Frailty is a health condition that increases risks of poor health, falls, disability, and death in older adults. Signs of frailty include weakness, weight loss, slow walking speed, exhaustion, and low levels of activity. As our population ages, scientists expect that more and more of us will need to address frailty and its associated health concerns....
A new scientific study of forecasts and alternative scenarios for life expectancy and major causes of death in 2040 shows all countries are likely to experience at least a slight increase in lifespans. In contrast, one scenario finds nearly half of all nations could face lower life expectancies. The rankings of nations’ life expectancies offer...
A new Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP) study on Texas organizations receiving family planning funds finds that proposed federal guidelines restricting abortion counseling and referrals for Title X providers may adversely impact the health care of pregnant women. The study, published in Contraception, compares pregnancy options counseling and referral practices at state-funded and federal Title X-funded...
There’s a surprising upside to the fact that many people edit their selfies on Instagram and other social media sites to enhance their appearance. A new study found that when women believed that selfies of thin and sexualized women had been edited, viewing these images had less negative impact on one aspect of their mental...
Exercise can help prevent relapses into cocaine addiction, according to new research led by the University at Buffalo’s Panayotis (Peter) Thanos, PhD. “Cocaine addiction is often characterized by cycles of recovery and relapse, with stress and negative emotions, often caused by withdrawal itself, among the major causes of relapse,” says Thanos, senior research scientist in...
They’re called the “drunchies,” or drunk munchies. It’s the desire one has to eat salty, fatty, unhealthy foods during or after a night of heavy drinking. With obesity continuing to rise in America, researchers decided to look at a sample of college students to better understand how drinking affects what they eat, both that night...
A research team led by a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital epidemiologist has conducted the largest analysis to date of how adult survivors of childhood cancer view their health risk. The scientists found that a surprisingly high number of survivors showed a lack of concern for their future well-being. The analysis of questionnaire data from...
Nipple size varies markedly from woman to woman, whereas male nipples are more uniform. This finding goes against a common assumption of evolutionary biology, say Ashleigh Kelly and her colleagues from the University of Queensland in Australia in a study published in Springer’s journal Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology. A major goal in evolutionary biology has been to...
New research warns that the normalisation of ‘plus-size’ body shapes may be leading to an increasing number of people underestimating their weight – undermining efforts to tackle England’s ever-growing obesity problem. While attempts to reduce stigmatisation of larger body sizes – for example with the launch of plus-size clothing ranges – help promote body positivity,...
Cannabis use may be decreasing among teens, but a new study by researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health showed that American adults have increasingly used cannabis daily since 2007. The findings are published online in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. The legal status of cannabis for medicinal and recreational use...
