Health Care-Prevention

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  Exercise
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  Sleep and Rest
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  Infamous paper that popularized unproven COVID-19 treatment finally retracted by Cathleen O’Grady 12/17/24 Science
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  Researchers say flu shot connected to 40 reduced risk of Alzheimers disease by Walter Einenkel 2/6/22 DAILY KOS
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  Nighttime pistachio snacking may reshape gut microbiome in prediabetic adults by Jose Calatrava 7/7/25 Pennstate
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  by Kim Krisberg and David Leffler 7/11/22 THE TEXAS TRIBUNE

Human Brain and Mind

Calorie Restriction

Protein Restriction

Exercise

Diet

Supplements

Vaccines

Pharmaceuticals

Massage Therapy

Sleep and Rest

Traditional Medicines

What You Need to Know About the Latest Colorectal Cancer Screening Recommendations

| American Cancer Society | American Cancer Society | July 14, 2026

Summary: Explains the American Cancer Society’s updated colorectal cancer screening guideline, including new blood-based and stool-based testing options, the continued recommendation to begin average-risk screening at age 45, and the preventive value of finding and removing precancerous polyps.

Sleep and Exercise May Reduce Mutation-Driven Inflammation

| National Institutes of Health | NIH Research Matters | July 14, 2026

Summary: Reports that better sleep and regular physical activity may reduce inflammation driven by age-related mutations in blood stem cells, potentially lowering risks connected to atherosclerosis, heart attack, and stroke.

8 Tips for Better Brain Health

| Mayo Clinic Staff | Mayo Clinic | July 14, 2026

Summary: Offers practical measures to protect brain health, including physical activity, injury prevention, social and mental engagement, adequate sleep, healthy eating, and control of medical risks that can contribute to cognitive decline.

Exercise in High-Risk Populations

| Jerome L. Fleg and Jessica R. Golbus | American Heart Association | July 9, 2026

Summary: Summarizes guidance for safely adapting exercise programs for frail older adults and people with cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, chronic kidney disease, and other high-risk conditions.

Extreme Heat: Staying Safe if You Have Health Issues

| Harvard Health Publishing Staff | Harvard Health | July 2, 2026

Summary: Explains why extreme heat is especially dangerous for older adults and people with heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and other chronic conditions, and recommends planning ahead to prevent dehydration, heat illness, and medical emergencies.

Rethinking Aging: Why Healthspan Matters as Much as Lifespan

| Marla Broadfoot | Mayo Clinic News Network | July 1, 2026

Summary: Discusses a preventive approach to aging that prioritizes preserved mobility, cognition, independence, and quality of life rather than focusing only on extending lifespan.

Lose More Weight and Protect Your Heart by Pairing Exercise With Eating Fewer Calories

| Julie Corliss | Harvard Health | July 1, 2026

Summary: Reviews evidence that exercise improves blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood-sugar regulation even without major weight loss, while combining activity with calorie reduction can provide additional weight and cardiovascular benefits.

Genetic Testing May Benefit More Patients With Melanoma

| Amber Snyder | NIH Research Matters | July 1, 2026

Summary: Reports that people diagnosed with melanoma at a young age or with multiple melanomas may benefit from genetic testing that can identify inherited cancer risks and support closer monitoring for patients and relatives.

What’s in a Vape? Why E-Cigarettes Are Hardly Harmless

| American Heart Association News | American Heart Association | June 30, 2026

Summary: Describes nicotine, metals, flavoring chemicals, and other substances delivered by e-cigarettes and explains why preventing vaping is important for protecting heart and lung health.

For Adults With Prediabetes, Lifestyle Intervention Lowered Risk of Developing Multiple Chronic Conditions

| National Institutes of Health | NIH | June 15, 2026

Summary: Reports long-term trial results showing that an intensive diet, exercise, and weight-loss program for adults with prediabetes reduced the risk of developing multiple chronic conditions over more than two decades.

Understanding the Exposome

| National Institutes of Health | NIH Research Matters | June 9, 2026

Summary: Examines how lifelong environmental exposures—including air, food, chemicals, stress, and social conditions—interact with biology and how improved measurement could strengthen disease prevention.

