Researchers reveal cultural and health benefits of close human relationships in a new study. «Friendships are one of the untapped resources people can draw on to pursue a happier and healthier life. They literally cost nothing and have health and well-being benefits,» said William Chopik, an assistant professor of psychology at MSU and the study’s…

Hearing loss has a profound impact on older people, as it can lead to anxiety, restricted activity, and perhaps even cognitive decline and dementia. Research has examined associations of hearing loss with outdoor activity limitations, psychological distress, and memory loss in people aged 65 and over. All three conditions were significantly worse when there was…

Teenagers who experience very poor sleep may be more likely to experience poor mental health in later life, as depressed teens in study slept 30 minutes less per night than other groups. In a paper published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, researchers analysed self-reported sleep quality and quantity from teenagers and found…

Same-gender couples have higher-quality interactions with one another than heterosexual couples in Southern California, a new study finds. The study also holds that couples with two men have the smallest social networks. The study also holds that couples with two men have the smallest social networks. Researcher Megan Robbins says the recently published study is…

Chicken nuggets, burritos and other popular items consumers buy from fast food outlets in the United States contain chemicals that are linked to a long list of serious health problems, according to a new study. Researchers at the George Washington University and their colleagues bought fast foods from popular outlets and found 10 of 11…

Cooperation plays a crucial role in evolution. A team of scientists has now created a new model that shows how different kinds of cooperative strategies among humans develop. Using their unified framework, they show how an individual’s experience and the reputation of others influence the emergence of successful cooperation. In the field of evolutionary game…

Eating fruits with lunch, vegetables at dinner and a dairy snack in the evening was associated with a reduced risk of early death by cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality, according to a study of U.S. adults. Eating a Western lunch (typically containing a high quantity of refined grains, cheese and cured meat) was associated…

A nationwide US study has shown that the rate of opioid-related cardiac arrests has steeply risen and is now on par with the rate of cardiac arrest from other causes. Opioid use disorder, which includes dependence and addiction, affects more than two million people in the US, while opioid overdose is the leading cause of…

A new analysis has integrated findings from 134 studies of the impact of color-coded nutrition labels and warnings found on the front of some food packaging, indicating that these labels do indeed appear to encourage more healthful purchases. Some countries have introduced mandatory front-of-package labeling in hope of improving people’s diets and reducing the burden…

A new mathematical model for the interaction of bacteria in the gut could help design new probiotics and specially tailored diets to prevent diseases. «Intestinal bacteria have an important role to play in health and the development of diseases, and our new mathematical model could be extremely helpful in these areas,» says Jens Nielsen, Professor…