In this week’s article, we provide a roundup of some of the most recent health and nutrition related articles in the news, five items comprising:
- Work and family demands may impact women’s heart health
- Slow walking at 45 ‘a sign of faster ageing’
- How mucus tames microbes
- Research finds these Mediterranean diet foods protect the gut microbiome
- Dog ownership associated with longer life
Work and family demands may impact women’s heart health
Researchers believe that stress and cardiovascular health are linked in some way, but the association is not yet fully clear. A large-scale new study has recently delved into the effects of a unique kind of stress.
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), stress may affect factors that increase the risk of heart disease, including blood pressure and cholesterol level.
One major source of stress is the workplace. In fact, a 2015 review of 27 studies that appeared in the journal Current Cardiology Reports found an association between work stress and a “moderately elevated risk of incident coronary heart disease and stroke.”
Read the full article here.
Related Cytoplan blog
Cholesterol – Functions, sources and metabolism
Slow walking at 45 ‘a sign of faster ageing’
How fast people walk in their 40s is a sign of how much their brains, as well as their bodies, are ageing, scientists have suggested.
Using a simple test of gait speed, researchers were able to measure the ageing process. Not only were slower walkers’ bodies ageing more quickly – their faces looked older and they had smaller brains.
The researchers said measuring walking speed at a younger age could be a way of testing treatments to slow human ageing. It would also be an early indicator of brain and body health so people can make changes to their lifestyle while still young and healthy, the researchers said.
Read the full article here.
Related Cytoplan blog
Exercise – can there be too much of a good thing?
How mucus tames microbes
New research reveals that glycans — branched sugar molecules found in mucus — can prevent bacteria from communicating with each other and forming infectious biofilms, effectively rendering the microbes harmless.
The average person produces several litres of mucus every day, and until recently this mucus was thought to function primarily as a lubricant and a physical barrier.
A new study from MIT reveals that glycans — branched sugar molecules found in mucus — are responsible for most of this microbe-taming. The researchers focused on glycans’ interactions with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic pathogen that can cause infections in cystic fibrosis patients and people with compromised immune systems.
The researchers suspect that glycans in mucus also play a key role in determining the composition of the microbiome — the trillions of bacterial cells that live inside the human body.
Read the full article here.
Related Cytoplan blog
Supporting your gut with ‘functional foods’
The Mediterranean diet can help keep your gut happy
A new study found that eating a plant-based diet or a Mediterranean diet can affect your gut microbiome.
Trillions of bacteria and other microbes live in the human digestive system. Together, they form a community that’s known as the gut microbiota.
To help the friendly bacteria in the gut thrive, new research presented at UEG Week 2019 suggests it may help to eat a Mediterranean-style diet that’s rich in plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, and nuts, as well as fish.
This study adds to a large body of research that suggests Mediterranean-style diets and other plant-rich eating patterns have benefits for human health.
Read the full article here.
Related Cytoplan blog
The Mediterranean diet: a naturally occurring model of multi-supplementation – Part 1
Dog ownership associated with longer life
Dog ownership may be associated with longer life and better cardiovascular outcomes, especially for heart attack and stroke survivors who live alone, according to a new study and a separate meta-analysis published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, a journal of the American Heart Association.
Compared to people who did not own a dog, researchers found that for dog owners the risk of death for heart attack patients living alone after hospitalisation was 33% lower and 15% lower for those living with a partner or child. The risk of death for stroke patients living alone after hospitalisation was 27% lower and 12% lower for those living with a partner or child.
The lower risk of death associated with dog ownership could be explained by an increase in physical activity and the decreased depression and loneliness, both of which have been connected to dog ownership in previous studies.
Read the full article here.
Related Cytoplan blog
How the diet of dogs has changed
If you have any questions regarding the topics that have been raised, or any other health matters, please do contact me (Clare) by phone or email me at any time.
clare@cytoplan.co.uk, 01684 310099
Clare Daley and the Cytoplan Editorial Team
Last updated on 9th November 2022 by cytoffice
