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Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Walking 7,000 steps a day a huge boost to health: research
People who walk 7,000 steps a day have a dramatically lower risk of a broad range of serious health problems, the largest review of the evidence yet said Thursday. The most widely promoted target for people tracking their number of steps is 10,000 -- but that figure reportedly originally came from a 1960s marketing campaign for a Japanese pedometer. To find a more scientific target, an international team of researchers sifted through 57 previous studies that covered 160,000 people. The results published in the Lancet Public Health journal found that walking 7,000 steps a day nearly halved people's risk of early death from all causes, compared to 2,000 steps. The study also looked into health problems not previously covered by research into step counts. Walking 7,000 steps a day was linked to people's risk of dementia falling by 38 percent, depression dropping 22 percent and diabetes decreasing 14 percent. It was also associated with lower rates of cancer and falls, though the researchers warned this was based on less evidence. "You don't need to hit 10,000 steps a day to get major health benefits," Paddy Dempsey, a study co-author and medical researcher at Cambridge University, told AFP. "The biggest gains happen before 7,000 steps, and then benefits tend to level off," he said. While people's speeds vary widely, 7,000 steps adds up to roughly an hour of walking throughout the day. Dempsey emphasised that people already managing 10,000 or more steps should keep it up. But he had a message for people who might find 7,000 steps daunting: "don't be discouraged". "If you're only getting 2,000–3,000 steps a day, aim to add an extra 1,000 steps. That's just 10–15 minutes of light walking spread across the day," he said. Andrew Scott, a researcher at the University of Portsmouth not involved in the study, said that "it demonstrates that overall more is always better". "People should not focus too much on the numbers, particularly on days where activity is limited," he added. The World Health Organization recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity a week. Nearly a third of people worldwide do not reach this target, according to the WHO. dl/giv
Bloomberg
12 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Columbia Agrees to $200 Million Fine to Settle White House Fight
Columbia University reached a deal with the Trump administration to restore federal funding for research, easing a crisis that has strained the school's finances and upended its leadership. The school will pay a $200 million fine 'to settle claims related to discriminatory practices, marking a significant win for accountability in academia,' a senior White House official said on Wednesday.
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The Pandemic May Have Made Your Brain Age Faster — Whether or Not You Got COVID
A new study found that the COVID-19 pandemic, not the disease itself, may be linked to faster brain aging. The study, published by Nature Communications on Tuesday, July 22, found that the time when the COVID-19 pandemic dominated daily life was linked to what appeared to be accelerated brain aging. However, the study emphasized, brain aging isn't necessarily linked to decreased cognitive ability, whereas actually contracting the disease does bear that link. The study examined nearly 1,000 people's brains and divided them into two groups. The "control group" underwent two MRI scans, both conducted before the pandemic gained traction in early 2020. A second group, named the "pandemic group," did one MRI scan prior to the pandemic and one after the pandemic's initial onset. Findings from both groups were then compared against an existing set of data featuring over 15,000 healthy participants' imaging. This comparison served to show the gap between predicted brain age (based on the brain's physical state) and chronological age (based on the participant's real age). Researchers found that even in subjects' brains that bore virtually no difference between predicted and chronological brain age, after the pandemic, the gap increased — regardless of COVID-19 infection. The average gap increase was 5.5 months, which was deemed statistically significant. Participants averaged an age of 63 and did not have any significant chronic conditions, "to maintain consistency in health status across all subjects," the study read. The study found that those most significantly affected by the pandemic in terms of brain age were men and elderly people, especially those who are at a socioeconomic disadvantage. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. However, a large brain age gap isn't necessarily linked to cognitive decline, the study found — marks of impacted cognitive ability were found only in participants who were infected. "Our study highlights the pandemic's significant impact on brain health, beyond direct infection effects, emphasising the need to consider broader social and health inequalities," the study stated. Read the original article on People
