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: Simon Graff, Research assistant, Institute for Public Health, Aarhus University
For decades, medicine has recognised the powerful way grief can influence the heart. It’s been called Broken Heart syndrome or Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and evidence that severely stressful life events increase the risk of acute cardiovascular incidence, like a heart attack,
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- Written by: Cynthia Lee-McGill University
A large portion of the seafood consumed in North America is farmed. But the food those fish eat increasingly includes more crop-based ingredients, like corn, soy, and wheat.
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- Written by: Amanda Barnier, Professor of Cognitive Science and Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Macquarie University
A new TV show would have us believe a powerful hypnotist can make us do whatever he says while we are powerless to resist or even realise. Channel Nine’s new game show You’re Back in the Room debuted to high ratings on Sunday night.
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- Written by: Lee Hamilton, Lecturer in Sport, Health and Exercise Science, University of Stirling
As a young child I recall my grandmother giving me the largest spoonfuls of cod liver oil, coaxing me with the promise of an equally large spoonful of golden syrup. It was probably a throwback to her own childhood when the post-war government sought to provide infants with a cod liver oil supplement.
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- Written by: Jo Abbott, Research Fellow / Health Psychologist, Swinburne University of Technology
Poor sleep can make us feel down, worried and stressed. So it’s no surprise that how well we sleep has a direct impact on our physical and mental health. Sleep problems such as insomnia are a common symptom of many mental illnesses, including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
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- Written by: Gina Rippon, Professor of Cognitive NeuroImaging, Aston University
If you ask someone to name famous people (fictional or non-fictional) who are known for having autism or being “on the spectrum”, Rain Man is often the top favourite, possibly followed by Sherlock Holmes (especially in his recent incarnation by Benedict Cumberbatch). Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory is another.
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- Written by: Scott Harding, Visiting Senior Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences, King's College London
Nutritional guidelines and recommendations are constantly changing in the light of new research. It can be difficult to keep up with which foods are healthy and which aren’t. Here we look at five foods that have gone through the cycle of being the villains of nutritional science but are now, based on some old and some new science, apparently okay to eat again.
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- Written by: Stephen Euston, Professor, Heriot-Watt University
So much for the decades in which fats and oils were public enemy number one on our dinner plates. There is more and more evidence that sugar – or more precisely, carbohydrate – is behind our increasing rates of obesity and heart disease.
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- Written by: Matthew Beck, Senior Lecturer in Infrastructure Management, University of Sydney
Cyclists are facing tougher penalties in New South Wales as part of new rules introduced in March 2016. While there are many changes, some of the more vague are increased fines for riding a bicycle “furiously, recklessly,
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- Written by: Karin Garrie, Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University
The Dutch famine of 1944 was a terrible time for many in the Netherlands – with around 4.5m people affected and reliant on soup kitchens after food supplies were stopped from getting into the area by German blockades. As many as 22,000 people were thought to have died, and those who survived would find...
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- Written by: Christine Sinatra-UT Austin
More cities than previously assumed could soon be grappling with Zika virus if two species of mosquitos are found to be equally effective carriers of the disease. A new interactive map shows the relative risk for 100 cities worldwide, including many US locations.
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- Written by: Emma Boyland, Lecturer in Appetite and Obesity, University of Liverpool
It’s fair to say that frozen food has a bit of an image problem. One in three Britons believe it is inferior to fresh food, and 43% say that nothing could persuade them to buy more frozen fare.
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- Written by: Theodore Cicero, Professor of Psychology , Washington University in St Louis
Abuse of opium products obtained from poppy plants dates back centuries, but today we are witnessing the first instance of widespread abuse of legal, prescribed drugs that, while structurally similar to illicit opioids such as heroin, are used for sound medical
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- Written by: Richard Hoffman, Lecturer in Nutritional Biochemistry, University of Hertfordshire
The main aim of the UK’s new tax on sugary soft drinks is to reduce obesity in children. But, apart from causing child – and adult – obesity, too much sugar also increases the risk of many serious diseases, from cancer to heart disease. And sugar’s calories provide only part of the explanation.
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- Written by: Michelle Rodrigues, Consultant Dermatologist, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne
To squeeze or not to squeeze? I’ll admit that I’m no skin saint. I have stood in front of the mirror on a number of occasions as a teenager with a big pimple staring right back at me. And yes, despite being advised not to, I have squeezed, picked and popped.
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- Written by: Pablo Monsivais, Senior University Lecturer, University of Cambridge
Last month, the UK health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, called childhood obesity “a national emergency”, but the government has once again delayed publishing its strategy aimed at combating it. Obesity is much more common in people with less money and education and this socioeconomic gap is getting larger.
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- Written by: Nick Fuller, Research Fellow, Clinical Trials Development and Assessment, University of Sydney
Good news. Taking a break from your diet every so often will help you lose weight in the long term.How many times have you attempted to lose weight only to fall short and fail? For many people it is extremely challenging to stick to a strict dietary and exercise program for more than a few weeks.
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- Written by: Jessica Tyrrell, Research fellow, University of Exeter
Are you a short man or an overweight woman? If so, you may have a slight disadvantage in life compared with taller men and thinner women. Our latest study has found evidence that men who are shorter due to their genes have lower incomes, lower levels of education, and lowlier occupations than their taller counterparts.
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- Written by: Wenhui Qiu, Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental and Chemical Engineering , Shanghai University
The industrial chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) is an ingredient in dozens of everyday products – baby and water bottles, sports equipment, medical and dental devices, dental filling sealants, CDs and DVDs, household electronics, eyeglass lenses, foundry castings and the lining of water pipes. Manufacturers worldwide use at least 3.6 billion kilograms (8
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- Written by: Siobhan Banks, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Sleep Research, University of South Australia
Most people know sleep is important. But few know a lack of it can put us at greater risk of heart disease and obesity. Many of us don’t get enough sleep on a regular basis. It might be due to a sleep disorder, busy social life, new baby, long working hours, shift work or just staying up too late binge-watching Netflix.
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- Written by: Aubrey Cunnington, Clinical Senior Lecturer, Imperial College London
It is well known that babies born naturally – read that as vaginally – are exposed to lots of beneficial bacteria known as microbiota when they travel down the birth canal. Included in the mix are bacteria which help babies digest their first meal.
