Healthy Lifestyle
Zinc deficiency before conception disrupts fetal development
Female mice deprived of dietary zinc for a relatively short time before conception experienced fertility and pregnancy problems and had smaller, less-developed fetuses than mice that ingested zinc during the same times, according to researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. The findings have implications for human reproduction, scientists suggest. Going without zinc prior […]
Variety in diet can hamper microbial diversity in the gut
Scientists from The University of Texas at Austin and five other institutions have discovered that the more diverse the diet of a fish, the less diverse are the microbes living in its gut. If the effect is confirmed in humans, it could mean that the combinations of foods people eat can influence the diversity of […]
Dialysis patients’ anxiety, depression linked to physical impairments
With the rate of chronic kidney disease on the rise among older Americans, researchers seeking to improve patients’ quality of life studied a group of adults undergoing hemodialysis and found their higher rates of depression and anxiety could be associated with their impaired physical exercise capability and reduced daily physical activity, according a new study […]
Physical activity helps maintain mobility in older adults
It’s something we’ve all heard for years: Exercise can help keep older adults healthy. But now a study, the first of its kind to look at frail, older adults, proves that physical activity can help these people maintain their mobility and dodge physical disability. A new University of Florida study shows daily moderate physical activity […]
Fighting cancer with dietary changes
Calorie restriction, a kind of dieting in which food intake is decreased by a certain percentage, has been touted as way to help people live longer. New research suggests that there may be other benefits, including improving outcomes for women in breast cancer. According to a study published May 26th in Breast Cancer Research and […]
Genes discovered linking circadian clock with eating schedule
For most people, the urge to eat a meal or snack comes at a few, predictable times during the waking part of the day. But for those with a rare syndrome, hunger comes at unwanted hours, interrupts sleep and causes overeating. Now, Salk scientists have discovered a pair of genes that normally keeps eating schedules […]
People with low incomes less likely to use healthy weight loss strategies
Poorer people of all ages are less likely than wealthier ones to follow recommended strategies for weight loss, finds a recent study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. “We found that compared to persons of higher household incomes, both youths and adults of lower household incomes were less likely to use strategies that are […]
Blocking pain receptors extends lifespan, boosts metabolism in mice
Blocking a pain receptor in mice not only extends their lifespan, it also gives them a more youthful metabolism, including an improved insulin response that allows them to deal better with high blood sugar. “We think that blocking this pain receptor and pathway could be very, very useful not only for relieving pain, but for […]
‘I can’ mentality goes long way after childbirth
The way a woman feels about tackling everyday physical activities, including exercise, may be a predictor of how much weight she’ll retain years after childbirth says a Michigan State University professor. James Pivarnik, a professor of kinesiology and epidemiology at MSU, co-led a study that followed 56 women during pregnancy and measured their physical activity […]
Lifestyle changes improve biomarkers for breast cancer recurrence, mortality
A pair of Yale Cancer Center interventional studies involving breast cancer survivors found that lifestyle changes in the form of healthy eating and regular exercise can decrease biomarkers related to breast cancer recurrence and mortality. The abstracts are scheduled to be presented at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in […]