Resources & Information

Medical News Today
January 14, 2025
Although doctors recommend that adults over the age of 18 get at least 7 hours of quality sleep each night, the most recent data suggest that many may face consistent sleep issues, such as insomnia and sleep apnea. Data from 2022 suggest that, in the United States alone, 39% of adults over the age of 45 were not getting sufficient sleep. Past studies report that not getting enough sleep each night can increase a person’s risk for several health concerns, including brain-related conditions, such as cognitive decline and dementia.

Medpage Today
January 13, 2025
Ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) are having a real moment. Few recent topics in public health and nutrition science have caused such a stir within the research community—and now, in the news, on social media, and in Congress—like these ubiquitous industrial formulations.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has made UPFs a central focus of his agenda to “make America healthy again.” Earlier in 2024, lawmakers from the other side of the political spectrum—led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—proposed legislation to put warning labels on UPFs, restrict the way they’re marketed to children, and increase funding for scientific research on UPFs and health. It was the first time the use of the term “ultraprocessed food” was recorded in Congress (a rudimentary search within the legislative record for the terms “sodium,” “sugar,” and “saturated fat,” which are often highly concentrated within UPFs, yielded nearly 1,500 unique results since the early 1970s).

NPR
December 31, 2024
“Brain rot” is the Oxford word of the year for 2024, and it’s pretty much what it sounds like: a perceived mental decline from consuming too much online media. If just reading that definition has you worried about your gray matter, never fear! Researchers are finding promising — and surprising — ways to boost our brain health and de-stress our minds. Here are nine stories on the topic that engaged our readers this year.

Medical News Today
December 12, 2024
Evidence points to the fact that regular exercise is good for overall health, including brain health. Past studies show that physical activity can possibly help lower a person’s risk for dementia — including Alzheimer’s disease — and cognitive decline, more broadly. Previous research shows that the “boost” the brain receives from exercise typically peaks within the first 10 to 20 minutes. Now, researchers from University College London, in the United Kingdom, have found that the exercise-related improvement to cognitive performance may actually last for 24 hours.

NY Times
December 11, 2024
Domestic cats could provide an unexpected new route for the bird flu virus H5N1 to evolve into a more dangerous form, according to a new study published on Monday. In the year since the virus began circulating in dairy cattle, it has killed many cats, primarily on farms with affected herds. It has also sickened at least 60 people, most of whom had close contact with infected dairy cows or poultry. So far, H5N1 does not spread easily among people, although studies have suggested that just one or two key mutations could allow the virus to make that leap.

NPR
December 9, 2024
It’s been a year of high-profile food recalls. A deadly listeria outbreak led to a massive recall of Boar’s Head deli meat. Contaminated onions on McDonald’s Quarter Pounders and organic carrots were linked to E. coli outbreaks. And in late November, federal authorities launched an investigation into cucumbers contaminated with salmonella.