There’s a Weird Link Between Living Near Green Spaces And Risk of Stroke

Green areas give you more than just a place to stretch your legs – they can also affect your chances of suffering a stroke, according to a new study that linked having green spaces close by with a 16 percent reduction in stroke risk.   For the purposes of the research, the nearby green spaces … Read more

Cellular ‘Rejuvenation’ Experiment in Mice Reverses Signs of Aging, Scientists Say

With age comes experience. And with experience come sore backs, tired bones, and increased risks from a large number of diseases. Scientists have long been trying figure out how to stop these aches and pains in our twilight years, and to make us live longer and healthier lives at the same time.   While it’s … Read more

Huge Study Finds Blood Proteins That Could Increase Risk of Severe COVID

Multiple factors play a role in complex diseases like COVID, and knowing what they are is important for predicting how different people will be affected. Early on in the pandemic, being older, overweight, or smoking were identified as increasing your risk of developing severe COVID. This then informed public health decisions – the elderly were … Read more

Large Review Identifies Common Household Things That Can Make Your Asthma Worse

One in every nine people in Australia has asthma. It is a health burden for many children, and expensive for families because of medication, hospital and out-of-hospital expenses.   The pandemic has added further stress and extra testing measures to check respiratory symptoms. COVID infection can co-exist with asthma and, although research shows allergic asthma … Read more

Study of Over 1 Million People Reveals Heart Attacks Can Reduce Parkinson’s Risk

We know the devastating effects Parkinson’s disease can have, but scientists are still trying to figure out how it gets started and how to cure it. Some new research may have found helpful clues, linking having a heart attack with a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s later.   The drop in risk is around 20 … Read more

Scientists Simulated 100,000 Different Futures. Which One We Get Depends Only on Us

Most of us have at least one moment in our lives when we wish we’d made a different choice. It’s easy to recognize what went wrong in hindsight, but key factors that could have made all the difference at the time are often easily missed as we experience them.   Understanding those pivot points becomes … Read more

The Main Reason People Avoid Fast Food May Not Be Unhealthiness, Study Finds

On any given day, about one in three adult Americans eats fast food. There are some problems associated with this. Lots of research suggests fast food isn’t good for you, and it’s been linked to the obesity epidemic affecting millions in the US, among a host of other issues related to health.   But according … Read more

A Love For Nature May Come From an Unexpected Place, Finds Large Twin Study

Do you love spending time in nature? Or are you a city slicker, happier in the concrete jungle than the great outdoors? Back in 1986, the US biologist EO Wilson proposed that humans have an innate connection with the natural world, an idea known as biophilia.   Almost every aspect of our lives depends on … Read more

We’re Facing a Myopia ‘Epidemic’, Scientists Say. Here’s Why

Scientists are warning of an emerging ‘epidemic‘ of myopia or near-sightedness, having observed sharp increases in the adult onset of myopia among late baby boomers. Based on data collected from 107,442 participants in the extensive Biobank program in the UK, people born in the late 1960s are 10 percent more likely to be near-sighted than … Read more

There’s Something About Eating Mushrooms That Seems to Lower Depression Risk

A large-scale analysis of people who eat mushrooms suggests they have a lower risk of developing depression. The association is still a mystery, and for now, the authors say the data should be interpreted with caution. There’s always a chance the results are a mere correlation, especially since eating more mushrooms didn’t seem to lower … Read more