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In terms of exercise, is walking enough?

Walking is free, easy and can get you from A to B – but does it “count” in terms of how much exercise we need?
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Megan Teychenne, Deakin University and Clint Miller, Deakin University

We all know we need to exercise to stay fit and strong, stave off disease and maintain a healthy weight. Walking is the most popular physical activity undertaken by Australian adults. It’s free, easy, and can be done almost anywhere.

Walking leads to a remarkable reduction in the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, arthritis, depression, anxiety and insomnia, and premature death from all causes.

The health benefits of walking stem from the changes that occur in our body systems as a result of exercising. For some of these health conditions, fitness has been shown to be a particularly important factor for prevention.

The term fitness is quite often used to describe aerobic fitness, but having a high level of fitness actually refers to all components of health-related physical fitness which includes muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, body composition, and of course aerobic (or heart) fitness. So is walking enough in terms of the exercise we need?

Aerobic fitness

An analysis of studies on walking showed it improves aerobic fitness – which is technically the ability of the heart to get oxygen to our muscles and how effectively our muscles use that oxygen. But to be effective, walking needs to be of at least moderate intensity, which means an intensity where you’re able to notice your breathing but can carry on a conversation without noticeable pauses between words. For many, this is a brisk walk.

Greater improvements in aerobic fitness can be achieved when walking at a vigorous intensity, where you can converse with a friend, but it will be interrupted with noticeable pauses between words to take a breath.

The good news is that you don’t need to walk at a vigorous intensity for health or aerobic fitness benefits. Walking at a moderate intensity will increase your aerobic fitness and, more importantly, your endurance (the ability to carry out activities for longer with less fatigue). This is because it allows your body to burn fat more efficiently, improves delivery and use of oxygen in the muscles, and improves mitochondria density and efficiency (these are producers of energy in our body), all leading to greater capacity to undertake tasks with less fatigue.

Walking briskly for 30 minutes five days per week can improve aerobic fitness. Each walking bout doesn’t need to be long though; walking for ten minutes three times per day is as beneficial as walking for 30 minutes in one go.

Taking this guy for a spin around the block a few times a day is as good as one longer session.
from www.shutterstock.com

Strength

Walking is not a strength-based exercise, but if you haven’t exercised in a while, you’ll notice gains in leg strength as a result of regular walking. Although benefits in strength are modest, research shows walking 30 minutes five days per week at a moderate intensity helps to prevent sarcopenia (age-related loss in muscle size and strength).

You can increase the demand on your lower body muscles, bones and tendons to keep them strong by introducing hills, choosing to take the stairs, walking on undulating terrain, or even carrying a comfortable backpack. But maximum strength gains will come from introducing some form of body-weight or gym-based resistance training exercise.

Flexibility

Walking does not lead to significant gains in joint flexibility, but walking regularly does have positive effects on your joints. Weight-bearing exercise, including walking, increases lubrication and delivery of nutrition to your joints.

Research shows that walking regularly reduces pain and disability for adults suffering from knee arthritis; and moderate intensity exercise can protect against the development of joint degeneration.

Body weight

Moderate intensity walking can prevent weight gain and assist in maintaining a healthy weight in as little as 150 minutes per week. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 250 minutes or more exercise to lose a modest amount of weight, but the more you do, the more you’ll lose.

Unfortunately, it’s a myth that calories in equals calories out. Don’t expect a 500 calorie walk to offset the negative metabolic effect of a 500 calorie treat. Remember the human body operates on physiology and is not bound by the rules of physics. Fortunately, regular exercise and being physically fit will reduce your risk of heart disease and early death irrespective of your weight loss success.

There are plenty of reasons to walk, we’ve been doing it since the dawn of time, well before the first gym opened. Walking is an organic, natural, gluten free, fat free, toxin free, meditative experience that delivers far more health benefits than most other decisions you’ll make today.

Megan Teychenne, Senior Lecturer, Physical Activity and Health, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University and Clint Miller, Lecturer, Clinical Exercise Physiology, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Uncovering the deeper secrets of every mother’s breast milk

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Elloise du Toit, University of Cape Town

Investigating the make up and composition of breast milk has been a critical part of understanding how newborn babies build their immune systems and ward off disease later in life.

