Pudgy with a purpose: Fat cats could help humans better understand the way gut bacteria influences conditions like obesity and type 2 diabetes, a new study claims. Food-related changes in obese cats’ gut microbiome have striking similarities to the way diet affects the gut of humans, researchers reported recently in the journal Scientific Reports. As…  read on >  read on >

Exercise near bedtime won’t necessarily wreck a person’s sleep, a new study says. Intense exercise is typically discouraged as bedtime approaches, since such activity can disturb sleep by increasing body temperature and heart rate, researchers said. But short resistance exercise “activity breaks” at regular intervals can actually improve a person’s sleep, compared to winding down…  read on >  read on >

More than four years after the pandemic began, childhood vaccination rates worldwide have yet to recover, a new report shows. The latest data, issued Monday by the World Health Organization and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), underscore the need for continuing to try to catch-up to pre-pandemic levels. “The latest trends demonstrate…  read on >  read on >