and environmental toxicology at the University of Alberta in Canada who recently authored an article about chemicals in swimming pools and […]
Smarter People Live Longer
Do higher IQ’s mean higher number of years alive? Researchers at the University of Edinburgh think so. HealthDay reports that when researchers studied data on nearly 66,000 people who were born in 1936, took an IQ test at age 11, and were followed up to age 79 or death, they […]
Side Effects Found For Common Prostate Drug
Avodart (Dutsteride), a commonly prescribed drug for treatment of an enlarged prostate, can have some disturbing side effects on metabolic and sexual function, according to researchers at the Boston University Medical Center. Science Daily reports that researchers at the medical center studied two groups of men with benign prostatic hyperplasia […]
To Lose Weight Seriously, Go Vegetarian
Vegetarian diets are almost twice as effective as other diets when it comes to losing weight. How do we know? Because Science Daily reports on a study overseen by the Physicians Committee on Responsible Medicine that assigned 74 people with type 2 diabetes to either a vegetarian diet or a conventional […]
Hand Washing: Hot Doesn’t Matter
Your mother was wrong. So, apparently, are U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines recommending that plumbing systems at food establishments and restaurants deliver water at 100 degrees Fahrenheit for handwashing. Rutgers University reports that researchers at the school put large amounts of harmless bacteria on the hands of 21 people […]
Exercise Can Slow Aging By Nine Years
Exercise, actually lots of exercise, can slow your body’s biological aging by as much as nine years. That’s the verdict of researchers at Brigham Young University, who looked at the length of telomeres (nucleotide endcaps of our chromosomes that correlate with age) in 5,823 adults who participated in the CDC’s […]