Initially it was thought that breast milk did not contain bacteria except when a mother had an infection. But more recent studies have shown that breast milk has millions of microbes (bacteria, viruses and fungi) that are critical to preventing babies from suffering diseases and other acute infections later in life. These include ear infections, meningitis, urinary tract infection, asthma, type 1 diabetes and obesity. To develop their immune systems babies need an optimal slew of bacteria to colonise their gut.

Previous research has shown that the bacterial makeup in breast milk is unique to every mother – like a fingerprint. Several factors affect the composition of this bacterial community. These include the mothor’s diet and well-being (stress, for example, has a major impact), the age at which she has a baby, her geographic location, the mode of delivery of the baby, as well as her use of antibiotics or probiotics.

We set out to delve deeper by looking at the bacterial composition of mothers’ milk in different countries – China, South Africa, Spain and Finland. Our aim was to identify the impact of four different geographical locations: Asia, Africa, and North and South Europe on breast milk composition. We focused on the microbiome – the microorganisms in a particular environment – as well as the fatty acid composition of the mother’s milk. We also looked at the impact of the mode of delivery on breast milk.

We found that the collection of bacteria in the breast milk of the women we studied varied between countries. This, as other studies have suggested, may be due to what they ate.

We also confirmed previous findings from studies in Finland and Spain that there’s a link between the mode of delivery and milk microbiome. But we found that the impact differed depending on the country.

These different bacterial collections are, in turn, passed onto babies through breast milk.

Our findings add to the body of growing knowledge about breast milk and opens the door to a more granular understanding of its bacterial composition. This is important as it could identify additional benefits to breast feeding which in turn could help efforts to increase the number of women who breastfeed.

Global health bodies strongly recommend that babies be breastfed exclusively until they are six months old. This is based on research that shows that breast feeding is best for babies.

Yet only 38% of all babies in the world are fed for half a year. The effect on their health has been extensively studied. For example research shows that in developing countries babies who are not breastfed are 14.4 times more likely to die in the first months of life from diseases such as diarrhoea and pneumonia than babies who are breastfed.

Cultivating bacteria

Bacteria start to be transferred from mother to baby in the womb. This continues during the actual birthing process and then after birth through breast milk when millions of microbes are send into the baby’s gut every day.

This is important because breast milk bacteria play several roles in the baby’s gut. They:

reduce the incidence and severity of infections;
improve the intestinal barrier function by increasing the amount of mucous that acts as a shield;
“teach” the immune system, showing it good bacteria from the bad;
produce anti-inflammatory substances which keeps the gut alive and thriving; and
burn energy, determines how much fat the baby stores and breaks down sugars and proteins.

Differences

Our study confirmed earlier research that the bacterial makeup of a mother’s milk is affected by a number of factors. These include:

the mode of delivery of the baby,
a mother’s diet and well-being,
the environment, and
geographic location.

When it comes to the mode of delivery of the baby we found that it had an impact on the microbiome in the mother’s milk. But this differed between countries.

Previously it has been suggested that the hormones released during labour can influence the bacterial community in breast milk. Where elective cesarean section is the delivery mode – that is when a mother has a cesarean section before going into labour – these labour hormones are not released and therefore no alteration of the breast milk bacterial community is observed.

Our research confirmed earlier findings that the well-being of the mother is also of utmost importance. For example, a good diet and regular exercise, even before she falls pregnant.

In our study, diets differed. For example in Finland, the diet is rich in oily fish which is high in omega-3 fatty acids. The Spanish use olive oil, whereas the Finnish use Canola oil and South Africans use sunflower oil. These differences have a significant affect on the microbiome.

What next?

Breast feeding rates need to increase to meet the sustainable development goals which strive to reduce maternal and infant deaths.

Our research on the breast milk microbiome and its core role in infant health is an attempt to improve infant health by providing additional information on these bacteria. Primary health caregivers, nurses and midwives, partners and mothers all need to be equipped with as much information as possible about its positive attributes so that the prolonged benefits of breast feeding can be shared with mothers, and the practice initiated immediately.

Elloise du Toit, Medical Microbiologist, University of Cape Town

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Ear infections in children

How common are smell disorders?

Tips on eating to recover after exercise

Re-fuelling after exercise is important for maintaining adequate energy stores for beneficial changes in your muscles (training adaption).
Szabó Varga Katalin/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

Kristina Nelson, Victoria University; Lily Stojanovska, Victoria University; Michael Mathai, Victoria University, and Nigel Stepto, Victoria University

Sports performance was once thought to be enhanced by practices such as drinking cognac before an Olympic marathon run. Thankfully, today’s nutrition strategies are more scientific and properly researched.

