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Tag: reduces

  • Busy Times, or Anytime: Nine Ways Mindfulness Reduces Stress

    Busy Times, or Anytime: Nine Ways Mindfulness Reduces Stress

    You’ve probably heard that mindfulness reduces stress levels. But how does it help? Shamash Alidina shares the research—plus, a meditation you can turn to anytime.

    You’ve probably heard that mindfulness reduces stress. But how does it actually help you do that?

    Mounting scientific evidence from hundreds of universities—including dedicated centers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the United States and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom—strongly suggests that mindfulness gently builds an inner strength, so that future stressors have less impact on our happiness and physical well-being.

    Here are nine ways mindfulness can help you manage stress, plus a guided meditation to start experiencing the natural calm that mindfulness can bring:

    Nine Ways Mindfulness Reduces Stress

    1. You become more aware of your thoughts. You can then step back from them and not take them so literally. That way, your stress response is not initiated in the first place.
    2. You don’t immediately react to a situation. Instead, you have a moment to pause and then use your “wise mind” to come up with the best solution. Mindfulness helps you do this through the mindful exercises.
    3. Mindfulness switches on your “being” mode of mind, which is associated with relaxation. Your “doing” mode of mind is associated with action and the stress response.
    4. You are more aware and sensitive to the needs of your body. You may notice pains earlier and can then take appropriate action.
    5. You are more aware of the emotions of others. As your emotional intelligence rises, you are less likely to get into conflict.
    6. Your level of care and compassion for yourself and others rises. This compassionate mind soothes you and inhibits your stress response.
    7. Mindfulness practice reduces activity in the part of your brain called the amygdala. The amygdala is central to switching on your stress response, so effectively, your background level of stress is reduced.
    8. You are better able to focus. So you complete your work more efficiently, you have a greater sense of well-being, and this reduces the stress response. You are more likely to get into “the zone” or “flow,” as it’s termed in psychology by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
    9. You can switch your attitude to the stress. Rather than just seeing the negative consequences of feeling stressed, mindfulness offers you the space to think differently about the stress itself. Observing how the increased pressure helps energize you has a positive effect on your body and mind.

    Try It Yourself—Stress SOS: A Quick Practice When You Need It Most

    1. Bring to mind a current challenge in your life that is the cause of some stress. A situation that you’re willing to work with at the moment. Not your biggest challenge but not so small that it causes no stress at all. A 3 on a scale of 1–10 is a good guide.
    2. Bring the situation vividly to mind. Imagine being in the situation and all the difficulties associated with it.
    3. Notice whether you can feel the stress in your body. Physical tension, faster heart rate, a little bit of sweating, butterflies in your stomach, tightness in the back or shoulders or jaw, perhaps. Look out for your stress signals.
    4. Tune in to your emotions. Notice how you feel. Label that emotion if you can, and be aware of where you feel the emotion, exactly, in your body. Just try to spot it as best you can. The more precisely you can locate the emotion and the more you notice about the sensation, the better. With time and experience, you’ll keep getting better at this.
    5. Bring mindful attitudes to the emotion. These include curiosity, friendliness, and acceptance.
    6. Try placing your hand on the location of the sensation—a friendly hand representing kindness. Do it the way you would place your hand on the injured knee of a child, with care and affection.
    7. Feel the sensation together with your breathing. This can promote a present-moment awareness and mindful attitudes to your experience.
    8. When you’re ready, bring this meditation to a close.
    This article was adapted from Shamash Alidina’s book The Mindful Way Through Stress



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  • Vaccine To Protect Against Dementia? This One Reduces Risk By 20%

    Vaccine To Protect Against Dementia? This One Reduces Risk By 20%

    As dementia and Alzheimer’s cases continue to rise, researchers are exploring new ways to curb their impact. But a surprising breakthrough suggests that protection might already be within reach. A recent study suggests that shingles vaccine, which protects against the painful viral rash, may also reduce the risk of dementia in older adults.

    Earlier studies have shown that there is reduced dementia risk among those vaccinated with shingles. However, many were biased, as vaccinated individuals tend to be more health-conscious, making it difficult to determine whether the vaccine itself offered protection or if lifestyle factors like diet and exercise played a role.

    To address this, researchers at Stanford Medicine took advantage of an unusual public health policy in Wales. In 2013, a shingles vaccination program set strict age-based eligibility rules: those who were 79 on September 1 could receive the vaccine that year, while those who turned 80 before the cutoff were never eligible.