New CKM Guideline Urges Early Weight Talks to Prevent Health Risks

| American Heart Association News | American Heart Association | June 9, 2026

Summary: Explains new guidance encouraging earlier conversations about weight and coordinated management of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic risks before obesity, diabetes, kidney disease, and heart disease cause advanced organ damage.

Protect Yourself From Falls Outside the Home

| Heidi Godman | Harvard Health | June 5, 2026

Summary: Provides practical guidance for avoiding falls in stores, parking lots, public transportation, stairways, bathrooms, and other everyday locations outside the home.

Preventing Falls in Older Adults: Multiple Strategies Are Better

| Harvard Health Publishing Staff | Harvard Health | June 5, 2026

Summary: Explains why effective fall prevention requires addressing several risks at once, including strength, balance, medications, vision, footwear, home hazards, and changes in health.

Preventive Services Coverage

| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | CDC | June 3, 2026

Summary: Summarizes federal requirements for health-plan coverage of recommended screenings, immunizations, women’s preventive services, and children’s preventive care without cost sharing.

Health and Economic Benefits of High Blood Pressure Interventions

| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | CDC | May 26, 2026

Summary: Reviews evidence-based approaches such as self-measured blood pressure monitoring, team-based care, community health workers, and pharmacy interventions that can prevent heart attacks and strokes while reducing costs.

Health and Economic Benefits of Colorectal Cancer Interventions

| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | CDC | May 26, 2026

Summary: Explains how routine colorectal cancer screening can prevent disease, find cancer earlier, reduce deaths, and lower health care costs through evidence-based public health and clinical interventions.

Team-Based Care Improves Blood Pressure Control

| Amber Snyder | NIH Research Matters | May 19, 2026

Summary: Reports that home blood pressure monitoring, health coaching, medication support, and coordinated care improved hypertension control among low-income patients treated at community health centers.

Preventing Chronic Diseases: What You Can Do Now

| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | CDC | May 14, 2026

Summary: Outlines preventive steps for reducing chronic disease risk, including avoiding tobacco, improving nutrition, increasing physical activity, limiting alcohol, getting adequate sleep, and using recommended preventive care.

Too Little Sleep—and Too Much—Associated with Faster Aging

| Columbia University Irving Medical Center | Columbia University Irving Medical Center | 05/13/2026

Summary: Reports research finding that both short and long sleep duration were associated with faster biological aging across multiple organ systems, supporting the importance of balanced sleep and rest.

Sleep Linked to Slower Ageing: Huge Study Pinpoints the Right Amount

| Heidi Ledford | Nature | 05/13/2026

Summary: Reports on a large analysis finding that roughly six to eight hours of sleep per day was associated with better health outcomes and slower biological aging measures.

Natural Products, Traditional Medicine, and Aging Mechanisms: Future Directions for Healthy Aging Research

| Su-Yeon Yang, Hee-Jeong Choi, Hee-Kyung Lee, and Sang-Han Lee | Traditional Medicine Research | 05/11/2026

Summary: Discusses how natural products and traditional herbal formulas may fit into modern healthy-aging research, emphasizing better evidence, safety monitoring, quality control, and measurable healthspan outcomes.

Routine Immunizations on Schedule for Everyone (RISE)

| Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | CDC | May 4, 2026

Summary: Describes CDC strategies and resources for helping children, adolescents, and adults catch up on routine vaccination after pandemic-era declines and persistent inequities in immunization coverage.

Benefits of Massage Therapy for the Elderly: A Systematic Review from Physical and Mental Health Perspectives

| Authors Not Clearly Listed | ResearchGate | 05/04/2026

Summary: Reviews recent studies on massage therapy for adults age 60 and older, focusing on possible benefits for physical health, mental health, relaxation, pain, mobility, and quality of life.

Cutting Calories to Slow Aging—Without Compromising Health

| Kristel Tjandra | Yale School of Medicine | 04/15/2026

Summary: Describes research on calorie restriction, inflammation, and healthy aging, including findings that moderate calorie restriction in humans may improve immune function without the harms seen in severe restriction.

It’s Not Just Vaccines — Parents Are Refusing Other Routine Preventive Care for Newborns

| AP News | AP News | 3/21/26

AP reports that some parents are declining vitamin K shots, hepatitis B vaccination, and erythromycin eye ointment for newborns, despite these long-standing preventive measures protecting against bleeding, infection, and blindness.

