Fitness, Mental Health, Weight Loss, Women's Health

Eating disorders are deadly: What are they, who’s at risk, and what can be done about it

Adolescence is also when eating disorders have the greatest negative effects on health. Five per cent of the general population in North America will suffer from an eating disorder in their lifetime, but few people seek treatment. The prevalence of eating disorders and struggles to access help highlight the need to increase awareness and decrease stigma.

Aging, Fitness, Seniors, Social Determinants of Health

Being ‘Socially Frail’ Comes With Health Risks for Older Adults

Social frailty is a corollary to physical frailty, a set of vulnerabilities (including weakness, exhaustion, unintentional weight loss, slowness, and low physical activity) shown to increase the risk of falls, disability, hospitalization, poor surgical outcomes, admission to a nursing home, and earlier death in older adults.Essentially, people who are physically frail have less physiological strength and a reduced biological ability to bounce back from illness or injury.

Picture of a woman doing sit-ups
Fitness, Mental Health, Wellness

Exercise is even more effective than counselling or medication for depression. But how much do you need?

We found the higher the intensity of exercise, the more beneficial it is. For example, walking at a brisk pace, instead of walking at usual pace. And exercising for six to 12 weeks has the greatest benefits, rather than shorter periods. Longer-term exercise is important for maintaining mental health improvements. When comparing the size of the benefits of exercise to other common treatments for mental health conditions from previous systematic reviews, our findings suggest exercise is around 1.5 times more effective than either medication or cognitive behaviour therapy.

Fitness, Musculoskeletal, Orthopedics, Surgery, Women's Health

Female football players are at much higher risk of career-ending ACL injuries – the science on why

Females have a wider pelvis relative to leg length, which results in increased angulation at the knee. The shape of the bones is also different in women in that the ACL passes through a narrower space to attach to the thigh bone, which may make it more susceptible to injury. The actual size of the ACL is also often smaller in females, so may be less able to withstand high forces.

Dialysis, Fitness, Heart and Circulatory System, Weight Loss

Sitting all day is terrible for your health – now, a new study finds a relatively easy way to counteract it

To reduce the harmful health effects of sitting, take a five-minute light walk every half-hour. We found that a five-minute light walk every half-hour was the only strategy that reduced blood sugar levels substantially compared with sitting all day. In particular, five-minute walks every half-hour reduced the blood sugar spike after eating by almost 60%. That strategy reduced blood pressure by four to five points compared with sitting all day. But shorter and less frequent walks improved blood pressure too. Even just a one-minute light walk every hour reduced blood pressure by five points.

Dialysis, Diet, Nutrition, Weight Loss

Future Surge in Diabetes Could Dramatically Impact People Under 20 in U.S.

This expected upward trend may lead to as many as 220,000 young people having type 2 diabetes in 2060 —a nearly 700% increaseand the number of young people with type 1 diabetes could increase by as much as 65% in the next 40 years. Even if the rate of new diabetes diagnoses among young people remains the same over the decades, type 2 diabetes diagnoses could increase nearly 70% and type 1 diabetes diagnoses could increase 3% by 2060.