We now know quite a lot about when and what to eat before, during, and after exercise for better performance. Of course, what you eat at all these points plays a role but what you eat to recover after exercise (recovery nutrition) supports the body’s physiological adaptation to the demands of training and competition. And it prepares the body for the next event.

It replenishes fuel stores in muscles and the liver, minimises muscle loss and encourages muscle growth and repair, minimises fatigue and injury, and supports immune function. Replenishing fluid is also vital but outside the scope of this article.

Re-fuelling after exercise is important for maintaining adequate energy stores for beneficial changes in your muscles (training adaption). But it shouldn’t be in excess of the metabolic demands of what you’ve done if you want to maintain appropriate weight, body composition and support performance goals.

Getting carbs right

Training and competition require energy, and the energy muscles use is supplied by a mix of fuels in different proportions depending on the intensity and duration of exercise. In general terms, carbohydrates are the primary fuel source as exercise intensity increases.

The type of carbohydrate used by the body as fuel for exercise is glucose. Consuming carbohydrates before and during prolonged exercise (such as a marathon run) will replenish glucose, delay the onset of fatigue, and allow you to compete for a longer period of time.

Glucose is stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen, and research shows low muscle glycogen can impair performance. Depending on when the last carbohydrate meal was consumed, glycogen reserves can be depleted after about 60 to 90 minutes of intense exercise.

Planning for glycogen replacement requires adjusting for variations in exercise intensity and duration, the amount of muscle you have, your training goals, and dietary intake at other times, including before and during events. So total carbohydrate targets can vary considerably.

Consuming carbohydrates before and during prolonged exercise (such as a marathon run) will replenish glucose, delay the onset of fatigue, and allow you to compete for a longer period of time.
ed_needs_a_bicycle/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

Post-exercise carbohydrate recommendations for athletes generally suggest consuming about 1.2 grams of carbohydrate for each kilogram of body weight within an hour of completion, and each hour for four hours after activity. This should be followed by regular carbohydrate intake appropriate to meet daily requirements.

Replacing muscle protein

But there are also other things you’re going to need to recover properly. What you generally eat and the type of exercise you do can both affect the synthesis of protein in your muscles.

Physical training is a stimulus for muscle growth and adaptation. Hard-working muscles come under stress during physical activity, and the body’s limited reserves of amino acids (what proteins are made from) become rapidly depleted.

Consuming protein or amino acids after exercise can reduce muscle breakdown and encourage new tissue growth. But here again, individual responses and requirements can vary quite a lot.

The type and amount of your protein intake both play a role in muscle reconditioning after exercise, with some evidence suggesting that dairy proteins, such as whey protein, may offer advantages over other sources.

But studies are not consistent about ideal timing. Some suggest consumption before exercise while others recommend consumption within 24 hours of completion offers most benefit.

Generally speaking, consuming 20 to 25 grams of quality protein as soon as possible after exercise is recommended for building muscle and help reconditioning. Another recommendation is around 0.25 to 0.3 grams protein per kilogram of body mass.

Best foods

It follows that foods containing both carbohydrates and protein are generally recommended as being best for recovery. And there are other advantages – consuming protein with carbohydrates may improve glycogen replenishment and reduce muscle breakdown. The optimal carbohydrate to protein ratio for glycogen replenishment is three to one.

Consuming protein after exercise can reduce muscle breakdown and encourage new tissue growth.
Isaac Hsieh/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

In general, moderate to high glycaemic index, low-fibre carbohydrate sources are preferable because they’re digested and absorbed rapidly. And good quality plant- or animal-derived protein foods are better because they contain essential amino acids.

The average person exercising at low to moderate intensities for around 30 minutes a day on most days of the week, should follow general dietary guidelines to meet their energy and nutritional needs.

But it’s worthwhile trying to adjust mealtimes to coincide with recommended post-workout time (30 to 90 minutes) for eating. Adding an extra recovery meal, or a high-sugar sports drink, will merely increase your risk of consuming more than you need.

Specialised nutrition plans are particularly useful for highly active and trained people who engage in moderate to high intensity activity for between two and six hours every day most days of the week.

Energy requirements increase at this level and carefully planned nutrient intake and timing will support performance while minimising fatigue and injury.