Evidence Shows ACA’s Mandated Benefits Alone Don’t Drive Up Costs. The Debate Continues.

| Julie Appleby and Sarah Boden | KFF Health News | 3/18/26

This article argues that preventive care such as cancer screenings and lab tests can save money by catching illness earlier, when treatment is more effective and less costly.

How To Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer

| Cleveland Clinic | Cleveland Clinic | 3/17/26

This article explains that while genetics and age cannot be changed, lifestyle habits and regular screening can help reduce overall breast cancer risk.

The Curious Case of Low-Protein Diets

| Amber Dance | Knowable Magazine | 02/19/2026

Summary: Reviews research on protein restriction and aging, explaining how lower-protein diets have extended lifespan in lab animals and why researchers are studying whether similar principles may apply to human healthy aging.

Trump Team’s Planned ACA Rule Offers Its Answer to Rising Premium Costs: Catastrophic Coverage

| Julie Appleby | KFF Health News | 2/13/26

The article discusses how insurance design affects access to preventive care and explains why even limited coverage can matter if it preserves screenings and other basic preventive services.

How Does Your State Compare on Cancer Prevention & Screening?

| Sandy McDowell | American Cancer Society | 2/10/26

This piece looks at prevention practices including smoking reduction, HPV vaccination, healthy weight, physical activity, and recommended cancer screening, and compares how well states support them.

How Can We Prevent Heart Disease?

| Author not clearly exposed in tool | Cleveland Clinic | February 4, 2026

Cleveland Clinic outlines practical prevention steps such as Mediterranean or DASH-style eating, exercise, smoking cessation, stress reduction, and management of blood sugar and cholesterol.

Can You Prevent a Heart Attack?

| Author not clearly exposed in tool | Cleveland Clinic | January 22, 2026

The article emphasizes prevention through health screenings, blood pressure and cholesterol control, exercise, diet, quitting smoking, managing stress, and getting adequate sleep.

Exercise Variety—Not Just Amount—Linked to Lower Risk of Premature Mortality

| Maya Brownstein | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health | 01/20/2026

Summary: Reports that people who engaged in a wider variety of physical activities had lower premature mortality risk, suggesting that mixing walking, resistance training, gardening, stretching, and other activity types may support longevity.

Shingles Vaccine Linked to Slower Biological Aging

| Staff | USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology | 01/19/2026

Summary: Covers research linking shingles vaccination with lower inflammation and slower biological aging markers, adding to evidence that adult vaccines may support healthy aging beyond infection prevention.

Some Pediatricians Are Already Seeing Negative Effects of Changing Vaccine Recommendations

| Dr. Jade Cobern | ABC News | 1/7/26

ABC covers the preventive role of childhood vaccination and reports that pediatricians are concerned reduced vaccine recommendations will weaken one of the most established forms of preventive care.

Sleep Chart of Biological Ageing Clocks in Middle and Late Life

| MULTI Consortium | Nature | 2026

Summary: Presents research linking sleep duration with biological aging measures across brain, body, proteomic, and metabolic markers, finding that both too little and too much sleep may be associated with accelerated aging.

Nutrition for Healthy Longevity: The Past, the Present and the Future

| Philipe de Souto Barreto et al. | PMC | 2026

Summary: Reviews the role of nutrition in healthy longevity, emphasizing diet quality, chronic disease prevention, and the need for practical dietary guidance that supports aging populations.

Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Lifespan and Healthspan Extension by Dietary Restriction

| Y. Xu et al. | Frontiers in Genetics | 2026

Summary: Explains how dietary restriction may influence aging through nutrient-sensing pathways, mitochondrial function, inflammation, autophagy, and stress resistance, while noting that benefits differ across species.

Advancing Vaccination Strategies for Older Adults

| M. Del Riccio et al. | PMC | 2026

Summary: Reviews why vaccines are important for older adults, including prevention of severe infections, reduced morbidity and mortality, improved quality of life, and lower healthcare costs.

