All posts tagged: healthy

How brain connectivity differs in healthy aging and semantic dementia

How brain connectivity differs in healthy aging and semantic dementia

A new study published in the journal Cortex sheds light on how brain network organization differs in healthy aging and semantic dementia. Researchers found that older adults experience changes in the balance between structural and functional brain connectivity, which are linked to cognitive performance. These changes appear more widespread and diffuse in healthy aging, while semantic dementia is associated with more localized alterations, particularly in the temporal and parietal regions. The study suggests that the brain undergoes a dynamic process of adaptation in response to aging and disease, with some changes helping to preserve cognitive function and others contributing to decline. Semantic dementia is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects the ability to understand and recall meanings of words, objects, and concepts. It is classified as a subtype of frontotemporal lobar degeneration and is distinct from other forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, because it mainly targets the anterior temporal lobes rather than causing widespread memory loss. Patients with semantic dementia often struggle with word-finding difficulties and may eventually lose the ability to …

Healthy Teens, Brighter Tomorrows | Psychology Today

Healthy Teens, Brighter Tomorrows | Psychology Today

Teenage years are a time of rapid growth, self-discovery, and opportunity. But with these changes also comes unique challenges, including the pressures of navigating relationships, managing stress, and making independent decisions. For some teens, these pressures lead to risky behaviors, including experimenting with drugs and alcohol — a reality that can have some serious long term implications for their mental and physical health. Recently, to explore this topic further, I spoke with Makz Ezrin, founder and CEO of Youth Prevention Mentors (YPM), an international mentorship program geared towards young adult mental health and substance use. Ezrin shared practical, research-backed strategies that parents can use to protect their teens from the dangers of substance use and foster resilience during these formative years. 1. The Power of Open Communication The prevalence of substance abuse among teens underscore a critical truth: exposure is almost inevitable. With over a half of high school seniors reporting drug or alcohol use, avoiding the conversation entirely is not an option. Research highlights that teens who feel they can talk to their parents …

How to “Make America Healthy Again”? Start with addressing lack of social support

How to “Make America Healthy Again”? Start with addressing lack of social support

Over the last few years, a peculiar intersection between wellness and politics has emerged. As the January 6 insurrection on the Capitol and the COVID-19 pandemic showed, QAnon and Donald Trump adherents were no longer just middle-aged, conservative white men. Many of those who embraced right-wing fringe beliefs were self-described love-and-light, alternative-health types, too. Take Jake Angeli for example, the so-called “QAnon Shaman,” who was granted the right to be fed an all-organic diet in jail in line with his religious practice. Now that President-elect Donald Trump has picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, a movement around “Making America Healthy Again” (also referred to as MAHA) has materialized among Trump supporters, bringing to light the support from alternative health types. As I’ve reported before, Kennedy represents a “dismantling” of the public health system, something that traditionally progressive alternative-health types support. Kennedy’s plan as head of HHS could include restricting federal vaccine support, drug development, and banning a number of food additives — all part …

Six healthy lifestyle habits linked to slower memory decline and lower dementia risk

Six healthy lifestyle habits linked to slower memory decline and lower dementia risk

Memory naturally declines with age, affecting life quality and work productivity. However, not all memory loss signals dementia. Often, it’s a sign of senescent forgetfulness—a condition more common in older adults, which can stabilize or even improve. Understanding the factors behind memory decline and how to mitigate them is crucial in maintaining cognitive health. A groundbreaking study by researchers at Capital Medical University offers new insights. Published in the British Medical Journal, the study identifies six key lifestyle habits that significantly slow memory decline and reduce the risk of dementia, even for individuals with a genetic predisposition. Conducted over a decade from 2009 to 2019, the study involved more than 29,000 participants aged 60 and older across China. Visual abstract of the study. (CREDIT: The BMJ) Lifestyle Habits That Protect Memory Participants were grouped based on their adherence to six healthy habits: Regular Physical Activity: At least 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise weekly. Balanced Diet: Daily consumption of at least seven out of 12 recommended food items, including fruits, vegetables, …

Bertrand Russell’s 10 Commandments for Living in a Healthy Democracy

Bertrand Russell’s 10 Commandments for Living in a Healthy Democracy

Image by J. F. Horra­bin, via Wiki­me­dia Com­mons Bertrand Rus­sell saw the his­to­ry of civ­i­liza­tion as being shaped by an unfor­tu­nate oscil­la­tion between two oppos­ing evils: tyran­ny and anar­chy, each of which con­tains the seed of the oth­er. The best course for steer­ing clear of either one, Rus­sell main­tained, is lib­er­al­ism. “The doc­trine of lib­er­al­ism is an attempt to escape from this end­less oscil­la­tion,” writes Rus­sell in A His­to­ry of West­ern Phi­los­o­phy. “The essence of lib­er­al­ism is an attempt to secure a social order not based on irra­tional dog­ma [a fea­ture of tyran­ny], and insur­ing sta­bil­i­ty [which anar­chy under­mines] with­out involv­ing more restraints than are nec­es­sary for the preser­va­tion of the com­mu­ni­ty.” In 1951 Rus­sell pub­lished an arti­cle in The New York Times Mag­a­zine, “The Best Answer to Fanaticism–Liberalism,” with the sub­ti­tle: “Its calm search for truth, viewed as dan­ger­ous in many places, remains the hope of human­i­ty.” In the arti­cle, Rus­sell writes that “Lib­er­al­ism is not so much a creed as a dis­po­si­tion. It is, indeed, opposed to creeds.” He con­tin­ues: But the lib­er­al …