Here are a few examples of foods that may support an athlete’s recovery eating plan, containing protein, as well as approximately 50 grams of carbohydrate:

two cups of breakfast cereal with milk,
two slices of toast with 220 grams baked beans,
a large baked potato with cottage cheese plus glass of milk,
200 grams of fruit yoghurt with 300 grams of fruit, or
a bread roll with lean meat or cheese and a large piece of fruit

The most important thing to remember is that there is no one size that fits all. Individual nutrition plans are best developed with the help of qualified sports nutrition experts and may involve some trial and error for the best outcome.

Kristina Nelson, PhD Candidate and Nutritionist, Victoria University; Lily Stojanovska, Professor and Acting Director Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Management, Victoria University; Michael Mathai, Associate Professor, Victoria University, and Nigel Stepto, Associate Professor in Exercise Physiology and Clinical Exercise Science Research Program Leader in Institute of Sport Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL), Victoria University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Microbes have their own version of the internet

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Predrag Slijepcevic, Brunel University London

Creating a huge global network connecting billions of individuals might be one of humanity’s greatest achievements to date, but microbes beat us to it by more than three billion years. These tiny single-celled organisms aren’t just responsible for all life on Earth. They also have their own versions of the World Wide Web and the Internet of Things. Here’s how they work.

Much like our own cells, microbes treat pieces of DNA as coded messages. These messages contain information for assembling proteins into molecular machines that can solve specific problems, such as repairing the cell. But microbes don’t just get these messages from their own DNA. They also swallow pieces of DNA from their dead relatives or exchange them with living mates.

These DNA pieces are then incorporated into their genomes, which are like computers overseeing the work of the entire protein machinery. In this way, the tiny microbe is a flexible learning machine that intelligently searches for resources in its environment. If one protein machine doesn’t work, the microbe tries another one. Trial and error solve all the problems.

But microbes are too small to act on their own. Instead, they form societies. Microbes have been living as giant colonies, containing trillions of members, from the dawn of life. These colonies have even left behind mineral structures known as stromatolites. These are microbial metropolises, frozen in time like Pompeii, that provide evidence of life from billions of years ago.

Microbial colonies are constantly learning and adapting. They emerged in the oceans and gradually conquered the land – and at the heart of their exploration strategy was information exchange. As we’ve seen, individual members communicate by exchanging chemical messages in a highly coordinated fashion. In this way, microbial society effectively constructs a collective “mind”.

This collective mind directs pieces of software, written in DNA code, back and forth between trillions of microbes with a single aim: to fully explore the local environment for resources using protein machines.

When resources are exhausted in one place, microbial expedition forces advance to find new lands of plenty. They transmit their discoveries back to base using different kinds of chemical signals, calling for microbial society to transform from settlers to colonisers.

In this way, microbes eventually conquered the entire planet, creating a global microbial network that resembles our own World Wide Web but using biocehmical signals instead of electronic digital ones. In theory, a signal emitted in waters around the South Pole could effectively travel fast to waters around the North Pole.

Internet of living things

The similarities with human technology don’t stop there. Scientists and engineers are now working on expanding our own information network into the Internet of Things, integrating all manner of devices by equipping them with microchips to sense and communicate. Your fridge will be able to alert you when it is out of milk. Your house will be able to tell you when it is being burgled.

Microbes built their version of the Internet of Things a long time ago. We can call it the “Internet of Living Things”, although it’s more often known as the biosphere. Every organism on the planet is linked in this complex network that depends on microbes for its survival.

More than a billion years ago, one microbe found its way inside another microbe that became its host. These two microbes became a symbiotic hybrid known as the eukaryotic cell, the basis for most of the lifeforms we are commonly familiar with today. All plants and animals are descended from this microbial merger and so they contain the biological “plug-in” software that connects them to the Internet of Living Things.

For example, humans are designed in a way that means we cannot function without the trillions of microbes inside our bodies (our microbiome) that help us do things like digest food and develop immunity to germs. We are so overwhelmed by microbes that we imprint personal microbial signatures on every surface we touch.

The Internet of Living Things is a neat and beautifully functioning system. Plants and animals live on the ecological waste created by microbes. While to microbes, all plants and animals are, as author Howard Bloom puts it, “mere cattle on whose flesh they dine”, whose bodies will be digested and recycled one day.

Microbes are even potential cosmic tourists. If humans travel into deep space, our microbes will travel with us. The Internet of Living Things may have a long cosmic reach.

