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: Jane Gardner, University of Melbourne
Regular exercise in middle age is the best lifestyle change a person can make to prevent cognitive decline in their later years, a 20-year study finds.
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- Written by: Laurel Mellin, University of California, San Francisco
Despite massive government, medical and individual efforts to win the war on obesity, 71 percent of Americans are overweight. The average adult is 24 pounds heavier today than in 1960. Our growing girth adds some US$200 billion per year to our health care expenditure, amounting to a severe health crisis.
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- Written by: Ben Brumfield, Georgia Institute of Technology
"It's a little bit like some kind of Halloween stuff happening," says Omer Inan. "You're listening to your bones rubbing on each other, or maybe cartilage."
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- Written by: Jordan Smith, University of Newcastle
Current guidelines suggest adults should accrue at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week. However, 60% of us fail to meet this recommendation, and around one in six aren’t doing any regular exercise at all.
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- Written by: Matthew Swayne, Penn State
Older adults who strength trained at least twice a week had 46 percent lower odds of death for any reason, 41 percent lower odds of cardiac death, and 19 percent lower odds of dying from cancer.
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- Written by: Richard Steed, University of Copenhagen
"If an overweight person is able to maintain an initial weight loss—in this case for a year—the body will eventually 'accept' this new weight and thus not fight against it, as is otherwise normally the case when you are in a calorie-deficit state," says Signe Sørensen Torekov.
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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: Tim Olds, Professor of Health Sciences, University of South Australia
A 2011 British survey found 12% of women would give up two to ten years of their lives just to be their ideal weight, while 29% of men think about their appearance at least five times a day. So what makes an ideal body, and why do we want one so badly?
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- Written by: Jordan Smith, Lecturer , University of Newcastle
We all know exercise is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, and most will agree kids should be doing more of it. However, a recent study found while parents are positive about their children engaging in aerobic activities (running, playing sports), they have much more negative views when it comes to strength exercises.
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- Written by: Nathan Hurst, University of Missouri
New research suggests that aerobic exercise could offer protective benefits for the liver against damage caused by excessive alcohol consumption. A study using 'runner rats' indicates that higher levels of physical activity may mitigate the risks of fatty liver disease and inflammation associated with chronic drinking.
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- Written by: Ya-Ling Liou, D.C.
No one says it better than Dick Van Dyke in his new book Keep Moving. The secret to maintaining lasting agility lies in joyful movement. Van Dyke turns a very vibrant 90 years old this year, and he continues to not only hit the gym every day, but to dance every chance he gets -- not for the exercise, but simply because he enjoys it!
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- Written by: Carl Thompson
Looking for a great workout partner who can get you through bouts of low energy, help you recover faster, and keep you healthy? Elderberry's got you covered. Concentrated elderberry extract has long been known for its immune-boosting, cold and flu-fighting abilities — an athlete's best ally for keeping healthy all season.
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- Written by: Ken Nosaka, Edith Cowan University
It’s normal to experience muscle pain after exercising if it’s been a while since you were active or performed a certain movement. This type of pain – called delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS – generally develops several hours later and exacerbates over the next few days.
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- Written by: Jay Walljasper
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently released a call to action detailing the benefits of walking for at least 20 minutes a day. Of course, all exercise is good for you, but Murthy says walking tends to be the easiest for people to stick with .
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- Written by: Jaume Padilla, Ph.D.
Many workplaces are sedentary environments, and researchers say it's important that people understand the effects of sitting on their vascular health. By breaking up desk time with a short walk, workers can offset the harm caused to vascular blood vessels.
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- Written by: Mark Nickel, Brown University
"Everybody believes that heat is dangerous but not for them," says Gregory Wellenius. "One of the messages is that this is really across the age spectrum. Heat remains one of the leading causes of weather-related deaths."
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- Written by: Richard Steed, University of Copenhagen
If you use your area’s air pollution as a reason not to exercise, you might need to find a better excuse. Even in heavily polluted areas, the benefits of exercise outweigh the harmful effects of air pollution in relation to the risk of premature mortality, a new study reports.
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- Written by: Simon Rosenbaum, George Institute for Global Health
In 1954, the first director-general of the World Health Organisation, Dr Brock Chisholm, famously stated: “Without mental health there can be no true physical health.” More than half a century later, we have large numbers of studies backing up his belief.
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- Written by: Peter Watt, University of Brighton
The link between exercise, diet and ill health has been recognised for a considerable length of time. The ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates (460-370BC), wrote: Eating alone will not keep a man well; he must also take exercise. For food and exercise … work together to produce health.
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- Written by: Jay Walljasper
Is walking the next big thing? It's been called "America's untrendiest trend." The evidence that millions of people are finally walking again is as solid as the ground beneath our feet.
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- Written by: John Toon, Georgia Tech
Getting the recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week may be challenging for some older adults, but researchers say that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t work at it.
