“1 in 8 American has used antidepressants since 1999. 25% of people will experience at least one psychological disorder in their lives. By 2020 depression will become the 2nd leading global cause of death & disability (after heart disease). There is a 6X increase in risk for serious psychological diseases after moving to a developed nation.”
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It’s not easy being a kid in America: play times have gotten shorter, homework has increased dramatically, obesity rates have sky-rocketed and children are not getting the sleep they need (at least for middle and high school kids). Looking back on the history of our education system, doctors, policymakers, and the government have all attempted to fix these issues by […]
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Can you catch obesity from others was studied by JAMA Pediatrics and came away with more questions. You may find the answers in the story below. The study was conducted on some military families that were assigned to different bases. Some were located in countries where the locals had high rates of obesity. Others were located in countries that had […]
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Drinking soda, long known to contribute to childhood obesity, may also have a negative effect on childhood behavior. Columbia University researchers interviewed the parents of about 3,000 5-year-olds in 20 cities about their children’s soda consumption and behavior. They found that 43 percent of the children drank at least one soda per day, and that 4 percent drank four servings […]
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Tired of exercising to shed excess pounds? Scientists at Harvard University may have discovered a way to help you lose weight—just by taking a pill. The human body has two kinds of fat cells: white cells, which store excess calories in the form of flab, and brown cells, which burn energy to produce heat. “What we wanted to do is […]
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Could obesity be treated as a form of drug addiction? A new study suggests that some overweight people may be addicted to eating in the same way that, say, a cocaine addict craves another hit of his favorite drug. Researchers at Yale University gave a small group of young women questionnaires to determine their levels of food addiction. Then they […]
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Antarctica’s native insect, the Antarctic Midge is a flightless insect that can survive nine months frozen at temps of at least negative 15 degrees Celsius. It loses about 70% of its body fluids and can live for about a month without oxygen. The midge survives because of its combination of rapid cold hardening and warm temperatures in its underground habitat. […]
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People tormented by a neverending flow of negative thoughts can greatly benefit from an alternative to expensive psychotherapy or medications: a walk in the woods. Psychologists at Stanford University found that walking outdoors in natural settings can ward off the human tendency to harp on that breakup, layoff, or family problem. The study involved 38 city participants, some of which […]
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The Commonwealth Fund ranked health care systems in 11 wealthy nations according to criteria such as quality and access. Below, a sampling of the rankings:
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