Christine Bryant Times Correspondent
Good exercise for women’s brains
In addition to the benefits exercise offers, a new study shows that it can increase mental processing speed and memory reserve.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego found that women in particular can benefit from a boost of exercise, such as a brisk walk or 15-minute bike ride. Thinking faster can help with problem solving, staying focused and planning, researchers say.
While both genders in the study benefited from cognitive activities such as reading, any positive associations between the activities and memory reserve applied only to women.
Source: journal of neurology
Wearable fitness trackers as motivators
If you have a wearable fitness tracker, a new study says it can help motivate you to stay active.
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Researchers at the University of South Australia reviewed nearly 400 studies involving activity trackers and found that wearing them, pedometers or smartwatches encouraged participants to walk up to 40 minutes longer each day.
Exercise can help prevent cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
Source: Lancet Digital Health
Exercise is no match for poor diet
Those who exercise to counteract a poor diet may not be encouraged by a new study.
Researchers from the University of Sydney in Australia found that exercise does not reduce mortality risks for poor eaters. On the other hand, eating right may help reduce a person’s risk of dying from certain types of cancer to some extent, but it doesn’t help reduce mortality from cardiovascular disease without exercise.
The researchers found that those who exercised and ate healthy foods significantly reduced their risk of dying from certain types of cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Source: BMJ Sports Medicine
New research shows that complications from contact lens wear could lead to vision loss.
Complications such as infections, lack of oxygen transfer and increased intraocular pressure can lead to irreversible damage, according to researchers at Hadassah University Medical Center. They say that teens ages 15 to 19 are in the largest high-risk group, because they tend not to be as strict about hygiene. They are also less likely to remove their lenses while sleeping.
The researchers say that contact lens wearers should visit an ophthalmologist regularly and remove their lenses immediately if they cause discomfort, irritation or blurred vision.
Source: Harefuah Journal of the Israel Medical Association
Link between poor oral health and Alzheimer’s
The researchers may have connected poor oral health and dementia. A new study by researchers at the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine has found that a specific oral bacteria can lead to neurodegeneration.
The bacteria, linked to gum disease, can cause an inflammatory response in the brain, according to the study. The bacterium is called Fusobacterium nucleatum and can infiltrate the tissues of the nervous system, exacerbating the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers say these findings could lead to bacterial load testing as a way to manage treatment that slows the progression of periodontal disease and Alzheimer’s.
Source: Frontiers in the Neuroscience of Aging
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