Exploring the hypothesis that deficits in reward processing may contribute to obesity by making it difficult for certain individuals to stop eating once their energy needs are met—either because they are prewired with faulty reward systems or because “excessive consumption of palatable food can drive reward dysfunction”—researchers
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Nearly everyone—97.5% of us—is pretty bad at multitasking behind the wheel, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Utah. Most of us get a lot more sloppy with our driving when also carrying on a phone conversation: an analysis of about 200 people asked to talk on the phone (on a hands-free device) while also
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In a study conducted by Dr. Des Powe and colleagues at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, England and Germany’s Witten University, breast cancer patients treated with beta blockers—medication used to reduce blood pressure by limiting the effects of the hormone epinephrine—had higher survival rates and lower levels of metastatis
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According to a commentary published this week in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), despite a slight overall decrease in head and neck cancers worldwide, there has been a recent surge in one particular form of the disease—oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma—that may be due to the spread of the human papillomavirus (HPV) through
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Previous research has found that people who generally have more positive emotions tend to experience a broad range of benefits—more stable marriages, better social skills and just greater happiness overall—compared with those who are more dominated by negative emotions. One measurement that researchers use when assessing emotions is
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To analyze how portion sizes have changed, not just in the last two decades, but in the last millennium, the director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab and his brother, a biblical scholar at Virginia Wesleyan College, sized up portion sizes in paintings of the Last Supper over time, according to an article published earlier
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A new study from researchers at the University of Cambridge suggests that men’s immune systems are aren’t as strong as women’s—in part because, throughout evolution men’s bodies prioritized procreation over the development of immunity—and that they are more susceptible to illness, and suffer it more severely as a result, the
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After at least three infants died of suffocation while being carried in Infantino “SlingRider” or “Wendy Bellissimo” baby slings, the San Diego-based company issued a recall of 1 million of the products in the U.S. and 15,000 throughout Canada. Earlier this month a spokeswoman for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission …
Adding to previous research suggesting that incremental increases in the cost of alcohol can yield significant health and financial benefits, a new study published online this week in the journal The Lancet suggests that slightly increasing the per unit cost of alcohol could prompt people to drink less, resulting in fewer cases of
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For middle-aged women who aren’t counting calories, how much exercise does it take to keep off extra weight? According to a new study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, roughly an hour per day. Though current recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services suggest that a weekly 150
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A provision included in the more than 2,000 pages that make up the recently passed health care bill will expand a policy of putting calorie counts on chain restaurant menus, the Wall Street Journal health blog points out. Currently a handful of cities and counties across the U.S.—including New York City, and Washington state’s King
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Rats given high-fructose corn syrup were more likely to put on excess weight compared with those who ate sucrose (common table sugar), even when both groups consumed the same total number of calories, according to findings from a new study from researchers at Princeton University. The study, published online in the journal Pharmacology,
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A new study from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington suggests that four preventable risk factors—high blood pressure, smoking, high blood sugar and overweight/obesity—are significantly reducing life expectancy across the U.S. In the new
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