What Is CKM Syndrome, and Why Should Young Adults Pay Attention?

| American Heart Association News | American Heart Association | 12/1/25

The article explains preventive practices for cardiokidneymetabolic health, including healthy diet, regular exercise, weight management, avoiding smoking, regular checkups, and knowing your numbers.

The New Blood Pressure Guidelines: What You Need to Know

| Julie Corliss | Harvard Health | 12/1/25

This explainer outlines updated blood pressure guidance and emphasizes early treatment plus sustained lifestyle change to prevent heart disease and preserve brain health.

A Blood Test That Checks for Dozens of Different Cancers?

| Harvard Health staff page lists title and date; author not clearly exposed in search snippet | Harvard Health | 11/10/25

Harvard Health explains the promise and limits of multi-cancer early detection blood tests and places them in the broader context of preventive screening and early detection.

The Heartfelt Effects of Exercise

| Julie Corliss | Harvard Health | 11/1/25

Harvard Health summarizes evidence that regular physical activity is one of the strongest preventive tools for lowering cardiovascular risk and extending life.

U of A Scientists Link Calorie Restriction, Glucagon, Healthy Aging

| David Mogollon | University of Arizona Research | 10/30/2025

Summary: Reports research suggesting glucagon treatment may mimic some metabolic benefits of calorie restriction, potentially offering clues for healthy aging without severe dietary restriction.

Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034

| World Health Organization | WHO | 10/30/2025

Summary: Outlines WHO’s strategy for traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine, emphasizing evidence-based integration, safety, access, quality control, and people-centered healthcare systems.

American Cancer Society Guideline for Diet and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention

| American Cancer Society | American Cancer Society | 10/20/25

This guideline article lays out prevention practices for cancer risk reduction, including fruit and vegetable intake, whole grains, fiber-rich foods, weight control, and regular physical activity.

Yoga Isn’t Just for Flexibility. It May Also Protect Brain Health.

| American Heart Association News | American Heart Association | 9/9/25

This piece reviews evidence that yoga may support preventive brain health by improving stress regulation, supporting cognition, and helping reduce decline with aging.

Kennedy touts ultra-processed meals he once called ‘poison’

by Jessica Glenza 9/7/25 The Guardian

The US health secretary appeared at an enormous food plant in Oklahoma for a company called Mom’s Meals, which makes 1.5m “medically tailored” meals each week and ships them all over the country.

'Harmless' virus might trigger Parkinson's disease, researchers say

by Dennis Thompson 9/7/25 Medical x press

"HPgV is a common, symptomless infection previously not known to frequently infect the brain," lead researcher Dr. Igor Koralnik, chief of neuroinfectious diseases and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, said in a news release. "We were surprised to find it in the brains of Parkinson's patients at such high frequency and not in the controls."

Nighttime pistachio snacking may reshape gut microbiome in prediabetic adults

by Jose Calatrava 7/7/25 Pennstate

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Prediabetes affects a third of people in the United States and most of them will develop Type 2 diabetes, yet effective dietary intervention strategies remain limited. Pistachios have shown promise in improving markers of diet quality, yet little is known about how they influence the gut microbiome — a key player in glucose regulation and inflammation.

Why Evangelicals Turned Their Back on PEPFAR

by Peter Wehner 6/7/25 The Atlantic

In parts of Botswana, 75 percent of pregnant women had HIV. Most diseases kill the very old and the very young, “but this disease was killing the most productive and reproductive parts of society,” Dybul recalled in 2018. “So not only were many households run by orphans, but entire villages were run by orphans, because everyone else was dead.”

5 ways Trump's megabill will limit health care access

by Phil Galewitz 3/7/25 npr

The bill, passed in both the House and the Senate without a single Democratic vote, is expected to reverse many of the health coverage gains of the Biden and Obama administrations. Their policies made it easier for millions of people to access health care and reduced the U.S. uninsured rate to record lows, though Republicans say the trade-off was far higher costs borne by taxpayers and increased fraud.

Wearables Aren't Going to 'Make America Healthy Again'

by Beth Skwarecki 1/7/25 LIFEHACKER

Health and fitness wearables can do many things, but they really can’t do much to make people healthier—no matter what U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., says in front of Congress.

