Latest Health Research - Medicine and Supplements, General Health, Exercise, Aging

 Medicine and supplements

New study: Flu shot protects against severe effects of COVID-19 New study: Flu shot protects against severe effects of COVID-19

In a newly published study, physician-scientists at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have shown that the flu vaccine may provide vital protection against COVID-19. The study, titled “Examining the potential benefits of the influenza vaccine against SARS-CoV-2: A retrospective cohort analysis of 74,754 patients,” was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal *PLoS One* on August 3. This was the largest study of its kind and analyzed deidentified patient records from around the world, which strongly suggested that the annual flu shot reduces the risks of st... read more

Vitamin D supplements ineffective treatment for painful IBS symptoms

- New research from University of Sheffield reveals vitamin D supplementation does not improve painful IBS symptoms - Scientists nonetheless noted a high prevalence of poor vitamin D status in people with IBS, so the authors still recommend testing and remedy to support overall health - The definitive study is the largest to provide evidence on effect of vitamin D on IBS symptoms - IBS is a chronic and sometimes debilitating condition which affects over 10 per cent of the population, costing the NHS in excess £11 million per year Vitamin D supplements ... read more

Weight management program with access to anti-obesity medications results in greater weight loss

A Cleveland Clinic study demonstrates that adults with obesity lost significantly more weight when they had access to medications for chronic weight management in conjunction with their employer-based weight management program, compared to adults who did not have access to the medications. The study was published in *JAMA Network Open*. Obesity is a complex disease that is caused by multiple factors, including genetic, environmental, and biological. A lifestyle intervention with a focus on nutrition and exercise is often not enough to treat obesity, which is a chronic disease that... read more

Three in ten Americans increased supplement use since onset of pandemic

Twenty-nine percent of Americans are taking more supplements today than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the percentage of U.S. supplement-takers to 76%, according to a new survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Samueli Foundation. Nearly two-thirds of those who increased supplement use (65%) cited a desire to enhance their overall immunity (57%) or protection from COVID-19 (36%) as reasons for the increase. Other common reasons for increasing supplement use were to take their health into their own hands (42%), improve their sleep (41%), and improve ... read more

Exercise

Physical activity jolts brain into action in the event of depression
he dual beneficial effect of physical activity in depression is confirmed by a study at the University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) at the Ostwestfalen-Lippe campus: physical activity not only reduces depressive symptoms. It also increases the brain’s ability to change, which is necessary for adaptation and learning processes. “The results show how important seemingly simple things like physical activity are in treating and preventing illnesses such as 

Exercise improves health through changes on DNA

Peer-Reviewed Publication While it is widely known that regular physical exercise decreases the risk of virtually all chronic illnesses, the mechanisms at play are not fully known. Now scientists at the University of Copenhagen have discovered that the beneficial effects of physical exercise may in part result from changes to the structure of our DNA. These changes are referred as ‘epigenetic’*.* DNA is the molecular instruction manual found in all our cells. Some sections of our DNA are genes, which are instructions for building proteins – the body’s building blocks – while othe... read more

Want to avoid running overuse injuries? Don't lean forward so much
The ubiquitous overuse injuries that nag runners may stem from an unlikely culprit: how far you lean forward. Trunk flexion, the angle at which a runner bends forward from the hip, can range wildly--runners have self-reported angles of approximately -2 degrees to upward of 25. A new study from the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) found that greater trunk flexion has significant impact on stride length, joint movements, and ground reaction forces. How you lean may be one of the contributors to your knee pain, medial tibial stress syndrome, or back pain. "This was a pet p... read more

General Health

Healthy lifestyle may help mitigate high genetic risk of cancer

As genetic research continues to uncover loci, or areas in DNA, with specific changes that influence cancer risk, researchers can define polygenic risk scores (PRS)—personalized estimates of an individual’s cancer risk—based on a patient’s unique combination of these changes. However, most PRS are generated for a specific cancer type, rather than for overall cancer risk. “A PRS indicating risk of a certain cancer is important but not enough,” Jin said. “We tried to create an indicator—the cancer polygenic risk score (CPRS)—to measure the genetic risk of cancer as a whole.” *Ho... read more

