Good news, bad news, helpful news—weird news—all caught our attention this week. Here’s the health highlights for April 23-27.
Weight Training Staves Off Dementia in Women 70 and Older
My 78-year-old mom is ahead of the curve … or should I say Curves? She joined the women-only gym chain a few months ago and has quickly become an exercise evangelist. The physical benefits of strength training for older women have been well-documented, but the cognitive effects, not so much. In this study, the women who strength-trained showed significantly more improvement than women who walked or did balance and stretching exercises.
Researchers ID 10 Breast Cancer Subtypes
If you’ve ever known anyone with breast cancer (or any type of cancer, for that matter), you know how difficult it is to figure out what course of treatment to pursue. The major focus of research over the last several years has been to figure out how to better target treatments to spare the patient unnecessary side effects and increase the effectiveness of the intervention. This study is a huge step in the right direction—now the focus will be coming up with treatments to address each of the 10 subtypes.
Nearly 2 of 3 Adults Don’t Follow Doctor’s Orders for Prescription Drugs
Have you ever stopped taking your antibiotics before you finished the pack? Or swiped one of your husband’s Ambien? This story’s for you.
Five Foul Things That are Also Good for You
Couldn’t resist clicking on this link, could you? We couldn’t either. Believe it or not, this piece was written by the National Institutes of Health (although it seems like a perfect Men’s Health magazine coverline) about the work of its scientists. We don’t want to spoil it for you—let’s just say that some of the researchers would make perfect guests on “Dirty Jobs.”
