General practitioners are now "prescribing" parkrun for their patients as part of a social prescribing initiative to promote preventative care. But in The BMJ today, Dr Margaret McCartney argues that turning parkrun into a prescription medicalises a walk in the park and is a retrograde step. Parkrun is an organized, timed, and free 5 km run, jog,…

The prevalence of tooth and gum issues among teenage (academy) professional footballers in England is high, finds research published in the open access journal BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. Inadequate oral hygiene, poor diet, and infrequent routine visits to the dentist, are all contributory factors, the findings suggest, prompting the researchers to call for remedial…

World Cancer Research Fund International has released a major new report on Dietary and Lifestyle Patterns (DLPs) and their role in cancer prevention, which is out today (2 April 2025). Today’s report, developed by WCRF International, emphasises that analysing DLPs together, rather than looking at single nutrients or food groups, can help researchers and the…

Apr 9 2025 Can nature heal more than just the individual? A groundbreaking scoping review protocol sets out to map how green interventions influence well-being at personal, societal, and ecological levels.  Nature-based interventions for individual, collective and planetary wellbeing: A protocol for a scoping review. Image Credit: ullision /…

According to a study published by Nature Metabolism, marathon runners experience reversible changes in their brain myelin. These findings indicate that myelin (a substance that surrounds the neurons) exhibits behavior that was previously unknown, and that it contributes towards the brain's energy metabolism when other sources of energy are running low. Understanding how myelin in…

Although sedentary behavior may be an evolutionarily selected trait, it is still important to try to be physically active, says a new study conducted at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Researchers have shown for the first time that genetic predisposition to sedentary behaviour is associated with a higher risk of developing the most common cardiovascular…

Hot flashes, mood swings, weight gain and insomnia are all signs of hormonal changes and symptoms of menopause, when a woman no longer has menstrual cycles. They can also signal perimenopause, when the body is preparing for this next season of life. Perimenopause is when the menstrual cycle has started to change, and it is…

A 20-year UK study reveals that simple dietary shifts can lower fracture and cardiovascular risks—offering a compelling case for lifestyle change, especially in men. Study: 60 is the new 40: preparing for better bone health in later life. Image Credit: Umomos / Shutterstock In a recent study published in the journal Frontiers…

A new research paper was published in Aging (Aging-US) on March 18, 2025, in Volume 17, Issue 3, titled "Mitochondrial oxidative stress or decreased autophagy in osteoblast lineage cells is not sufficient to mimic the deleterious effects of aging on bone mechanoresponsiveness." Researchers from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, led by first author Ana Resende-Coelho and corresponding…

Over the past two days, WHO convened more than 15 countries and over 20 regional health agencies, health emergency networks and other partners to test, for the first time, a new global coordination mechanism for health emergencies. The two-day simulation, Exercise Polaris, tested WHO's Global Health Emergency Corps (GHEC), a framework designed to strengthen countries'…