"Springing forward" affects early birds less than night owls

Every spring, the Daylight Saving Time shift robs people of an hour of sleep - and a new study shows that DNA plays a role in how much the "spring forward" time change affects individuals. People whose genetic profile makes them more likely to be "early birds" the rest of the year can adjust to the time change in a few days, the study shows. But those who tend to be "night owls" could take more than a week to get back on track with sleep schedule, according to new data published in Scientific Reports by a team from the University of Michigan. The study uses data from continuous ... read more

Breastfeeding, even for a few days, linked to lower blood pressure in early childhood

AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION Babies who were breastfed, even for a few days, had lower blood pressure as toddlers and these differences in blood pressure may translate into improved heart and vascular health as adults, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association. Research has found that cardiovascular disease risk factors, including high blood pressure, can start in childhood. Studies have also confirmed breastfeeding is associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk in adu... read more

Aging

Lifestyle adjustments can boost vascular health in seniors with obesity

Small lifestyle changes really can make a big difference in improving vascular health in older adults with obesity, according to a study conducted by researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Eliminating just 200 calories a day combined with 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise four days a week was associated with significant improvement in aortic stiffness, a measure of vascular health. The study was published in the current issue of the American Heart Association’s journal *Circulation*. “We were surprised to find that moderate caloric reduction and aerobic ... read more

Pandemic may have increased older adults’ fall risk

*Focus on increasing physical activity and mobility, improving conditioning, and breaking the “vicious cycle” of falls and fear of falling is needed* The COVID-19 pandemic may have increased older adults’ risk of falling and injuring themselves, due to changes in physical activity, conditioning and mobility, a new national poll suggests. More than a third of people between the ages of 50 and 80 report their physical activity declined in the pandemic’s first 10 months, and more than a quarter say they’re in worse physical condition now than before the pandemic, according to the ne... read more

Postmenopausal women can dance their way to better health

Women often struggle with managing their weight and other health risk factors, such as high cholesterol, once they transition through menopause. A new study suggests that dancing may effectively lower cholesterol levels, improve fitness and body composition and in the process, improve self-esteem. Study results are published online today in *Menopause*, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). After menopause, women are more likely to experience weight gain, overall/central body adiposity increases, and metabolic disturbances, such as increases in triglycerides... read more

New insights into the relationship between how we feel and our views on aging

A new study finds that the disconnect between how old we feel and how old we want to be can offer insights into the relationship between our views on aging and our health. Subjective age discordance (SAD) – the difference between how old you feel and how old you would like to be – is a fairly new concept in the psychology of aging. However, the work to this point has used SAD to look at longitudinal data and how people’s views on aging evolve over months or years. “We wanted to see whether SAD could help us assess day-to-day changes in our views on aging, and how that may relate to... read more

65+ and lonely? Don't talk to your doctor about another prescription

Lonely, older adults are nearly twice as likely to use opioids to ease pain and two-and-a-half times more likely to use sedatives and anti-anxiety medications, putting themselves at risk for drug dependency, impaired attention, falls and other accidents, and further cognitive impairment, according to a study by researchers at UC San Francisco. The study found that just over half of 6,000 respondents in a nationally representative survey of seniors living independently were not lonely, while 40 percent were moderately lonely, and 7 percent were highly lonely. The proportion of seni... read more

Study shows diet causes 84% drop in troublesome menopausal symptoms--without drugs

A new study, published by the North American Menopause Society in the journal *Menopause,* found a plant-based diet rich in soy reduces moderate-to-severe hot flashes by 84%, from nearly five per day to fewer than one per day. During the 12-week study, nearly 60% of women became totally free of moderate-to-severe hot flashes. Overall hot flashes (including mild ones) decreased by 79%. The study, called the WAVS trial--the Women's Study for the Alleviation of Vasomotor Symptoms-shows that diet changes can be much more powerful for tre...

Keeping your brain active may delay Alzheimer's dementia 5 years
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NEUROLOGY Research News Keeping your brain active in old age has always been a smart idea, but a new study suggests that reading, writing letters and playing card games or puzzles in later life may delay the onset of Alzheimer's dementia by up to five years. The research is published in the July 14, 2021, online issue of *Neurology*, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "The good news is that it's never too late to start doing the kinds of inexpensive, accessible activities we looked at in our study," said study author Robert S. Wilso