The paradox is that we still perceive microbes as inferior organisms. The reality is that microbes are the invisible and intelligent rulers of the biosphere. Their global biomass exceeds our own. They are the original inventors of the information-based society. Our internet is merely a by-product of the microbial information game initiated three billion years ago.

Predrag Slijepcevic, Senior Lecturer in Biology, Brunel University London

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

How do the chemicals in sunscreen protect our skin from damage?

Don’t skimp on the SPF.
Sabphoto via Shutterstock.com

Kerry Hanson, University of California, Riverside

Not so long ago, people like my Aunt Muriel thought of sunburn as a necessary evil on the way to a “good base tan.” She used to slather on the baby oil while using a large reflector to bake away. Aunt Muriel’s mantra when the inevitable burn and peel appeared: Beauty has its price.

Was she ever right about that price – but it was a lot higher than any of us at the time recognized. What sun addicts didn’t know then was that we were setting our skin up for damage to its structural proteins and DNA. Hello, wrinkles, liver spots and cancers. No matter where your complexion falls on the Fitzpatrick Skin Type scale, ultraviolet radiation (UV) from the sun or tanning beds will damage your skin.

Today, recognition of the risks posed by UV rays has motivated scientists, myself included, to study what’s going on in our cells when they’re in the sun – and devise modern ways to ward off that damage.

UV light that affects our skin has a shorter wavelength than the parts of the electromagnetic spectrum we can see.
Inductiveload, NASA, CC BY-SA

What happens when sun hits skin

Sunlight is composed of packets of energy called photons. The visible colors we can see by eye are relatively harmless to our skin; it’s the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) light photons that can cause skin damage. UV light can be broken down into two categories: UVA (in the wavelength range 320-400 nanometers) and UVB (in the wavelength range 280–320 nm).

Our skin contains molecules that are perfectly structured to absorb the energy of UVA and UVB photons. This puts the molecule into an energetically excited state. And as the saying goes, what goes up must come down. In order to release their acquired energy, these molecules undergo chemical reactions – and in the skin that means there are biological consequences.

Interestingly, some of these effects used to be considered helpful adaptations – though we now recognize them as forms of damage. Tanning is due to the production of extra melanin pigment induced by UVA rays. Exposure to the sun also turns on the skin’s natural antioxidant network, which deactivates highly destructive reactive oxygen species (ROS) and free radicals; if left unchecked, these can cause cellular damage and oxidative stress within the skin.

We also know that UVA light penetrates deeper into the skin than UVB, destroying a structural protein called collagen. As collagen degrades, our skin loses its elasticity and smoothness, leading to wrinkles. UVA is responsible for many of the visible signs of aging, while UVB light is considered the primary source of sunburn. Think “A” for aging and “B” for burning.

DNA itself can absorb both UVA and UVB rays, causing mutations which, if unrepaired, can lead to non-melanoma (basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma) or melanoma skin cancers. Other skin molecules pass absorbed UV energy on to those highly reactive ROS and free radicals. The resulting oxidative stress can overload the skin’s built-in antioxidant network and cause cellular damage. ROS can react with DNA, forming mutations, and with collagen, leading to wrinkles. They can also interrupt cell signaling pathways and gene expression.

The end result of all of these photoreactions is photodamage that accumulates over the course of a lifetime from repeated exposure. And – this cannot be emphasized enough — this applies to all skin types, from Type I (like Nicole Kidman) to Type VI (like Jennifer Hudson). Regardless of how much melanin we have in our skin, we can develop UV-induced skin cancers and we will all eventually see the signs of photo-induced aging in the mirror.

Filtering photons before the damage is done

The good news, of course, is that the risk of skin cancer and the visible signs of aging can be minimized by preventing overexposure to UV radiation. When you can’t avoid the sun altogether, today’s sunscreens have got your back (and all the rest of your skin too).

Sunscreens employ UV filters: molecules specifically designed to help reduce the amount of UV rays that reach through the skin surface. A film of these molecules forms a protective barrier either absorbing (chemical filters) or reflecting (physical blockers) UV photons before they can be absorbed by our DNA and other reactive molecules deeper in the skin.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration regulates sunscreens as drugs. Because we were historically most concerned with protecting against sunburn, 14 molecules that block sunburn-inducing UVB rays are approved for use. That we have just two UVA-blocking molecules available in the United States – avobenzone, a chemical filter; and zinc oxide, a physical blocker – is a testament to our more recent understanding that UVA causes trouble, not just tans.

