Generic advice doesn’t help patients drop pounds

When it comes to losing weight, doctors’ messages to their patients can make a powerful difference, according to new research from Duke University. Participants in the study had only modest weight loss when doctors gave generic advice such as “you should exercise more.” They fared much better when doctors instead provided specific instructions. “Just telling somebody to lose weight or improve their diet or physical activity didn’t work,” said study co-author Gary Bennett, a professor of psychology at Duke. “The doctor should instead encourage patient participation in a specific program.”…

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Skin diseases are more common than we think

Skin diseases are ranked as the fourth most common cause of human illness, but many affected people do not consult a physician. A new Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology study estimates the prevalence of skin diseases outside the typical medical setting. To include people who never or rarely seek medical aid, the study did not rely on health insurance data, but rather on data collected at the Munich Oktoberfest in Germany. Screening examinations were performed randomly on participating visitors. Of the 2,701 individuals in the study, at least…

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Chrissy Teigen’s Latest Instagram Clapback Is a Win for Postpartum Bodies

Chrissy Teigen, the social media queen of epic clapbacks, took to Instagram once again to shut down a troll with one of her trademark witty comments. This time, it was a total win for mamas with postpartum bodies. It happened last week, after the mom of two shared some adorable videos of her two-year-old daughter, Luna, trying out her big girl bed for the first time. Teigen’s videos show Luna getting her first look at her new bed, followed by an adorable clip of the toddler arranging her stuffed animals. While most viewers were charmed…

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Brain region discovered that only processes spoken, not written words

Patients in a new Northwestern Medicine study were able to comprehend words that were written but not said aloud. They could write the names of things they saw but not verbalize them. Even though these patients could hear and speak perfectly fine, a disease had crept into a portion of their brain that kept them from processing auditory words while still allowing them to process visual ones. Patients in the study had primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a rare type of dementia that destroys language and currently has no treatment. The…

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