Does a crowded neighborhood make you move more? Yes, says new research that found people who live in highly populated areas walk more than people who live in less densely populated areas.   Since more walking is connected to better health, generally speaking, the extra steps can make a big difference in terms of promoting an…  read on >  read on >

There’s fungus among us, and it might be making allergies and asthma worse. People with allergy sniffles and asthma have different fungal colonies in their noses than folks who don’t suffer respiratory allergies, researchers report Dec. 16 in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology. “We showed that allergic rhinitis samples displayed a significantly higher fungal diversity and…  read on >  read on >

Can you literally step away from depression? A new global review of data found that “increasing the number of daily steps, even at modest levels, was associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms.” The Spanish study found that up to a level of about 10,000 steps per day, the odds for depression decline as daily…  read on >  read on >

Close friendships are incredibly important to the mental health of middle-aged folks and seniors, a new study finds. Older adults with worse mental or physical health were twice as likely to say they don’t have any close friends, according to results from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. “With growing understanding of…  read on >  read on >

Have you been boozing more often than usual? A new blood test might be able to tell if you’re damaging your liver from too many beers, margaritas or belts of scotch, researchers report. A blood-borne byproduct of alcohol consumption called phosphatidylethanol (PEth) can give doctors a fair idea of how much liver scarring has occurred…  read on >  read on >

Breathing in smoggy air over time can significantly raise a person’s chances for dangerous blood clots, new research shows. “What’s striking from our study is the increase in serious blood clotting disease with exposure to some of the most common types of pollutants in the air we breathe,” said study lead author Pamela Lutsey. “It’s…  read on >  read on >