Is TV watching healthy? For years studies have argued more TV time decrees a higher risk of death. Most of that risk has been ascribed to sitting, rather than frustration and anger at what is programmed. A new study has added a wrinkle: watch more TV and you get more deep venous clots. Plus there’s a new rub: if […]
It’s Not Only The Lonely
Do only the lonely die young, or does social connection and support affect most measures of health and longevity? Yes, it’s true: the less social connections you have, the greater the tendency towards illness of many kinds – physical and mental. Even if you don’t feel lonely at all. But how big an effect? For […]
Drug of Choice (8/13/14)
An Old Miracle? Simple stuff does work. One of the cheapest drugs in the world is perhaps the most single effective agent in helping populations stay alive. The way it works this magic is now recognized as completely different from past theories. The drug is aspirin. Cardiovascular Risk For decades people throughout the world […]
The Enraged Heart (3/11/14)
Does Anger Kill? For thousands of years the anecdotal answer has been yes. Rage frequently kills those enraged – and those around them. But what happens in modern life? Therein’s a tale involving personality, tobacco, and the changing mores of research. What’s New Now? A large meta-analysis in the European Heart Journal, put together […]
Bugs in the Brain (8/25/13)
Gums Want to avoid cardiovascular disease? One way is to keep your gums healthy. Teeth gnash, bite, rip and shred the foodstuffs that let us live. And the gums that support them are necessary to keep the critters in those foods from making us sick. But gums also become ill. About 30% of adults have […]