Shifting to a plant-based diet can help keep people from being plagued by multiple health problems as they age, a new study says. People whose diets included more veggies, fruits, whole grains, legumes and plant-based foods had 32% lower odds of developing two or more chronic illnesses, researchers report in The Lancet Healthy Longevity. Specifically, people who adhered more strongly to a healthy plant-based diet had a lower risk of cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, researchers said. “You don’t have to cut out animal products entirely,” lead researcher Reynalda Córdova, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Vienna, said in a news release. “Shifting towards a more plant-based diet can already have a positive impact.” For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 400,000 people between 37 and 70 years of age from six European countries who were participating in two large-scale health research projects. During a follow-up of around 11 years, more than 6,600 participants fell ill with cancer, heart disease or diabetes. Results showed that a person’s risk for multiple chronic illnesses fell by 11% to 18% for every 10-point increase in a score assessing healthy plant-based eating.  Middle-aged folks younger than 60 got more benefit from shifting toward a plant-based diet, researchers said. Their risk of developing multiple chronic ailments fell 29% for every 10-point increase in their plant-based…  read on >  read on >

Shifting to a plant-based diet can help keep people from being plagued by multiple health problems as they age, a new study says. People whose diets included more veggies, fruits, whole grains, legumes and plant-based foods had 32% lower odds of developing two or more chronic illnesses, researchers report in The Lancet Healthy Longevity. Specifically, people who adhered more strongly to a healthy plant-based diet had a lower risk of cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, researchers said. “You don’t have to cut out animal products entirely,” lead researcher Reynalda Córdova, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Vienna, said in a news release. “Shifting towards a more plant-based diet can already have a positive impact.” For the study, researchers analyzed data on more than 400,000 people between 37 and 70 years of age from six European countries who were participating in two large-scale health research projects. During a follow-up of around 11 years, more than 6,600 participants fell ill with cancer, heart disease or diabetes. Results showed that a person’s risk for multiple chronic illnesses fell by 11% to 18% for every 10-point increase in a score assessing healthy plant-based eating.  Middle-aged folks younger than 60 got more benefit from shifting toward a plant-based diet, researchers said. Their risk of developing multiple chronic ailments fell 29% for every 10-point increase in their plant-based…  read on >  read on >

Teens who feel connected to their school may be better protected from depression linked to bullying, new research suggests. The study — published in the journal BMC Public Health — analyzed data from 2,175 adolescents born in large U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000.  Researchers found that bullying during adolescence was more strongly linked to anxiety and depression than bullying in childhood. “This finding might be due in part to the heightened social sensitivity of adolescents to their peers and the significant influence of peer relationships amongst teenagers than children,” said co-author Dr. Nia Heard-Garris, a pediatrician and researcher at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “Likewise, we saw that school connectedness was more protective against depression in teens than in younger children,” she added in a news release. The study showed that school connectedness — feeling safe, included and supported at school — significantly reduced the risk of depression for teens who had recently been bullied, but not for those bullied earlier in childhood. “Teachers can foster peer support by encouraging students to learn more about each other and incorporating collaborative projects into the curriculum to better enable groups of students to work together,” Heard-Garris said. Researchers found that: 11.9% of participants experienced bullying at both ages 9 and 15 (long-term). 43% experienced bullying only at age 9, while 5.7% reported…  read on >  read on >

Teens who feel connected to their school may be better protected from depression linked to bullying, new research suggests. The study — published in the journal BMC Public Health — analyzed data from 2,175 adolescents born in large U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000.  Researchers found that bullying during adolescence was more strongly linked to anxiety and depression than bullying in childhood. “This finding might be due in part to the heightened social sensitivity of adolescents to their peers and the significant influence of peer relationships amongst teenagers than children,” said co-author Dr. Nia Heard-Garris, a pediatrician and researcher at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. “Likewise, we saw that school connectedness was more protective against depression in teens than in younger children,” she added in a news release. The study showed that school connectedness — feeling safe, included and supported at school — significantly reduced the risk of depression for teens who had recently been bullied, but not for those bullied earlier in childhood. “Teachers can foster peer support by encouraging students to learn more about each other and incorporating collaborative projects into the curriculum to better enable groups of students to work together,” Heard-Garris said. Researchers found that: 11.9% of participants experienced bullying at both ages 9 and 15 (long-term). 43% experienced bullying only at age 9, while 5.7% reported…  read on >  read on >

