Mental Attitude: Childhood Reading Skills Linked to 'Higher Intelligence' During Young Adulthood. Having strong reading
skills as a child is a predictor for higher intelligence levels as a young adult. Early reading ability is not only associated with improved vocabulary and general knowledge, but is also linked to improved nonverbal intelligence. Researcher Dr. Stuart Ritchie adds, "It's possible that reading helps train children to use abstract thinking, as they have to imagine other people, places, and things while reading. This would be helpful in more general problem-solving tasks, such as those on IQ tests. Also, being better at reading might involve more practice of sitting down and concentrating on a task, which again would be useful for intelligence test performance."
Child Development, July 2014
Health Alert: Can Trees Save Lives? While researchers report that the air pollution removed by trees equates to an average air
quality improvement of less than 1%, this small improvement has a considerable impact on public health. According to scientists, trees
save more than 850 American lives per year and prevent 670,000 incidences of acute respiratory symptoms.
Environmental Pollution, July 2014
Diet: Eat Baked or Broiled Fish Every Week for a Healthier Brain. Investigators have found that weekly fish eaters have more
grey matter and more activity in the areas of the brain that are linked to cognition, which may mean a lower risk for developing
dementia later in life. Senior researcher Dr. James T. Becker explains, "Our study shows that people who ate a diet that included
baked or broiled, but not fried, fish have larger brain volumes in regions associated with memory and cognition."
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, July 2014
Exercise: Just a Few Minutes of Hard Exercise Can Result in All-Day Calorie Burn. Researchers discovered that exercise
volunteers who spent an average of just 2.5 minutes engaged in hard exercise burned an average of 200 extra calories during the day. The participants engaged in a workout that involved pedaling as fast as possible with high resistance on a stationary bicycle for five 30-second periods, each separated by four-minute periods of recovery in which they pedaled slowly with less resistance. This finding suggests that performing intense, but brief, bursts of exercise may aid in weight control. American Physiological Society, August 2014
Chiropractic: Wrist Posture and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Even though computer work has long been associated with carpal
tunnel syndrome (CTS), studies regarding wrist posture's role in the development of this medical condition have been inconsistent. A
new meta-analysis of studies published between 1980 and 2012 finds that individuals whose wrists are in non-neutral positions for
prolonged periods of time have at least double the risk for developing CTS compared with individuals whose wrists are primarily in neutral positions throughout the day. Safe and Healthy at Work, March 2014
Wellness/Prevention: Is a Universal Blood Test for Cancer on the Horizon? The early detection of cancer is important when it
comes to saving lives, but that is easier said than done. However, researchers in the United Kingdom claim they may have developed a simple blood test that can identify if a patient is likely to have cancer. The test, called the Lymphocyte Genoe Sensitivity (LGS) test, evaluates white blood cells and measures the damage done to their DNA when exposed to different levels of ultraviolet light. Lead researcher Dr. Diana Anderson explains, "We found that people with cancer have DNA which is more easily damaged by ultraviolet light than other people, so the test shows the sensitivity to damage of all the DNA - the genome - in a cell."
Journal of the Federation of American societies for Experimental Biology, July 2014
Quote: “As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.” ~ J.K. Rowling
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