Resources & Information

Medical News Today
January 25, 2025
It is becoming increasingly obvious that sleep plays a range of crucial roles in helping our bodies maintain various aspects of health, including brain health and mental health. A new study from the Universities of York and East Anglia in the United Kingdom — whose findings appear in PNAS — now looks at an even more intriguing aspect of the relationship between sleep, the brain, and mental health. The study found that disrupted sleep affected the brain’s ability to restrict intrusive memories, which could contribute to conditions including anxiety, depression, and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Earth.com
01/21/2025
Sunburn is painful skin damage that we’ve all experienced after spending a bit too much time outdoors without protection from UV rays. Whether it’s from a lazy beach day or an exhilarating hike, the aftermath tells a singular tale – crimson skin and a nagging sting. When it comes to sunburn, the prevailing wisdom suggests that DNA damage triggers inflammation and subsequent cell death. However, this recent research suggests that the real offender might be RNA, not DNA.

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).