I’m often asked whether losing weight would help a particular problem. For example, “If I lost a few kilos, would it help my back pain?”.
I think that if someone is overweight, then losing a few kilos is a good idea anyway, as there are so many general health benefits to maintaining a healthy weight.
But I wasn’t really sure if it would help a particular injury. What I mean by that is I think if you have back pain, you should try to fix your back. If you just lose weight, …

Yes they can. And according to the latest research, they do it as effectively as medications.
This is great news for people like me who love a sneaky disco nap. And it’s great news for any of you taking blood pressure medication. After all, who wouldn’t love to be taking less medications!
In a 2019 article on the website MedicalNewsToday, 212 people were studied. These were not the healthiest people – average age of 62, plenty of smokers and people with type 2 diabetes. Yet even with these complicating factors, the study found …

Mine are certainly getting worse! And it turns out I’m not alone. A recent story on abc.net.au broke it all down, and the timing could not be better with silly season is about to kick off.
Apparently there are a number of reasons our hangovers feel more severe as we age, and why it takes longer to get over a big night.
A couple of key takeaways form the article:

Older people tend to have more inflammation throughout their body than younger people, Professor Scholey said. Add the inflammatory effects of alcohol and its by-products …

Yes, gold. The same gold that might currently be adorning your wrist has been found to be an effective anti-inflammatory. Is there nothing it can’t do?
The first question I had was “who ate their Rolex to discover this?”. The second question was “how much will a packet of gold nurofen’s cost?” The third was “WHO ATE THEIR ROLEX!?!” I mean, how on earth did they discover that gold works as an anti-inflammatory?
Well, the answer to that lies in the length of time medications are effective. Scientists were trying to work …

That was the title of an article on The Conversation website a couple of weeks ago. Here is the link to the article, as well as a few choice quotes I have selected as a quick summary:
“Knee surgery is common. Young adults have their anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed after tearing it when playing sports. Middle-aged people have parts of their meniscus trimmed when they have pain and limited knee mobility. And older people have their knees replaced by metal and plastic when their cartilage has worn out. The idea that …

I get asked this question a lot. And until recently, I thought it made a bit of difference, but if you had good strength and sufficient joint mobility carrying a few extra kilos probably wouldn’t be that big a deal. For your joints at least. Being overweight is associated with all kinds of other health problems, so maintaining a healthy weight is in your best interested regardless.
But now we know exactly how much pressure your joints take on when you take on extra weight. According to a study of overweight …

Did you catch the latest article on Neurosciencenews.com? If not, you’re in luck, because I did! In the article, a summary of research was outlined which showed the benefits of microbreaks for students and adults alike.
According to the study, it was shown that taking a break and doing a series of brief exercises led to:

An improved ability to focus attention
An improved ability to retain information, and
Improvements in overall learning ability.

To read more, see below.
New research from a team of scientists at McMaster University suggests that brief exercise breaks during lectures …

A recent article on the Sydney Morning Herald website has summarised “the best available research on preventing cognitive decline and dementia”.
There are a variety of recommendations based on statistical data showing the common traits and pastimes of Australians. The researchers looked at the behaviours of people who went on to develop dementia and tried to find the differences between them and people who did not, to see what might make a difference, and why.
According to the article “more than a third of Australians aged between 70 and 90 will develop …

A recent article on The Guardian website claims that “Vast numbers of people with lower back pain across the world are being harmed, not helped, by the surgery, injections and dangerous opioid drugs they are given, according to a major new report”.
The report they refer to is a series of articles published on the medical website The Lancet, which concludes that:

“Investigating using MRI scans is counterproductive, the experts say.”
“MRIs will pick up physical abnormalities that may not be the source of the pain.”
“Scans often result in surgery or other interventions, but the …

Now that codeine has been made prescription only, what are your alternatives? A recent article on the ABC Health website breaks down your options really well. It takes you through various conditions like Migraines, Period Pain, Cold and Flu etc to give you the best up to date information.
Firs of all we should point out that pain medications are only ever meant to be temporary measures. if you really want a solution you should consult your health care practitioner to try to get to the bottom of things and find …