The FDA also has enacted strict labeling requirements – most obviously about SPF (sun protection factor). On labels since 1971, SPF represents the relative time it takes for an individual to get sunburned by UVB radiation. For example, if it takes 10 minutes typically to burn, then, if used correctly, an SPF 30 sunscreen should provide 30 times that – 300 minutes of protection before sunburn.

“Used correctly” is the key phrase. Research shows that it takes about one ounce, or basically a shot glass-sized amount of sunscreen, to cover the exposed areas of the average adult body, and a nickel-sized amount for the face and neck (more or less, depending on your body size). The majority of people apply between a quarter to a half of the recommended amounts, placing their skin at risk for sunburn and photodamage.

In addition, sunscreen efficacy decreases in the water or with sweating. To help consumers, FDA now requires sunscreens labeled “water-resistant” or “very water-resistant” to last up to 40 minutes or 80 minutes, respectively, in the water, and the American Academy of Dermatology and other medical professional groups recommend reapplication immediately after any water sports. The general rule of thumb is to reapply about every two hours and certainly after water sports or sweating.

In the U.S., the FDA regulates sunscreens available to consumers.
Sheila Fitzgerald via Shutterstock.com

To get high SPF values, multiple UVB UV filters are combined into a formulation based upon safety standards set by the FDA. However, the SPF doesn’t account for UVA protection. For a sunscreen to make a claim as having UVA and UVB protection and be labeled “Broad Spectrum,” it must pass FDA’s Broad Spectrum Test, where the sunscreen is hit with a large dose of UVB and UVA light before its effectiveness is tested.

This pre-irradiation step was established in FDA’s 2012 sunscreen labeling rules and acknowledges something significant about UV-filters: some can be photolabile, meaning they can degrade under UV irradiation. The most famous example may be PABA. This UVB-absorbing molecule is rarely used in sunscreens today because it forms photoproducts that elicit an allergic reaction in some people.

But the Broad Spectrum Test really came into effect only once the UVA-absorbing molecule avobenzone came onto the market. Avobenzone can interact with octinoxate, a strong and widely used UVB absorber, in a way that makes avobenzone less effective against UVA photons. The UVB filter octocrylene, on the other hand, helps stabilize avobenzone so it lasts longer in its UVA-absorbing form. Additionally, you may notice on some sunscreen labels the molecule ethylhexyl methoxycrylene. It helps stabilize avobenzone even in the presence of octinoxate, and provides us with longer-lasting protection against UVA rays.

Next up in sunscreen innovation is the broadening of their mission. Because even the highest SPF sunscreens don’t block 100 percent of UV rays, the addition of antioxidants can supply a second line of protection when the skin’s natural antioxidant defenses are overloaded. Some antioxidant ingredients my colleagues and I have worked with include tocopheral acetate (Vitamin E), sodium ascorbyl phosophate (Vitamin C), and DESM. And sunscreen researchers are beginning to investigate if the absorption of other colors of light, like infrared, by skin molecules has a role to play in photodamage.

As research continues, one thing we know for certain is that protecting our DNA from UV damage, for people of every color, is synonymous with preventing skin cancers. The Skin Cancer Foundation, American Cancer Society and the American Academy of Dermatology all stress that research shows regular use of an SPF 15 or higher sunscreen prevents sunburn and reduces the risk of non-melanoma cancers by 40 percent and melanoma by 50 percent.

We can still enjoy being in the sun. Unlike my Aunt Muriel and us kids in the 1980s, we just need to use the resources available to us, from long sleeves to shade to sunscreens, in order to protect the molecules in our skin, especially our DNA, from UV damage.

Kerry Hanson, Research Chemist, University of California, Riverside

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The A1C Test & Diabetes

Gastrointestinal Bleeding

Surprising ways to beat anxiety and become mentally strong – according to science

Don’t worry, research can help.
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Olivia Remes, University of Cambridge

Do you have anxiety? Have you tried just about everything to get over it, but it just keeps coming back? Perhaps you thought you had got over it, only for the symptoms to return with a vengeance? Whatever your circumstances, science can help you to beat anxiety for good.

Anxiety can present as fear, restlessness, an inability to focus at work or school, finding it hard to fall or stay asleep at night, or getting easily irritated. In social situations, it can make it hard to talk to others; you might feel like you’re constantly being judged, or have symptoms such as stuttering, sweating, blushing or an upset stomach.