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will stop airing its “Tips From Former Smokers” ads at the end of September, ending a 13-year campaign that helped millions of Americans quit smoking. Launched in 2012, the campaign featured real people sharing the devastating health effects of smoking — and pointed viewers to free resources like the 800-QUIT-NOW helpline.  Independent research from RTI International showed that calls to the quitline surged whenever the ads ran and dropped sharply when they paused, CBS News said. One success story is Leslie Allison-Seei, who quit smoking after more than 40 years. In 2014, she began coughing up blood and was rushed to the hospital, where her doctor urged her to stop immediately.  “You’re done smoking as of today,” she recalled him saying. With nicotine patches, quitline support and a coach named Lori, Leslie quit the next day — and hasn’t smoked in over 11 years, according to CBS News. Research shows the campaign led to millions of attempts to stop smoking and more than 1 million long-term quits between 2012 and 2023.  It also saved billions of dollars in health care costs by preventing smoking-related illnesses. But funding for the program has been cut as part of a broader restructuring of the CDC’s chronic disease programs. Without new support, the ads — widely considered one of the…  read on >  read on >

Research shows the campaign led to millions of attempts to stop smoking and more than 1 million long-term quits  read on >

Struggling to cope with today’s catastrophe-filled world? Changing your mindset can help protect you from the stress caused by disease outbreaks, wildfires, earthquakes, political uproars and traumatic life events, researchers say. People given a one-hour class in shifting their mindset — to see growth opportunities amidst chaos — wound up with lower levels of depression and stress months later, researchers report in the October issue of the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity. “We would have liked to avoid the COVID-19 pandemic, but it came regardless,” said senior researcher Alia Crum, an associate professor of psychology at Stanford University in California. “In the post-pandemic era, we face a choice: We can let it recede into memory, leaving us depleted and disillusioned, or we can choose to look back, learn from it, and grow – both personally and collectively,” Crum said in a news release. Mindsets are the core beliefs, attitudes and assumptions that serve as a foundation for how people see and engage with the world, researchers said in background notes. These mental “lenses” can dramatically change how events affect a person. For the study, the research team tested the potential of altering a person’s mindset by showing two groups different videos. In all, 226 people were shown videos explaining how mindsets can be powerful drivers of health and well-being, highlighting the ways that people can…  read on >  read on >

Struggling to cope with today’s catastrophe-filled world? Changing your mindset can help protect you from the stress caused by disease outbreaks, wildfires, earthquakes, political uproars and traumatic life events, researchers say. People given a one-hour class in shifting their mindset — to see growth opportunities amidst chaos — wound up with lower levels of depression and stress months later, researchers report in the October issue of the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity. “We would have liked to avoid the COVID-19 pandemic, but it came regardless,” said senior researcher Alia Crum, an associate professor of psychology at Stanford University in California. “In the post-pandemic era, we face a choice: We can let it recede into memory, leaving us depleted and disillusioned, or we can choose to look back, learn from it, and grow – both personally and collectively,” Crum said in a news release. Mindsets are the core beliefs, attitudes and assumptions that serve as a foundation for how people see and engage with the world, researchers said in background notes. These mental “lenses” can dramatically change how events affect a person. For the study, the research team tested the potential of altering a person’s mindset by showing two groups different videos. In all, 226 people were shown videos explaining how mindsets can be powerful drivers of health and well-being, highlighting the ways that people can…  read on >  read on >