If you’ve not only kept up with this year’s health news, but also stuck to all of its recommendations, you’re on track for a very healthy life indeed.
To start with, you’ve probably switched up your diet. Perhaps you’ve tried going vegan after reading that the diet can reverse your biological age in just eight weeks or attempted intermittent fasting, given that scientists found, when paired with exercise, it can help you lose weight.
Perhaps you ate Mediterranean food to keep your brain young, or upped your fibre intake to account for the deficiency scientists say most of us have.
It’s just as likely that conflicting evidence pulled you in different directions. After all, one study linked intermittent fasting with a 91 per cent higher risk of cardiovascular death, while another warned of cancerous mutations in the eating period after a fast. Several major studies also revisited calorie restriction, as it appears to be the best way to lengthen your lifespan.
Even the bad reputation of ultra-processed foods was up for debate: while one study found that avoiding them reduced your risk of cognitive decline by 12 per cent, a three-decade-long Harvard study suggests they’re not as harmful as we think.
We wouldn’t blame you if you gave up on diets altogether. After all, the real show-stoppers were the new weight-loss drugs, including the first to come in pill form and an Ozempic alternative without the muscle loss.
Early signs of an ‘exercise pill’ also brought hope for those unable to do physical activity. Others were pleased with a pair of studies suggesting that walking is enough to improve cardiovascular health and reduce back pain, while another concluded that just one weekly exercise session can reduce cognitive decline by 13 per cent.
An anti-ageing solution is also locked up inside our bodies, said the scientists who discovered they could reprogramme white blood cells to seek and destroy ageing cells. Elsewhere, an ‘atlas of ageing’ revealed why muscles deteriorate as we grow older and how we might be able to halt this process entirely.
In yet more breakthroughs, a UK study pinpointed a simple intervention to reduce peanut-allergy rates by a staggering 71 per cent.
Meanwhile, new hope sprouted for the hair loss industry, as a naturally occurring sugar in the human body was found to help combat male pattern baldness.
In medicine, a new breath test that can detect lung cancer early showed promise and an Irish team of researchers think they’ve found a way to vaccinate against eczema.
In happiness news, a population study discovered that life’s not all about money. Some of the world’s poorest communities, who depend on nature instead of an income, scored more highly for life satisfaction than the countries that topped the global happiness rankings (Finland, Denmark and Iceland).
There was also one piece of health news that didn’t teach us anything new. It ‘revealed’ that spending time with your dog boosts your wellbeing and the power of your brain waves. We’ll take that advice to the bank… or to the park for a game of fetch.
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