Life Changes
Healing Through Storytelling: Lessons from The Odyssey
The journey of Odysseus in Homer's 'The Odyssey' offers profound insights into healing...
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- Written by: Brian Wallheimer, Purdue University
A rapid heating and cooling of milk significantly reduces the amount of harmful bacteria, extending its shelf life by several weeks.
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- Written by: David Orenstein-Brown
A new analysis of the medical records of more than 5.5 million older adults admitted to nursing homes between 2011 and 2014 shows that those with delirium face an increased risk of death. They’re also more likely to be readmitted to the hospital.
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- Written by: Bridget Hodkinson, University of Cape Town
The prevalence of gout is increasing worldwide. It has become the most common cause of inflammatory arthritis in men, and its prevalence in postmenopausal women continues to rise. This increase is due to changes in diet and lifestyle, increased use of certain diuretics and increasing obesity.
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- Written by: Louise Hickman, University of Technology Sydney and Jane Phillips, University of Technology Sydney
Admitting a loved one to a nursing home is a difficult decision and is usually only arrived at once the person’s care needs cannot be met by the family and community-based services. Dementia has profound consequences for the quality of life for those with the condition, their family and friends.
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- Written by: Daniel J Wilkinson, University of Nottingham and Philip J Atherton, University of Nottingham
Sometimes, older men seem to possess incredible strength for their age. People call it “old man strength”. But is it an actual phenomenon? Do older guys really retain their strength? Or even get stronger?
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- Written by: Kara Gavin, University of Michigan
Researchers are testing a non-drug pain treatment for people who are trying to overcome addiction.
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- Written by: Jamie T. Mullins, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition with no known cure. It impacts people of all ages through episodic constrictions of the airways, which may be even worse than it sounds.
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- Written by: Sonia Yun Liu, University of Sydney
When I am asked by friends what I do for living, I tend to raise eyebrows because my job is somewhat odd to many city people. That’s because I’m a poultry nutritionist.
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- Written by: Sheena Rice, University of Missouri
As women enter menopause, their levels of physical activity decrease, but it hasn’t been understood why.
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- Written by: Mark Michaud, University of Rochester
Scientists have identified an inner ear deficiency in children with autism that may affect their ability to recognize speech. The finding suggests that a hearing test could one day be used identify children at risk for the disorder at an early age.
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- Written by: David Orenstein, Brown University
The United States Preventive Services Task Force has released a report saying there isn’t enough evidence to recommend that clinicians perform visual screening for melanomas for patients with no known risk for the skin cancer.
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- Written by: Maureen Sangiorgio
Beginning exerciser to triathlete, we know that exercise does us good. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends a fitness program combining cardio and strength training. But what you eat is just as important...
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- Written by: Kati Kleber, BSN, RN, CCRN
Anyone admitted to a hospital faces stress and anxiety, often in tandem with pain and trauma. Add into this mix a bombardment of information and instructions from a sea of strangers, and it's easy to become overwhelmed. How can patients and their loved ones keep track of everything they need to know?
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- Written by: Matthew Broome, University of Oxford
Manipulating the brain has been a tool used in the treatment of mental illness for centuries, and treatments have often been controversial.
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- Written by: Cory Nealon University at Buffalo
In a series of experiments, an embryonic stem cell gene kicked into action dormant cellular processes that are key to preventing weak bones, clogged arteries, and other telltale signs of growing old.
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- Written by: Louisa Owens, University of Western Australia and Adam Jaffe, UNSW Australia
When a child is diagnosed with asthma, parents usually have a number of questions. How serious is asthma? Will the child grow out of it?
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- Written by: Marla Paul, Northwestern University
The number of new cases of metastatic prostate cancer climbed 72 percent from 2004 to 2013, but it’s unclear whether the rise is due to a recent trend of fewer screenings, the disease becoming more aggressive, or both.
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- Written by: Jason Ellis, Northumbria University, Newcastle
It should be one of the most relaxing times of the day. You climb into bed, get comfortable and cosy, start to feel your brain slowing down … and then suddenly you experience a shocking falling sensation.
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- Written by: Nadira Faber, University of Oxford
It is an open secret: while athletes dope their bodies, regular office workers dope their brains. They buy prescription drugs such as Ritalin or Provigil on the internet’s flourishing black market to boost their cognitive performance.
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- Written by: Jessica Loyer, University of Adelaide
Superfoods are everywhere these days. Once found only in niche health food shops, displays of “exotic” superfoods like açai from the Brazilian Amazon and maca from the Peruvian Andes now appear in supermarket chains, chemists, and convenience stores.
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- Written by: Roger Sturmey, University of Hull
Scientists in Greece claimed recently to have reversed the menopause. They did this by injecting blood plasma that contains platelets into the ovaries of eight women who had not menstruated for around five months in order to stimulate ovarian regeneration.