    The two groups had similar education levels, vaccination habits, and rates of conditions like diabetes and heart disease. This created a unique opportunity to compare two nearly identical groups, differing only in vaccine access, allowing researchers to isolate the vaccine’s true impact from lifestyle factors.

    “What makes the study so powerful is that it’s essentially like a randomized trial with a control group — those a little bit too old to be eligible for the vaccine — and an intervention group — those just young enough to be eligible,” said Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer, senior author of the study in a news release.

    The study showed that those who received the shingles vaccine were 20% less likely to develop dementia over the next seven years than those who did not receive the vaccine. The researchers also noted that the protection against dementia was notably stronger in women than in men. This is possibly due to sex differences in immune response or the difference in the way dementia develops.

    “For the first time we are able to say much more confidently that the shingles vaccine causes a reduction in dementia risk. If this truly is a causal effect, we have a finding that’s of tremendous importance,” Dr. Geldsetzer added.

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  • Just 5 Minutes Of Daily Exercise Reduces Dementia Risk By 41%

    Just 5 Minutes Of Daily Exercise Reduces Dementia Risk By 41%

    Staying active is one of the most effective ways to support long-term health and lower the risk of dementia. However, not everyone has the time, ability, or motivation for structured workouts every day. Here’s some good news- new research suggests even small amounts of movement can still give significant protection against dementia.

    A recent study published in the Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine found that just 35 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, which is about 5 minutes a day, lowered the risk of developing dementia by 41% compared to those who never exercised.

    “Our findings suggest that increasing physical activity, even as little as five minutes per day, can reduce dementia risk in older adults. This adds to a growing body of evidence that some exercise is better than nothing, especially with regard to an aging-related disorder that affects the brain that currently has no cure,” said lead author Amal Wanigatunga in a news release.

    The findings were made after following up nearly 90,000 adults with an average age of 63, for about 4.4 years. During the study period, the researchers tracked the physical activity levels and health of the participants and noted that 735 of them developed dementia. On average, participants engaged in 126 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week.

    The study found that for every additional 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, the risk of developing dementia decreased by 4%. While even small amounts of movement help, the researchers noticed a clear pattern, a dose-response relationship between exercise and reduced dementia risk. This means that more people exercised, the greater the benefits.

    Those who engaged in 36 to 70 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week saw their dementia risk drop by 60%, while those who exercised for 71 to 140 minutes experienced a 63% reduction. The biggest impact, however, was among individuals who exceeded 140 minutes per week, slashing their risk by an impressive 69%.

    “Our results suggest engaging in any additional amount of MVPA [moderate to vigorous physical activity] reduces dementia risk, with the highest benefit appearing among individuals with no MVPA. These associations are not substantially modified by frailty status,” the researchers concluded.

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  • ADHD Reduces Life Expectancy? Here’s How It Affects Men And Women Differently

    ADHD Reduces Life Expectancy? Here’s How It Affects Men And Women Differently

    As ADHD diagnoses continue to rise in the U.S., researchers have uncovered a troubling link between the behavioral disorder and reduced life expectancy, with the impact varying between men and women.

    Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders affecting children. The condition can impact various aspects of life, including academic performance, professional achievements, interpersonal relationships, and daily functioning.

    In a large-scale study published in The British Journal of Psychiatry, researchers analyzed data from over 300,000 participants with ADHD, comparing it with a similar group without the condition to understand its effects on longevity. The findings revealed that men with ADHD had a life expectancy reduction of 4.5 to 9 years, while women faced a reduction of 6.5 to 11 years.

    “It is deeply concerning that some adults with diagnosed ADHD are living shorter lives than they should. People with ADHD have many strengths and can thrive with the right support and treatment. However, they often lack support and are more likely to experience stressful life events and social exclusion, negatively impacting their health and self-esteem,” said senior author, Professor Josh Stott in a news release.

    The researchers also noted that only a fraction of the total population of adults with ADHD could be studied as less than one in nine adults with ADHD had been diagnosed.

    “We know from studies of traits in the community and from studies of childhood diagnosis that the rate of ADHD in our sample is just a fraction of what it should be,” Professor Stott added.

    Since the condition often goes undiagnosed, particularly in adults, this new research may overestimate the reduction in life expectancy for those with the condition. The study findings may not be generalizable to other geographies or settings, the researchers caution. Also, since the study has not evaluated data on the specific causes of death, it is not possible to directly attribute the years of lost life to different factors.

    However, researchers noted that early deaths in ADHD patients could be “caused by modifiable risk factors and unmet support and treatment needs in terms of both ADHD and co-occurring mental and physical health conditions.”

