Health

Reductions in blood pressure may be maintained over the short term with just one or two sessions of isometric exercise training a week, research published online in the journal BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine suggests.

Nearly every day, there’s a headline about ultra-processed foods, which have been linked to harmful health effects despite lacking a universally accepted definition. These foods are the subject of numerous proposed regulations, but they are not easy for consumers to avoid because they are common and often cheaper and more convenient than healthier alternatives.

In the last few years, there’s been a lot of interest in calorie-restricted diets for weight loss.

At a press conference at the EASD Annual Meeting in Milan, organized by the European Diabetes Forum (EUDF), three leading European cardiometabolic scientific associations—the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO)—joined European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare Olivér Várhelyi to welcome the launch of the first EU Screening Week.

Men bear a disproportionately higher burden of cancer even for cancers that are not specific to either sex. Although this pattern is global, the reasons for this difference remain mysterious. A recent study set out to investigate how much of this male-female cancer gap is solely rooted in biology and how much modifiable lifestyle habits and health conditions across populations play a role in driving it.

For decades, Denmark and the UK have been known as countries where alcohol plays a big role in people’s social lives. The two countries make an interesting comparison because both have strong drinking cultures.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have conducted the longest and most comprehensive randomized controlled trial of non-nutritive sweetened (NNS) soft drinks.

As populations age and health care expenditures continue to rise worldwide, there is growing interest in understanding how routinely collected health data may help characterize future health care needs and costs.

Greater variation in blood pressure between research visits was associated with a higher risk of death in a study of more than 57,000 UK Biobank participants. Variation in some blood pressure measures was also associated with stroke. The findings were presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan, Italy, Sept. 28–Oct. 2.

Fatty liver disease is commonly associated with obesity, yet a growing number of people with normal body weight develop a severe form of the condition. Scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School have identified a distinct mechanism in a mouse model that may help explain why: Excess dietary salt can alter liver metabolism and trigger inflammatory pathways associated with lean metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).

Where someone lives strongly influences their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, new research from Canada suggests. The research was presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan, Italy, Sept. 28–Oct. 2.