RFK Jr.’s made promises about vaccines. Here’s what he’s done as health secretary

by Associated Press 30/6/25 National Politics

During his Senate confirmation hearings, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested he wouldn’t undermine vaccines.

Little-known nutrient can boost your brain and fight cancer

by Jordan Joseph 26/6/25 earth.com

The work centers on queuosine, a vitamin‑like micronutrient we must borrow from food or friendly gut bacteria.

Scientists Just Discovered a Surprising Benefit of Turmeric

by Lauren Manaker 24/6/25 NEW STUDY

A new review of studies found that turmeric may help improve blood pressure, cholesterol and more. Older people without dementia experienced better cognitive health while taking turmeric.

Rapamycin, Not Metformin, Mirrors Dietary Restriction Lifespan Effects Across Vertebrates

| Authors Not Listed in Search Result | Aging Cell | 06/18/2025

Summary: Reports that rapamycin showed lifespan-extension effects comparable to dietary restriction across a broad range of vertebrate studies, while metformin did not show the same pattern.

30-Min ‘Japanese Walking’ Trend Goes Viral As Expert Says It Beats 10,000 Steps

by Renan Duarte 14/6/25 AOL

The fix-all “10,000 steps per day” method credited with longevity and healthy aging has been bettered by a surprisingly easier fitness hack.

Children need the freedom to play on driveways and streets again – here’s how to make it happen

by Debbie Watson 4/6/25 THE CONVERSATION

In many cases, children don’t have easy access to purpose-built spaces like playgrounds. They need adults to get them there. Without the use of more informal spaces to spend time with other children, this means they often lack daily opportunities for play.

Vitamin D Supplements Show Signs of Protection Against Biological Aging

| Staff | Mass General Brigham | 05/21/2025

Summary: Reports findings from the VITAL randomized trial suggesting vitamin D supplementation may help preserve telomere length, a biological marker linked to aging and age-related disease risk.

Children die as USAID aid cuts snap a lifeline for the world’s most malnourished

by Taiwo Adebayo 15/5/25 AP

For years, the United States Agency for International Development had been the backbone of the humanitarian response in northeastern Nigeria, helping non-government organizations provide food, shelter and healthcare to millions of people. But this year, the Trump administration cut more than 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall assistance around the world.

6 Ways To Improve Your Brain Health

| Author not clearly exposed in tool | Cleveland Clinic | April 25, 2025

This explainer presents preventive brain-health habits including movement, sleep, social connection, mental stimulation, good nutrition, and management of overall health risks.

Optimal Dietary Patterns for Healthy Aging

| Anne-Julie Tessier et al. | Nature Medicine | 03/24/2025

Summary: A large long-term study found that dietary patterns rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, unsaturated fats, and moderate healthy animal foods were associated with better odds of healthy aging.

Healthy Eating in Midlife Linked to Overall Healthy Aging

| Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health | 03/24/2025

Summary: Reports that a diet rich in plant-based foods and lower in ultra-processed foods was associated with reaching older age free of major chronic disease while maintaining cognitive, physical, and mental health.

Here is how we know that vaccines do not cause autism

by Matthew Herper 3/2/25 STAT

Vaccines do not cause autism. You’ve almost certainly read that before — probably hundreds of times. But many people do not believe it, perhaps because too often it is repeated without a real explanation of how we know that.

Flossing May Reduce Risk for Stroke and Irregular Heart Rhythm

| Laura Williamson | American Heart Association News | 1/30/25

This article connects oral hygiene to prevention, reporting research suggesting that regular flossing may help reduce risk of some strokes and atrial fibrillation.

Salad chain Sweetgreen is caving to conspiracy theories about seed oils. Why?

by Aimee Levitt 21/1/25 The Guardian

It’s January, season of resolutions and virtue, when Americans collectively decide to throw out the butter and sugar and booze and embrace grain bowls and bone broth. Most of these resolutions – 80%, according to some studies – will fade by February, Super Bowl Sunday at the latest, so advertisers pushing dietary health trends have to strike fast.

What Is Healthspan, and How Can You Maximize Yours?

| American Heart Association News | American Heart Association | 1/14/25

The piece frames preventive care as a long-term strategy built around not smoking, staying active, sleeping well, eating a healthy diet, and controlling blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar.