‘Make America Healthy Again’ Sounds Good Until You Start Asking Questions

‘Make America Healthy Again’ Sounds Good Until You Start Asking Questions

Americans don’t typically have a reason to think about the fluoride in their water, but this is not a typical week. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the former independent presidential candidate whom Donald Trump is eyeing as his health czar, has vowed to remove the mineral from drinking water if he is appointed to the next administration. Kennedy has said that the chemical lowers children’s IQ, even though studies overwhelmingly show that it is safe. Trump apparently agrees, and in his victory speech on Wednesday, he told Kennedy to “go have a good time” working on public health. The prospect of giving Kennedy any semblance of power over the nation’s health is alarming, and not only because of his preoccupation with fluoride. (And to be fair, many scientists have made serious and nuanced inquiries about fluoride.) Kennedy, an environmental lawyer with no background in health, is best known for his skepticism, if not outright antagonism, toward vaccines. He also has a long track record of championing other pseudoscientific and conspiratorial views, such as the baseless belief …

Biden Made a Healthy Decision About Aging

Biden Made a Healthy Decision About Aging

As one of the physicians who recently expressed concern about President Joe Biden’s health and his likelihood of significant decline over the next four and a half years, I was relieved when he ended his reelection campaign—and also overwhelmingly sad. In essence, as people keep saying, he had his car keys and driver’s license taken away with the whole world watching. This evening as he gave a short speech from the White House about his accomplishments, his voice was weak, he stumbled occasionally over his prepared remarks, and his physical presence was diminished from what it once was. For months, I have wished that I could have Biden in my exam room, not as the president of the United States, but as a patient in my geriatrics clinic. Instead, watching from afar as he insisted on running, I wondered if his doctors were talking to him honestly about his concerning symptoms, and his disappointing odds of fulfilling the requirements of the office for another term. I hoped that if they were discussing his future, they …

‘It’s the best job! But it will kill you’: four restaurant critics on the battle to stay healthy | Food

‘It’s the best job! But it will kill you’: four restaurant critics on the battle to stay healthy | Food

After 12 years as the New York Times’ restaurant critic, Pete Wells announced last week that he was leaving the role due to ill health – largely a side-effect of dining out decadently on a regular basis. “My cholesterol, blood sugar and hypertension were worse than I’d expected even in my doomiest moments,” he wrote after a medical checkup. “The terms pre-diabetes, fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome were thrown around.” He had become obese, he says, and knew something needed to change. With this in mind, we asked four leading restaurant critics how they mitigate the health risks posed by working in what is often deemed “the best job in the world”. Grace Dent, restaurant critic for the Guardian ‘On down days, I survive on water, oats and seeds’ … Grace Dent. Photograph: Sophia Spring/The Guardian In a bid to stay alive in the face of much pommes dauphinoise and clotted cream, I battle every day. It’s me v crème caramel; me v limitless opportunity. Me v my sleepy, ageing, lady metabolism. It is …

How I spotted a gap in the market for ‘healthy, tasty, easy’ cuisine | Power Up Your Payments With PayPal

How I spotted a gap in the market for ‘healthy, tasty, easy’ cuisine | Power Up Your Payments With PayPal

When Craig Allen began driving around Manchester 12 years ago selling steam-cooked chicken direct to gyms, he was laying the foundations for a frozen food brand that has resonated with consumers thanks to its focus on healthier eating. With his interest in wellness and nutrition, and experience working for his dad in the meat trade, when Allen saw steam-cooked chicken being sold to restaurants to save on cooking time, he decided it was a healthy, convenient product that consumers should have access to as well. And so GSN – Gold Standard Nutrition – was born. The company began with 10 repurposed freezers, which he branded with the GSN logo. Allen drove to independent gyms in an old supermarket truck to persuade them to host his freezers, and then provided regular deliveries of steamed chicken. Buoyed by early success, he expanded into ready meals, focusing on “healthy, tasty, easy” cuisine. GSN believes it was the first company to put food into gyms and to create ready meals in a distinctive takeaway-box format – moving away from …

Why the Dutch are euthanising physically healthy children – and could the UK be next?

Why the Dutch are euthanising physically healthy children – and could the UK be next?

Lisa, aged 40, is waiting to hear if she will be allowed to die. She is married and has two young children who don’t know she plans to end her life. There is just one more medication she has been told to try to treat her chronic depression, and then, she says, her request for euthanasia will be approved. The hardest part will be leaving her children, but she feels she has no choice. She plans to tell them, with the help of a grief counsellor, when she has set a date for her death. “It’s not that I want to die, it’s that I don’t want to live this life anymore,” she says. “I’ve tried everything there is.” Lisa, not her real name, is one of a small but growing number of people in the Netherlands choosing to end their lives on the basis of mental rather than physical illness. “My husband said, ‘as a human I can understand’, because he sees me suffering, and he can understand it’s enough,” she says. “But he …