This was supposed to be the year that low-income Californians could hire a doula to guide them through pregnancy and advocate for them in the hospital. But the new benefit for people enrolled in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid health insurance program, has been delayed twice as the state and doulas — nonmedical workers who help […]
Here’s a sobering fact: you can lose up to 40% of your muscle mass between your 20s and your 80s. That might sound outlandish, but it’s a natural part of ageing. Known as sarcopenia, this is the gradual loss of muscle mass that occurs as we age. Although we can start losing muscle from our 20s, this […]
Seattle Public Schools (SPS) are receiving pushback after announcing the end of the mask mandate on Monday, March 14. The lifted mask mandate is one of the first orders under Dr. Brent Jones, who the school board selected as their new superintendent on March 4. He had been serving as the interim superintendent since May […]
As clocks march ahead of time on March 10, 2019, and daylight saving time begins, there is a lot of anxiety around losing the hour of sleep and how to adjust to this change. Usually an hour seems like an insignificant amount of time but considering the global epidemic of our sleep deprived society, even […]
New York City is renewing efforts to get more public school children vaccinated against COVID, with new pop-up clinics at schools where rates are low, and an information blitz consisting of robocalls to parents, fliers sent home in backpacks, and town halls with public health officials. The push, announced Thursday, comes as child vaccination uptake […]
In the early phases of lockdown, the streets were teeming with runners and living rooms were a blur of uncoordinated star jumps and lunges. In fact, physical activity levels in the UK peaked around mid-to-late May, just before lockdown restrictions began to be eased. Now, after months of fluctuating social restrictions, many people are reporting on […]
On Thursday, Gov. Roy Cooper encouraged school districts and local governments to drop indoor mask requirements by March 7 to give people the option of baring their faces as the state moves toward a new pandemic phase. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers who have often challenged the Democratic governor’s approach to the pandemic, especially in years with […]
Falls are a common cause of injury in older adults and can lead to disability. Luckily, the risk of falls can be reduced with regular exercise– but not all exercise. Our latest study shows that so-called eccentric exercise – such as walking downhill – may temporarily increase the risk of falling. Every activity we do requires our muscles to either […]
Aotearoa New Zealand has entered new COVID territory, characterised by high vaccination rates but also the rapid spread of the Omicron variant and rising numbers of hospitalisations. As we approach the peak of this wave, some have suggested it would be better to drop remaining public health measures, let the infection rip through our population and accept nearly […]
Millions of people worldwide make running their exercise of choice. And whether you’ve just started running and are aiming to run a 5km or are aiming to run a marathon, you’re probably looking for ways to improve. While most training programmes for runners focus primarily on increasing the amount of running you do, becoming a better runner […]
Florida became the first state Monday to recommend that healthy children not receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in revised guidance last month recommended that nearly all children age 5 and older get Pfizer’s COVID-19 shot that’s available through Emergency Use Authorization. It recommends that children ages 12 […]
Vitamin D is important for maintaining health, as it has many roles in the human body. But there is more than one form of vitamin D, and recent research suggests that these forms may have different effects. So what are the different types of vitamin D, and is one really more beneficial than the other? Although […]
