For those who want to get active but feel that joining a gym or exercising on a daily basis is a bridge too far, new research may have found the sweet spot: walking. After stacking the walking habits of 3,100 adults up against a decade’s worth of health outcomes, investigators concluded that those who logged… read on > read on >
All Do It Herself:
Weight Loss Helps Your Heart Even If Some Weight Comes Back
It can be downright discouraging to work hard to lose 10 pounds, only to regain a few later. But don’t be downhearted — a new evidence review says the important heart health benefits of weight loss are sustained even if some of the weight comes back. People who drop some pounds still have lower blood… read on > read on >
Healthy Relationships Could Bring Healthier Bodies, Study Shows
Close relationships — and whether your experiences within those relationships are positive or negative — could influence your physical health. New research found that the way you feel about your close relationships may affect the way your body functions. “Both positive and negative experiences in our relationships contribute to our daily stress, coping and physiology,… read on > read on >
Does Exercise Really Help Your Brain? Jury Still Out
It’s long been thought that working out helps a person stay sharp, but a new review argues there’s little solid scientific evidence for the mental benefits of physical exercise. Individual clinical trial results have tended to support the idea that regular exercise helps maintain brain health. But a combined review of 109 trials involving more… read on > read on >
Scientists Pinpoint Brain Area Needed for Vision-Guided Walking
A new study hones in on what part of your brain controls walking. Researchers discovered that two main regions of the cortex were activated as people moved in various ways through an environment. But the occipital place area (OPA) didn’t activate during crawling, while the second region, the retrosplenial complex (RSC), did. RSC supports map-based… read on > read on >
Exercise Does Help People With Parkinson’s Disease, Review Finds
Exercise can help improve movement-related symptoms for people who have Parkinson’s disease, a new review finds. And any type of structured exercise is better than none, researchers added. The findings were published recently in the Cochrane Reviews. “Parkinson’s disease cannot be cured, but the symptoms can be relieved, and physiotherapy or other forms of exercise… read on > read on >
Walking & Talking at Same Time: Aging Brain May Make It Tougher
Problems walking and talking or thinking at the same time might be a warning sign of impending dementia, a new study suggests. Being unable to juggle two tasks simultaneously has been recognized as a sign of mental (or “cognitive”) decline after age 65, but this research shows that the ability actually starts to fall off… read on > read on >
Did the Pandemic Spur Permanent Decline in Americans’ Daily Steps?
If you feel like the pandemic made you a permanent couch potato, a new study shows you’re not alone: Well after lockdown measures were relaxed, many Americans were still taking fewer steps each day. Researchers found that, on the whole, Americans’ daily step count plummeted at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 — an… read on > read on >
Gear Up (Helmets Included) for a Safe Bike Season
As the weather warms, folks are bringing out their bicycles for a ride. That’s great, but it’s important to be ready for a safe biking season: The national rate of bike accidents is two fatal crashes and 2,630 accidents requiring emergency room visits every week. Angela Mountz, community car seat safety program coordinator at Penn… read on > read on >
Dementia Risk Rises for Elite European Soccer Players
It’s well-established that American football players can suffer significant brain impacts as they age. Now, new research shows that elite European soccer players are also more likely than the average person to develop dementia. Men in the Swedish top soccer division between 1924 and 2019 were 1.5 times more likely to develop neurodegenerative disease than… read on > read on >