It can appear out of the blue as a panic attack, when sudden spikes of anxiety make you feel like you’re about to have a heart attack, go mad or lose control. Or it can be present all the time, as in generalised anxiety disorder, when diffuse and pervasive worry consumes you and you look to the future with dread.

Most people experience it at some point, but if anxiety starts interfering with your life, sleep, ability to form relationships, or productivity at work or school, you might have an anxiety disorder. Research shows that if it’s left untreated, anxiety can lead to depression, early death and suicide. And while it can indeed lead to such serious health consequences, the medication that is prescribed to treat anxiety doesn’t often work in the long-term. Symptoms often return and you’re back where you started.

How science can help

The way you cope or handle things in life has a direct impact on how much anxiety you experience – tweak the way you’re coping, therefore, and you can lower your anxiety levels. Here are some of the top coping skills that have emerged from our study at the University of Cambridge, which will be presented at the 30th European Congress of Neuropsychopharmacology in Paris, and other scientific research.

Do you feel like your life is out of control? Do you find it hard to make decisions – or get things started? Well, one way to overcome indecision or get going on that new project is to “do it badly”.

This may sound strange, but the writer and poet GK Chesterton said that: “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.” And he had a point. The reason this works so well is that it speeds up your decision-making process and catapults you straight into action. Otherwise, you could spend hours deciding how you should do something or what you should do, which can be very time-consuming and stressful.

People often want to do something “perfectly” or to wait for the “perfect time” before starting. But this can lead to procrastination, long delays or even prevent us from doing it at all. And that causes stress – and anxiety.

Instead, why not just start by “doing it badly” and without worrying about how it’s going to turn out. This will not only make it much easier to begin, but you’ll also find that you’re completing tasks much more quickly than before. More often than not, you’ll also discover that you’re not doing it that badly after all – even if you are, you can always fine tune it later.

Using “do it badly” as a motto gives you the courage to try new things, adds a little fun to everything, and stops you worrying too much about the outcome. It’s about doing it badly today and improving as you go. Ultimately, it’s about liberation.

Just jump right in …
The National Guard via flickr, CC BY

Forgive yourself and ‘wait to worry’

Are you particularly critical of yourself and the blunders you make? Well, imagine if you had a friend who constantly pointed out everything that was wrong with you and your life. You’d probably want to get rid of them right away.

But people with anxiety often do this to themselves so frequently that they don’t even realise it anymore. They’re just not kind to themselves.

So perhaps it’s time to change and start forgiving ourselves for the mistakes we make. If you feel like you’ve embarrassed yourself in a situation, don’t criticise yourself – simply realise that you have this impulse to blame yourself, then drop the negative thought and redirect your attention back to the task at hand or whatever you were doing.

Another effective strategy is to “wait to worry”. If something went wrong and you feel compelled to worry (because you think you screwed up), don’t do this immediately. Instead, postpone your worry – set aside 10 minutes each day during which you can worry about anything.

If you do this, you’ll find that you won’t perceive the situation which triggered the initial anxiety to be as bothersome or worrisome when you come back to it later. And our thoughts actually decay very quickly if we don’t feed them with energy.

Find purpose in life by helping others

It’s also worth considering how much of your day is spent with someone else in mind? If it’s very little or none at all, then you’re at a high risk of poor mental health. Regardless of how much we work or the amount of money we make, we can’t be truly happy until we know that someone else needs us and depends on our productivity or love.

This doesn’t mean that we need people’s praise, but doing something with someone else in mind takes the spotlight off of us (and our anxieties and worries) and places it onto others – and how we can make a difference to them.

Being connected to people has regularly been shown to be one of the most potent buffers against poor mental health. The neurologist Viktor Frankl wrote:

For people who think there’s nothing to live for, nothing more to expect from life … the question is getting these people to realise that life is still expecting something from them.

Knowing that someone else needs you makes it easier to endure the toughest times. You’ll know the “why” for your existence and will be able to bear almost any “how”.

So how can you make yourself important in someone else’s life? It could be as simple as taking care of a child or elderly parent, volunteering, or finishing work that might benefit future generations. Even if these people never realise what you’ve done for them, it doesn’t matter because you will know. And this will make you realise the uniqueness and importance of your life.

Olivia Remes, PhD Candidate, University of Cambridge

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.