Time rules life. Human body clocks are powerful. Disrupt them and people feel worse – and often get sick. Shiftworkers know this: they experience more heart disease, strokes, ulcers and an earlier grave. For years, the World Health Organization has talked of shift work as a possible carcinogen. Yet it’s hard to prove in humans. The people […]
The Blue Light Special
Lighting Up Your Life Light is a potent drug. It resets internal biological clocks. It increases alertness and productivity. It changes natural killer cell activity and immunity. It can keep us awake or help us rest. But first we have to recognize that not all light is not created equal. Which is why some people […]
Depression — Cheap Ways to Treat
Depression costs. It’s generally ranked among the top three illnesses in the world in economic carnage. Depressed people don’t work well and often get physically sick, while their illness frequently wrecks careers, marriages and families. Perhaps 30% of Americans will become clinically depressed during their lifetimes – a proportion that is rising. Public efforts to […]
Can We Regulate Food Like Tobacco? (7/7/14)
Obesity and Health Many groups, like the Consumers International and the World Obesity Federation, argue food should be regulated as strictly as tobacco. Their claim (BBC News, May 18th) is that deaths from obesity are rising rapidly – about 30% globally from 2005-2010 – and that obesity promotes so many chronic diseases – from diabetes […]
Why Diets Don’t Work (2/18/14)
The Short Answer: Because we don’t understand enough of how the body works. That includes why we weigh what we do. Throwing more money at the problem (diets are a $66 billion dollar industry in the US; food vastly larger) has so far led to a bigger population. For every success, there are many […]