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  • Just 80 Minutes Of Weekly Exercise Reduces Baby Blues, Postpartum Depression Symptoms: Says Study

    Just 80 Minutes Of Weekly Exercise Reduces Baby Blues, Postpartum Depression Symptoms: Says Study

    For new moms who are looking for an all-natural way to ease their baby blues or depression, here’s some good news: a brisk walk or yoga might be just what you need to relieve symptoms. Researchers have found that mothers who engage in exercise programs with at least 80 minutes of moderate activity each week experience significant reductions in the severity of baby blues and postpartum depression.

    Postpartum depression is a serious mental health condition impacting over 10% of women in the first year after childbirth. Hormonal shifts, genetic predisposition, and environmental factors can trigger it. In contrast, the ‘baby blues’ is a milder, temporary form of depression that usually fades within a few weeks as hormone levels stabilize.

    Researchers behind the latest study investigated the benefits of exercise on maternal mental health by evaluating 35 studies involving 4072 participants from 14 countries. Participants exercised at different frequencies, from 1 to 5 days a week, with sessions lasting between 15 and 90 minutes. Activities included aerobic exercise, strength training, stretching, yoga, and combinations of these forms.

    “Pooled data analysis of the study results showed that compared with no exercise, exercise-only interventions were associated with less severe symptoms of depression and anxiety after giving birth and an almost halving in the odds (45%) of developing major postpartum depression,” the news release stated.

    Although with an increase in exercise volume, there were greater reductions in depression symptoms, researchers noted significant positive effects, even with a minimum threshold of 80 minutes per week of moderate activities spread across at least four days. Moderate activities included brisk walking, water aerobics, stationary cycling, and resistance training with bands, weights, or body weight.

    Based on these findings, researchers recommend starting postpartum exercise within the first three months after childbirth for improved mental health.

    “The findings of this review show the efficacy of exercise in improving mental health outcomes for postpartum individuals. Given the comparable effectiveness we observed of postpartum exercise in reducing depressive symptom severity to conventional treatments, exercise could provide mothers with relatively safe, accessible and inexpensive alternatives to address mental health conditions,” the researchers wrote in the study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

    “Additionally, using exercise to improve postpartum mental health could reduce current concerns with conventional treatment options, such as the largely unknown long-term effects of antidepressant use during lactation on the child or prohibitive costs of regular psychosocial therapy visits,” they added.

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  • Three cups of coffee daily boosts heart health, reduces cardiometabolic multimorbidity risk: study

    Three cups of coffee daily boosts heart health, reduces cardiometabolic multimorbidity risk: study

    Can’t start your day without coffee? A recent study reveals that your morning ritual might do more than just wake you up, it could also benefit your heart health. The research found that moderate caffeine intake, or three cups of coffee daily, significantly reduces the risk of cardiometabolic multimorbidity.

    Cardiometabolic multimorbidity refers to having at least two coexisting cardiometabolic diseases. Studies indicate that having a single cardiometabolic condition doubles the risk of death from all causes. In contrast, individuals with cardiometabolic multimorbidity may face a risk of all-cause mortality that is four to seven times higher.

    According to the latest study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, any level of coffee and caffeine consumption could play an important protective role in all phases of cardiometabolic multimorbidity development.

    After analyzing the caffeine consumption of over 500,000 participants from the UK Biobank who are part of a detailed longitudinal dietary study, researchers noted that compared with non-consumers or those who take less than 100mg of caffeine per day, moderate consumption of coffee, meaning three drinks per day or 200–300 mg of caffeine had the lowest risk for new-onset cardiometabolic multimorbidity.

    The study focused on participants aged 37 to 73, excluding those with unclear caffeine intake data. This resulted in a pool of 172,315 individuals free of cardiometabolic diseases at the start, for analyzing caffeine effects. Additionally, a separate group of 188,091 participants was included to examine the impact of coffee and tea consumption.

    The results suggest that those who drank three cups a day experienced a 48.1% reduction in risk, while those consuming 200–300 mg of caffeine daily saw a 40.7% decrease, compared to individuals who either did not consume caffeine or had less than 100 mg per day.

    “Consuming three cups of coffee, or 200–300 mg caffeine, per day might help to reduce the risk of developing cardiometabolic multimorbidity in individuals without any cardiometabolic disease,” said the study’s lead author, Chaofu Ke in a news release.

    “The findings highlight that promoting moderate amounts of coffee or caffeine intake as a dietary habit for healthy people might have far-reaching benefits for the prevention of cardiometabolic multimorbidity,” Ke said.

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