The Impacts of Different Dietary Restriction Regimens on Aging

| T. T. Ching et al. | PMC | 2025

Summary: Reviews dietary restriction approaches including protein restriction, amino acid restriction, intermittent fasting, and calorie restriction, comparing how each may affect lifespan, healthspan, metabolism, and aging biology.

The Impact of Traditional Chinese Medicine Utilization on Life Expectancy and Mortality

| J. Y. Wang et al. | PMC | 2025

Summary: Examines older adults in Taiwan and reports an association between higher traditional Chinese medicine utilization, longer life expectancy, and lower mortality risk, while noting the observational nature of the findings.

Rapamycin for Longevity: The Pros, the Cons, and Future Perspectives

| Katelyn M. Roark and Philip H. Iffland II | Frontiers in Aging | 2025

Summary: Reviews the evidence, risks, and unanswered questions around rapamycin and related drugs as potential pharmaceutical interventions for aging and age-related disease.

Protein and Aging: Practicalities and Practice

| S. Harris et al. | Nutrients / PMC | 2025

Summary: Reviews how protein intake affects aging, including muscle and bone health, immune function, chronic disease risk, and the tension between protein restriction for longevity and adequate protein for older adults.

Massage Therapy for Health: What the Science Says

| NCCIH | National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health | 2025

Summary: Summarizes evidence on massage therapy for pain, anxiety, depression, fibromyalgia symptoms, cancer-related symptoms, HIV/AIDS quality of life, and safety concerns.

Individual and Additive Effects of Vitamin D, Omega-3 and Exercise on DNA Methylation Clocks

| Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari et al. | Nature Aging | 2025

Summary: Reports clinical trial findings on vitamin D, omega-3, and exercise, examining whether these interventions individually or together may slow biological aging as measured by epigenetic clocks.

Global Consensus on Optimal Exercise Recommendations for Enhancing Healthy Longevity in Older Adults

| Mikel Izquierdo et al. | PubMed | 2025

Summary: Summarizes expert consensus that older adults benefit from tailored exercise programs combining resistance training, aerobic activity, balance work, and functional movement to preserve independence and extend healthspan.

Exercise Attenuates the Hallmarks of Aging

| Y. Qiu et al. | Journal of Sport and Health Science | 2025

Summary: Reviews how regular physical activity may counter several biological hallmarks of aging, including inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, and loss of proteostasis.

A Qualitative Scoping Review of Massage and Therapeutic Touch

| S. Fogarty et al. | PMC | 2025

Summary: Reviews qualitative evidence on massage and therapeutic touch, focusing on patient experiences, perceived therapeutic effects, relaxation, pain relief, emotional support, and quality of life.

Small Molecule Drugs and Longevity

| Derek Lowe | Science | 09/17/2024

Summary: Discusses research into pharmaceutical approaches to longevity, including metformin studies and the broader question of whether small-molecule drugs can affect aging biology.

Vaccination for Healthy Aging

| David E. Bloom et al. | Science Translational Medicine | 2024

Summary: Argues that adult vaccination can support healthy aging by reducing severe infectious disease, preserving function, and lowering social and economic burdens linked to illness in older adults.

Nutritional Supplements for Healthy Aging: A Critical Analysis

| M. W. Kaufman et al. | PMC | 2024

Summary: Reviews evidence for nutritional supplements in healthy aging, discussing where supplements may help, where evidence remains limited, and why diet and lifestyle remain central.

Ready to cold plunge? We dive into the science to see if it's worth it

by Will Stone 20/11/23 npr

Your body's first reaction to a plunge in chilly water is the "cold shock" response. Your heart rate jumps. Stress hormones spike. You gasp suddenly, and may hyperventilate.

Some ultra-processed foods are good for your health, WHO-backed study finds

by Denis Campbell 13/11/23 The Guardian

Some ultra-processed foods increase the risk of developing cancer, heart disease and diabetes – but others are good for you, new research into the demonised foodstuffs suggests.

Should I worry about ticks?

by Joel Snape 16/7/23 The Guardian

As arachnid superorders go, ticks are pretty evolutionarily successful. They’ve been around for at least 100 million years in one variety or another, with their main party trick – hanging around until they can latch a host to feed on – working on thousands of different animals across almost endless environments. But how concerned should you be about them in the UK? You won’t miss the blood they take, but they can cause a variety of unpleasant conditions in their hosts – and there’s some evidence that their population is growing.

