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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...
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Exercise's 'Brain Boost' May Last 24 Hours
Want to give your brain a boost for tomorrow? Get in a little pulse-pounding exercise today, a new study shows. In a finding that suggests the benefits of exercise may linger longer than believed, researchers discovered that middle-aged adults and seniors perform better on...
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Parents' Smoking Could Raise Risk for MS in Kids
For children genetically predisposed to develop multiple sclerosis (MS), exposure to cigarette smoke in the family home could raise that risk even higher, new research shows. "A higher genetic MS risk is associated with an increased vulnerability to the negative effects of...
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How Garlic Fights the Common Cold, Other Illnesses
The health benefits of garlic are legion. The ancient Egyptians used garlic thousands of years ago to help bolster the energy and strength of laborers building the pyramids. In 1858, the French chemist Louis Pasteur, who identified that germs could cause disease, noted that...
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Poll: 1 in 3 Older Americans Say They Feel Lonely
If you are middle-aged or older, you may often feel lonely and isolated as you deal with the strains of daily life. Now, a new survey suggests you are far from alone: More than one-third of middle-aged and senior Americans feel that way. The good news? That means that...
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Study: Parkinson's Disease Drug Improves Symptoms
AbbVie said on Monday its experimental drug to treat Parkinson's disease met the main goal in a late-stage study. The drug, tavapadon, helped significantly improve motor functions, including eating and walking, the company said. The majority of side-effects reported were mild...
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Ovary Removal May Raise Women's Alzheimer's Risk
Women who have had their ovaries removed at a young age and also carry a gene predisposing them to Alzheimer's disease may face a much higher odds of developing the brain illness, a new study finds. However, the Canadian researchers stressed that any excess risk for dementia...