New federal exercise recommendations include the first-ever federal activity parameters for 3-year-olds, as well as a few surprising omissions. As of Monday, the United States has new federal physical-activity guidelines. The new guidelines, which represent a scientific consensus about how much and what types of physical activities we should complete for good health, bear a strong resemblance...
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What to know about psoriasis and keratosis pilaris
Psoriasis and keratosis pilaris are both common skin conditions. People can have both conditions at the same time. The causes and treatments of psoriasis and keratosis pilaris are different. Psoriasis may require medical attention, while keratosis pilaris usually goes away on its own. People may confuse the two conditions, as some forms of psoriasis can...
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Low-carb diets cause people to burn more calories
Most people regain the weight they lose from dieting within one or two years, in part because the body adapts by slowing metabolism and burning fewer calories. A meticulous study led by Boston Children’s Hospital, in partnership with Framingham State University, now finds that eating fewer carbohydrates increases the number of calories burned. The findings, published on November 14 in...
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Pins and needles are usually harmless, but it’s best not to ignore them
Everyone has experienced it: that tingling, prickling feeling you get in your limbs when you’ve been sitting or lying in one position for too long. Medical people call it parathesia, but to the rest of us, it’s “pins and needles”. And here’s how it works. Credit: Studio GL/Shutterstock Our bodies contain miles of nerves and...
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Want to cut down on your meds? Your pharmacist can help.
Pharmacists are pivotal in the process of deprescribing risky medications in seniors, leading many to stop taking unnecessary sleeping pills, anti-inflammatories and other drugs, a new Canadian study has found. Published today in the Journal of the American Medical Society (JAMA), the study by researchers at Université de Montréal (UdeM) took place in Quebec, Canada....
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Offering free DNA sequencing, Nebula Genomics opens for business. But there’s an itsy-bitsy catch
Information wants to be free, says the old internet meme, and a genomics company will now apply that to DNA: Starting on Thursday, the startup Nebula Genomics is giving customers the option of having their full genome sequenced at no cost, a first for direct-to-consumer genetics. There is, naturally, an itsy-bitsy little catch. Customers will...
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Six surprising drug interactions you should know about
As the UK population grows older, more and more people are using a combination of drugs to treat multiple conditions. This can lead to interactions and side effects that we all need to be aware of. Not only can drugs interact with each other, but they can also interact with food and drink, as well...
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Uncovering the whole story in diabetes
More than 400 million people worldwide suffer from type 2 diabetes, a disease characterized by increased blood glucose levels because the body’s normal way of controlling insulin release breaks down. But insulin is only one half of the story about what goes wrong in type 2 diabetes: the release of another hormone called glucagon, which...
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RBG’s Quick Recovery: What Others Can Learn from Her Workouts
The Supreme Court justice is reportedly working again after being released from the hospital. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg fell and broke multiple ribs last week. Getty ImagesWhen you think of someone well into their 80s, images of chest presses and lat pulldowns probably aren’t the first things that come to mind. But for...
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New evidence that social media increases loneliness
Although experts have debated the potential link between social media use and decreased well-being for years, a new study adds more fuel to the fire. According to the first author of the new study, which featured in the Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, no scientific study has proven a causal connection between the two until now. A new study investigates the psychological impact of social media. University of Pennsylvania...