Just add sugar: Research shows common antioxidant can be more beneficial through glycosylation

by Sydney Dahle 14/6/23 PHYS ORG

Polyphenols are a class of compounds found in many plant-based foods. Polyphenols help prevent cellular damage in the body and can help to prevent diseases such as cancer or heart disease. However, many of them do not dissolve in water, making it difficult to fully take advantage of their health benefits.

Can multivitamins improve memory?

by Allison Aubrey 26/5/23 npr

A team of researchers wanted to assess how a daily multivitamin may influence cognitive aging and memory. They tracked about 3,500 older adults who were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial. One group of participants took a placebo, and another group took a Silver Centrum multivitamin, for three years. The participants also took tests, administered online, to evaluate memory.

Why Texas Republicans still oppose Medicaid expansion

by Kim Krisberg and David Leffler 7/11/22 THE TEXAS TRIBUNE

Eighteen percent of Texans don’t have health insurance — the highest rate in the nation — and Johnson had already filed five pieces of legislation that session to use Medicaid expansion to get as many as 1.2 million of those people insured.

U.S. life expectancy plunged in 2020, with Black Americans acutely affected.

NY Times 2-18-2021

Thursday’s figures give the first full picture of the pandemic’s effect on American expected life spans, which dropped to 77.8 years from 78.8 years in 2019. It also showed a deepening of racial and ethnic disparities: Life expectancy of the Black population declined by 2.7 years in the first half of 2020, after 20 years of gains. The gap between Black and white Americans, which had been narrowing, is now at six years, the widest since 1998.
Still, unlike the drop caused by the extended, complex problem of drug overdoses, this one, driven largely by Covid-19, is not likely to last as long because virus deaths are easing and people are being vaccinated. In 1918, when hundreds of thousands of Americans died in the flu pandemic, life expectancy declined 11.8 years from the previous year, Dr. Arias said, down to 39. Numbers fully rebounded the following year.

New polymer-coated vitamins and minerals

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/11/new-polymer-coated-vitamins-and-minerals-could-fight-malnutrition-low-income-countries Science Mag 11/13/19

Frustrated by such failures, health policy experts at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington, sought the help of Jaklenec and her supervisor, Robert Langer, an MIT chemical engineer who has pioneered numerous dissolvable coatings for protecting and delivering fragile medicines.

Jaklenec, Langer, and their colleagues initially considered more than 50 different polymer coatings that were stable in boiling water but would dissolve in the stomach’s acidic environment. After narrowing the list to 10 candidates and studying each closely, they settled on a polymer known as BMC. A protective coating in dietary supplements, BMC is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (and therefore considered safe). The MIT team coated 11 micronutrient powders in BMC, including iron, zinc, folate, vitamin A, and vitamin D. They also coated microparticles containing up to four different vitamins and minerals. Lab testing showed that all stood up well to heat, ultraviolet light, and even 2 hours straight of being cooked in boiling water. The particles also readily dissolved in a low pH solution meant to mimic stomach acid.

Yoga teachers 'risking serious hip problems'

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-50181155BBC News 11/03/2019

Mr Matthews says the amount of yoga teachers do, as well as the fact they might not be doing any other kind of exercise, can explain the problems that develop......."They might be doing yoga six days a week and think that's enough, without doing any other kind of exercise, like cardio or cross training," he says...."It's like anything. If you do the same thing again and again, there can be problems. You need to mix it up in terms of the kind of exercise you do.

Health Check: why swimming in the sea is good for you

https://theconversation.com/health-check-why-swimming-in-the-sea-is-good-for-you-68583 the Conversation December 25, 2016 3.41pm EST

Historically, doctors would recommend their patients go to the seaside to improve various ills. They would actually issue prescriptions detailing exactly how long, how often and under what conditions their patients were to be in the water.

Using seawater for medical purposes even has a name: thalassotherapy.

To this day, healing and spa resorts by the seaside abound. They are thought of as places where people can not only let go of their troubles but, in some cases, even cure arthritis.