ScienceDaily: Living Well News

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• Religion, spirituality influence health in different but complementary ways
• Underweight people at as high risk of dying as obese people, new study finds
• Brain scans link concern for justice with reason, not emotion
• Erectile dysfunction can be reversed without medication
• Quality early childhood programs help prevent adult chronic disease, research shows
• Marriage linked to lower heart risks in study of more than 3.5 million adults
• TV linked to poor snacking habits, cardiovascular risk in middle schoolers
• Eating fruits, vegetables linked to healthier arteries later in life
• Number of babies mom has may play role in future cardiovascular health
• Concerning number of kids have elevated cholesterol
• Is laughter the best medicine? Cartoons could help patients cope with chronic conditions
• Mentally challenging jobs may keep your mind sharp long after retirement
• Protein followed by exercise is recipe for calorie-burning success in some women
• Small number of counties leads way in reducing smoking rates in US

Religion, spirituality influence health in different but complementary ways Posted: 28 Mar 2014 07:30 AM PDT Religion and spirituality have distinct but complementary influences on health, new research indicates. A new theoretical model defines the two distinct pathways. "Religion helps regulate behavior and health habits, while spirituality regulates your emotions, how you feel," explains one of the authors.

Underweight people at as high risk of dying as obese people, new study finds Posted: 28 Mar 2014 07:30 AM PDT Being underweight puts people at highest risk of dying, just as obesity does, new research has found. The connection between being underweight and the higher risk of dying is true for both adults and fetuses. This is so even when factors such as smoking, alcohol use or lung disease are considered, or adults with a chronic or terminal illness are excluded, the study found.

Brain scans link concern for justice with reason, not emotion Posted: 28 Mar 2014 07:29 AM PDT People who care about justice are swayed more by reason than emotion, according to new brain scan research. Psychologists have found that some individuals react more strongly than others to situations that invoke a sense of justice — for example, seeing a person being treated unfairly, or with mercy. The new study used brain scans to analyze the thought processes of people with high "justice sensitivity."

Erectile dysfunction can be reversed without medication Posted: 28 Mar 2014 07:29 AM PDT Men suffering from sexual dysfunction can be successful at reversing their problem by focusing on lifestyle factors and not just relying on medication, according to research. Researchers have highlighted the incidence of erectile dysfunction and lack of sexual desire among Australian men aged 35-80 years.

Quality early childhood programs help prevent adult chronic disease, research shows Posted: 28 Mar 2014 07:29 AM PDT High-quality early childhood development programs with health care and nutritional components can help prevent or delay the onset of adult chronic disease, research shows. Based on more than three decades of data, the study shows that children who participated in the intervention combining early education with early health screenings and nutrition had much lower levels of hypertension, metabolic syndrome and obesity in their mid-30s than a control group that did not participate in early learning program.

Marriage linked to lower heart risks in study of more than 3.5 million adults Posted: 28 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT People who are married have lower rates of several cardiovascular diseases compared with those who are single, divorced or widowed, according to research. The relationship between marriage and lower odds of vascular diseases is especially pronounced before age 50. For people aged 50 and younger, marriage is associated with 12 percent lower odds of any vascular disease. This number drops to 7 percent for people ages 51 to 60 and only 4 percent for those 61 and older.

TV linked to poor snacking habits, cardiovascular risk in middle schoolers Posted: 28 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT Middle school kids who park themselves in front of the TV for two hours or more each day are more likely to consume junk food and have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, even compared to those who spend an equal amount of time on the computer or playing video games, according to research.

Eating fruits, vegetables linked to healthier arteries later in life Posted: 28 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT Women who ate a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables as young adults were much less likely to have plaque build-up in their arteries 20 years later compared with those who consumed lower amounts of these foods, according to research. This new finding reinforces the importance of developing healthy eating habits early in life.

Number of babies mom has may play role in future cardiovascular health Posted: 28 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT Women who give birth to four or more children are much more likely to have evidence of plaque in their heart or thickening of their arteries -- early signs of cardiovascular disease -- compared with those having fewer pregnancies, according to research.

Concerning number of kids have elevated cholesterol Posted: 28 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT Roughly one out of three kids screened for high cholesterol between the ages of 9 and 11 has borderline or high cholesterol, potentially placing them at greater risk for future cardiovascular disease, according to research. In one of the largest studies of outpatient pediatric clinic visits to date, researchers examined the medical records of 12,712 children who had screening for cholesterol levels as part of a routine physical exam. Of these, 4,709, or 30 percent, had borderline or elevated total cholesterol.

Is laughter the best medicine? Cartoons could help patients cope with chronic conditions Posted: 28 Mar 2014 04:58 AM PDT Cartoons could be a beneficial way of educating patients and empowering them to cope better with their long term conditions, research indicates. "Humor is frequently and naturally used by people with chronic illnesses to help them adjust and understand what is happening to them," explains the study's leader. "Our study has shown that cartoons could provide clarity to patients and be a way to engage with them. It is an untapped resource and could be a potential approach to support self-management."

Mentally challenging jobs may keep your mind sharp long after retirement Posted: 25 Mar 2014 06:58 AM PDT A mentally demanding job may stress you out today but can provide important benefits after you retire, according to a new study. "Based on data spanning 18 years, our study suggests that certain kinds of challenging jobs have the potential to enhance and protect workers' mental functioning in later life," said one author.

Protein followed by exercise is recipe for calorie-burning success in some women Posted: 24 Mar 2014 10:31 AM PDT New research shows that for some women, a high-protein meal followed by 30 minutes of moderate exercise is an effective way of burning calories, especially when compared to exercising on an empty stomach. The goal of the study was to determine the interaction between the thermic effect of food and exercise on the body's total energy expenditure, as measured in calories. Thermic effect is the amount of energy that it takes to digest, store and utilize the food we eat.

Small number of counties leads way in reducing smoking rates in US Posted: 24 Mar 2014 09:14 AM PDT Nationally, smoking rates have decreased since 1996, but the declines have been driven by a relatively small share of counties across the US, according to new research. Total cigarette smoking prevalence -- the percentage of the population that smokes -- has not decreased significantly in all counties but, because a small group of counties accounts for a large percentage of the population, three-quarters of men and two-thirds of women live in counties that did see significant declines.

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