Incremental physical activity, even at light intensity, is associated with larger brain volume and healthy brain aging. Considerable evidence suggests that engaging in regular physical activity may prevent cognitive decline and dementia. Active individuals have lower metabolic and vascular risk factors and these risk factors may explain their propensity for healthy brain aging. However, the specific activity levels optimal for dementia prevention have remained unclear. The new 2018 Physical Activity-Guidelines for Americans suggest that some physical activity is better than none, but achieving greater than 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous (MV)…
Read MoreAuthor: Tom Patriot
‘Not There Yet’: A New Study Shows That We Still Have Work to Close the Gender Pay Gap.
Today, April 16, is Equal Pay Day, marking the point in the year — 15 weeks-plus! — that women have had to work in 2019 in order to earn, on top of their 2018 salaries, what their male colleagues earned by Dec. 31. Now, a newly released study, The State of Wage Inequality in the Workplace, from job-match platform Hired, shows how far we have to go to bridge the gender pay gap. As the study’s subtitle says, summarizing the findings: “Data reveals the wage gap is finally narrowing — but we’re not there yet.” Hired’s…
Read MoreWhen Mechanics Lose Their Minds
Growth hormone acts to prevent weight loss
Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have discovered that growth hormone (GH), which stimulates skeletal maturation and linear bone growth, as well as helping maintain tissue and organs throughout life, also acts directly on the brain to conserve energy when the body loses weight. A paper on the discovery has just been published in the journal Nature Communications. “Growth hormone has been known for decades, but our discovery shows it does a lot more than was thought,” said José Donato Junior, a professor at the University of…
Read MoreHow to look after your skin during a cold snap, according to experts
Icy cold temperatures have affected many parts of the UK in recent weeks, while the US has suffered at the hands of a polar vortex with temperatures reaching minus 40F (-40C). A significant cold snap such as this comes with a sundry of complications, from school closures to ongoing travel disruptions, but for the beauty obsessed among us, the most concerning of them all is the emergence of dry, scaly skin and itchiness. In these wintry conditions, your skin’s well being might not be top of the priority list but neglecting to take…
Read More