Health


Effects of Menopausal Hormone Therapy, Calcium Plus Vitamin D Supplementation, and Dietary Modification

The US Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trial results do not support hormone therapy with oral conjugated equine estrogens plus medroxyprogesterone acetate for postmenopausal women or conjugated equine estrogens alone for those with prior hysterectomy to prevent cardiovascular disease, dementia, or other chronic diseases. However, hormone therapy is effective for […]


Sarcopenia and Sarcopenic Obesity Linked to Increased Mortality

Data from a population-based cohort study in the Netherlands suggested that sarcopenic obesity (SO) may be associated with worse survival, and screening for muscle function may help for early identification and prevent premature death among older people. From March 1, 2009, to June 1, 2014, 5888 participants (mean age, 69.5 […]


Prevailing Perspective of Processed/Red Meat and CAD/T2D Challenged

A Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis did not find sufficient evidence to support a causal relationship between red/processed meat consumption and cardiovascular disease (CAD), hypertension, stroke, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The analysis used data of publicly published genome-wide association studies. The inverse-variance weighted analyses revealed no causal association between the […]


Effect of Calcium and Vitamin D Supplements on Mortality

The post hoc analysis of postintervention follow-up of calcium and vitamin D (CaD) supplements suggested reduced cancer mortality and increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. The multicenter trial across the US included 36 282 postmenopausal women randomized 1:1 to 1000 mg of calcium carbonate (400 mg of elemental calcium) with 400 IU […]


Beneficial Daily Steps Independent of Sedentary Time

A prospective dose–response analysis of total daily steps with all-cause mortality and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) by sedentary time levels revealed that any number of daily steps above 2200 steps/day was associated with lower mortality and incident CVD risk, with 9000–10 500 steps/day being associated with the lowest mortality risk independent […]


Irregular Sleep Linked to Dementia and Brain Volume

A UK cohort study suggested that irregular sleep may represent a novel dementia risk factor. A random selection of 88,094 individuals (mean age 62 years, 56% women, and median sleep regularity index [SRI] 60) from a UK cohort was done between February 2013 and December 2015. The SRI was calculated […]


Healthy Vegan Bettered Healthy Omnivorous Diet

A US randomized clinical trial of healthy adult identical twin pairs showed that a healthy plant-based diet offers a significant protective cardiometabolic advantage compared with a healthy omnivorous diet. The open-label, parallel, dietary randomized clinical trial enrolled 22 pairs of twins (N = 44, 34 female; mean age, 39.6 years; mean body […]


Social Connection Issues Linked to Mortality

A UK prospective cohort analysis suggested that both functional (subjective) and structural (objective) measures of social connection were independently associated with all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. The analysis included 458,146 participants with a median of 12.6 years follow-up, 33,135 (7.2%) deaths, including 5112 (1.1%) CVD deaths. Friends/family visit frequencies < monthly were […]


Time-Restricted Eating Effective for Weight Loss in T2D

A US randomized clinical trial found that time-restricted eating (TRE) without calorie counting was effective for weight loss and lowering of HbA1c levels in T2D adults. Between January 25, 2022, and April 1, 2023, 75 adults (mean age of 55, 71% women) with T2D were randomized to 1 of 3 […]


Sleep Restriction Therapy Effective in Insomnia

A UK pragmatic, superiority, open label, randomized controlled trial of sleep restriction therapy (SRT) versus sleep hygiene concluded that brief primary care nurse delivered SRT is both clinically effective and cost-effective in treating insomnia disorder and improving other aspects of mental health and functioning. A total of 642 participants (mean […]