New research explores how pets impacted isolation, anxiety, and depression during the pandemic, challenging common beliefs about the "Lassie effect" and "cat lady" myth. Study:  No beneficial associations between living with a pet and mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic in a large UK longitudinal sample . Image Credit: Chendongshan…

Discover how long-term exercise rewires fat cells, improves energy metabolism, and fights inflammation for lasting health benefits in adults with obesity. Study: Years of endurance exercise training remodel abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue in adults with overweight or obesity. Image Credit: Halfpoint / Shutterstock In a recent study published in the journal…

Laughter may be as effective as eye drops in improving symptoms of dry eye disease, finds a clinical trial from China published by The BMJ today. The researchers suggest that laughter exercise could be an initial treatment for relieving symptoms of dry eye disease. Dry eye disease (DED) is a chronic condition estimated to affect around 360…

Researchers explore how decades of intense training helped a 77-year-old former world record holder maintain heart function  In a recent life study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers studied the effects of lifelong rigorous endurance exercises on cardiac physiology and illness risk by analyzing the health records of a marathoner (DC) aged 77…

Invisible threats in the air may be driving a surge in antibiotic misuse, revealing a hidden link between pollution and rising global health crises. Study: Short-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Antimicrobial Use for Acute Respiratory Symptoms. Image Credit: IngeBlessas / Shutterstock In a recent study published in the journal JAMA…

The obesity medication liraglutide is safe and effective in children aged 6 to New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), has found. Childen aged six to The results of the SCALE Kids trial, the first study to examine the safety and efficacy of liraglutide in the paediatric population, offer hope that children who are living…

People with obesity who are long-time exercisers have healthier belly fat tissue and can store fat there more effectively than nonexercisers with obesity, according to a new study from a team of researchers at the University of Michigan. The research team also grew fat tissue in the lab from cells collected from both exercisers and…

Young people who vape perform worse than non-vapers in tests designed to measure their capacity for exercise, according to a study presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in Vienna, Austria. The research also showed that the performance of young vapers was similar to that of young smokers. The study adds to growing evidence…

Insulin resistance is associated with 31 different diseases and, in women, is also linked to higher odds of an early death, a study of data on hundreds of thousands of people in the UK being presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Madrid, Spain (9-13 September),…

Researchers have developed a new way to see organs within a body by rendering overlying tissues transparent to visible light. The counterintuitive process-;a topical application of food-safe dye-;was reversible in tests with animal subjects, and may ultimately apply to a wide range of medical diagnostics, from locating injuries to monitoring digestive disorders to identifying cancers.…