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Doing This Monthly Halves Your Depression Risk
A recent study reveals that getting out and experiencing culture can slash your risk of depression dramatically. Researchers from Cambridge University found that seeing a show, going to a movie, visiting a museum or engaging in another cultural activity cuts the risk of...
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Moms Take on 70 Percent of Household 'Mental Load'
If you're a mom right now, you are likely tearing your hair out as you juggle the sizable scheduling demands of the holiday season. Maybe you feel like you are carrying the load alone. New research suggests you are not imagining things, and that it happens all year long to...
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Self-Guided Talk Therapy May Ease Itch of Eczema
Eczema can be maddening, causing thick, scaly patches of dry skin that itch like the devil. There's no cure for the skin condition, but a new study shows that self-guided talk therapy can help a person deal with the itching. Online self-guided cognitive behavioral therapy...
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How to Talk About Hearing Loss With a Loved One
You're gathering with friends or family and something's just a bit off in conversation with a loved one. It could be new-onset hearing loss, said Dr. Angela Peng, an otolaryngologist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Some of the telltale signs that someone's hearing...
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How to Make New Year's Resolutions Stick
As the new year dawns, so too does the opportunity for change. Experts say January can be a good time to reflect on self-improvement, but acknowledge it takes work to make resolutions stick. Studies have shown that up to 70% of people who make New Year's resolutions abandon...
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Alzheimer's Agitation Drug Trial Data Mixed
Axsome Therapeutics said on Monday it would seek marketing approval next year for its oral drug to treat agitation in patients with Alzheimer's disease, after it succeeded in three out of four late-stage studies. But shares of the New York-based drug developer fell about 8%...
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How to Handle Family Conflict During the Holidays
'Tis the season to be jolly but the reality is that nearly nine in 10 adults Americans say that they experience increased stress during the holiday season. The main source of anxiety centers around economics, with over half of people surveyed worried about buying gifts and...
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Antibiotics Do Not Increase Dementia Risk in Seniors
Seniors with an infection can take antibiotics without fear of harming their brain health. Antibiotics don't appear to increase the risk of cognitive decline or dementia in older adults, researchers report in the journal Neurology. "Given that older adults are more frequently...
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Why We Crave Rich Foods During the Holidays
We can blame our cravings for rich foods during the holidays on science. Research shows that people do gain weight during the months between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which cumulatively increases overall weight gain during our adult years. We eat more decadent food and...
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New Research Points to Possible Parkinson's Drug
Parkinson's is a relentless disease for which few treatments, and no real cure, exists. Now, researchers say they are on the trail of a potential new therapy for the disabling neurological illness. It's early research, still in the animal-testing stage, as explained by...
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New Blood Test May Predict Risk for Dementia
Folks worried that they're developing dementia have few options for catching their brain decline before it's too late. But a new blood test might be able to detect early changes that wind up leading to cognitive impairment and dementia. The test looks at a protein that...
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Sleep Apnea May Accelerate Brain Aging
Sleep apnea is known to wreak havoc with the body, contributing to heart problems, diabetes and liver disease.The sleep disorder also appears to have direct effects on brain health, a new study shows.People with sleep apnea appear to experience accelerated aging of the...
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Is it More Than the Winter Blues?
Winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, occurs this Saturday, December 21, in the Northern Hemisphere. Many people feel the effects both mentally and physically of less sunlight. You might feel sad, tired or anxious during these dark days but sometimes the "winter...
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Team Sports Boost Kids' Executive Function Skills
There may be something special about team sports in childhood that helps sharpen a kids' brain, new research shows.Children who were on soccer or volleyball teams scored higher on tests of "executive function" - thinking skills needed to organize, remember details, make...
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Taxi Drivers May Be Protected Against Alzheimer's
Taxi and ambulance drivers need to have quick wits and nimble reflexes to cut through traffic effectively. Turns out that these traits might also protect them from Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study published Dec. 16 in the BMJ. "The same part of the brain that's...
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Increasing Daily Steps Lowers Depression Risk
Can you literally step away from depression? A new global review of data found that "increasing the number of daily steps, even at modest levels, was associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms." The Spanish study found that up to a level of about 10,000 steps per day,...
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How to Find Peace During the Holidays
Bells are ringing. Snow is glistening. But you're bummed out. You could be suffering from a case of the holiday blues, which experts say is not uncommon. A strained relationship with family, for example, can make this time of year pretty lonely. The holidays are expensive,...
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Long COVID Impacts Lives 5 Years After Pandemic
Three years ago, Andrea Vanek was studying to be an arts and crafts teacher when spells of dizziness and heart palpitations suddenly started to make it impossible for her to even take short walks. After seeing a succession of doctors she was diagnosed with long COVID and...
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Poll: Friendships Key to Seniors' Mental Health
Close friendships are incredibly important to the mental health of middle-aged folks and seniors, a new study finds. Older adults with worse mental or physical health were twice as likely to say they don't have any close friends, according to results from the University of...
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Hot Cocoa Protects Against Negative Effects of Stress
'Tis the season to be stressed, and if that leads you to reach for fatty foods, add a cup of good quality, hot cocoa to your indulgence. Researchers from the University of Birmingham in the U.K. found that the flavanols in cocoa combat the damage excess fat from foods does...
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Air Pollution May Increase Risk for Blood Clots
Breathing in smoggy air over time can significantly raise a person's chances for dangerous blood clots, new research shows. "What's striking from our study is the increase in serious blood clotting disease with exposure to some of the most common types of pollutants in the...
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Blood Test Can Alert Doctors to Problem Drinking
Have you been boozing more often than usual? A new blood test might be able to tell if you're damaging your liver from too many beers, margaritas or belts of scotch, researchers report. A blood-borne byproduct of alcohol consumption called phosphatidylethanol (PEth) can give...
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Private Medicare Plans Must Cover Biogen's ALS Drug
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has directed private insurers providing Medicare Advantage plans to cover Biogen's amyotrophic lateral sclerosis drug Qalsody after finding instances of coverage denial. Qalsody received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's...
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Blood Pressure Fluctuations Harmful to Brain
Keeping your blood pressure in check is important for more than just heart health - it can also keep your brain sharp as you age. A new study published Dec. 11 in the journal Neurology shows that seniors whose blood pressure spikes and drops over time might be more likely to...
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FDA Proposes Limit to Nicotine in Tobacco Products
In what appears to be a last-ditch effort to limit the harms of smoking before its term ends, the Biden administration has proposed a rule that would significantly lower the amount of nicotine in tobacco products. The agency's efforts to counter the dangers of the addictive...