Health

The way digital technologies are currently built and governed creates real risks to health worldwide, alongside genuine benefits, according to a new three-paper series authored by 13 global experts and published in The Lancet. The authors call for coordinated governance of digital systems, with the health and online safety of children and young people made an immediate global policy priority.

Providing people with nutritious foods can improve the management of chronic metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. However, most studies of “Food Is Medicine” programs have only looked at their short-term impacts—on the scale of weeks to months.

New research from two William & Mary students has found that the risk of heart attack could be significantly lowered with one simple dietary change: increasing the intake of pulses. But what is a pulse? A food group with diverse options, pulses are edible seeds from plants in the legume family. Some examples include dry beans, chickpeas, lentils and dry peas.

One minute you’re reaching for an item on a shelf, picking up a child or simply getting out of bed. The next, a sudden stab of pain in your lower back leaves you wondering what just happened. Many people call it “throwing out” their back. The phrase generally describes low back pain that starts suddenly, says Dr. Min Yoo, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona who has subspecialty training in pain medicine.

Two studies examining commercial tobacco use in Native American communities underscore the importance of culturally responsive prevention and a deeper understanding of how substance use fits into people’s everyday lives.

The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) has released a new clinical guideline for tobacco treatment in the inpatient setting. Published in the journal CHEST, the guideline contains six evidence-based recommendations that synthesize the existing literature to inform key components of inpatient tobacco treatment.

Salt can make or break a dish. A little too much or too little can throw everything off, leaving even the most luxurious ingredients tasting off. But get the balance right, and salt can bring out the flavor in even the simplest ingredients. The brain relies on a similar balancing act for healthy function and memory. While we are aware of the ill effects of having too much salt, what happens when we consume too little?

New research presented at the Annual Meeting of The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan, Italy (Sept 28 – Oct 2) and appearing in The Lancet Regional Health Americas journal shows that in people who have developed early-onset type 2 diabetes (EOT2D) (aged under 45 years), around half these T2D cases can be reversed with a low-energy diet combined with a structured exercise program.

Puzzles, brain-training games and hobbies have long been said to stave off cognitive decline. But while some research has shown that intensive brain-training programs done over several weeks can reduce cognitive impairment, such interventions aren’t very practical in daily life.

Exercise benefits nearly every part of the body, including the liver and metabolism. But new research from the University of Missouri School of Medicine suggests those benefits may not look the same in males and females. The findings are published in the journal Cell Reports.

A new study has shown that faith leaders would be willing to partner on hypertension screenings and education, despite challenges in past health collaborations.