Lifestyle
Light exercise can yield significant cognitive benefits, new research shows
Everyday physical activity significantly enhances cognitive health, reversing four years of cognitive aging, according to a Penn State study highlighting movement’s importance of exercise for mental benefits.
Exercise
Everyday physical activity, like going for a short walk or playing with the kids, may provide short-term benefits for cognitive health, equivalent to reversing four years of cognitive aging. That was a key finding for my colleagues and me in our new study, which was published in the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
Prior to enrollment into a study of diet and dementia risk, we asked a diverse sample of 204 middle-aged adults to check in five times per day for a period of nine days, via a smartphone application.
Each check-in involved completing a brief survey that asked about their mood, dietary choices and whether they engaged in any physical activity in the roughly three and a half hours leading up to the survey. In addition, participants completed a few brief brain games – meaning performance-based cognitive assessments that lasted about one minute each – to assess mental speed and short-term memory.
My team found that performance on our measure of cognitive processing speed improved during check-ins when participants reported being physically active in the time leading up to the survey. While we didn’t see improvements in our measure of working memory, the time taken to complete the memory task mirrored what we saw for the measure of processing speed.
We observed these improvements in speed regardless of whether the activity was lighter intensity or moderate-to-vigorous intensity. This led us to conclude that movement, whether it took the form of intentional exercise or part of a daily routine, was the essential ingredient for achieving this benefit.
Why it matters
As a rule, we get slower, both physically and mentally, as we age. While research on exercise and living a healthy lifestyle has demonstrated the long-term cognitive and brain health benefits of remaining physically active, much of this work has focused on the moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity – or what most of us think of as exercise – recommended by the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.
Still, these guidelines and other experts recommend that adults move more and sit less.
My colleagues and I are interested in understanding how moving more can improve our cognitive health or reduce our risk of dementia as we age, at what timescale these benefits show up, and what types of movement qualify. https://www.youtube.com/embed/lk3mrNqhn24?wmode=transparent&start=0 Exercise promotes blood circulation and the growth of neurons.
What still isn’t known
Our study relied on participants to report whether they had been physically active during the time between each check-in. Even though participants were provided training on how to think about the intensity levels, it’s possible that each participant had a slightly different perception of their activities.
For example, a participant may not have believed their recent walk actually qualified as a moderate-intensity activity. Physical activity monitors that can dissociate time and intensity might help future research unravel these associations more clearly.
What’s next
It isn’t yet clear whether these short-term benefits accumulate over time to result in long-term improvements in brain health and dementia risk reduction. Research efforts are underway by our team to better understand these associations over broader timescales.
My research involves data collection via smartphones and wearable devices to help us better understand how health-promoting behaviors and cognitive health interact as we age. This type of digital approach allows my team to pursue questions about how everyday behavior and experience influence cognition in daily life and represents a significant methodological advancement in the dementia risk and prevention research space.
Using these tools, we aim to better identify individuals at risk for negative cognitive outcomes and new targets for dementia prevention.
Jonathan G. Hakun, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Psychology, & Public Health Sciences, Penn State
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Our Lifestyle section on STM Daily News is a hub of inspiration and practical information, offering a range of articles that touch on various aspects of daily life. From tips on family finances to guides for maintaining health and wellness, we strive to empower our readers with knowledge and resources to enhance their lifestyles. Whether you’re seeking outdoor activity ideas, fashion trends, or travel recommendations, our lifestyle section has got you covered. Visit us today at https://stmdailynews.com/category/lifestyle/ and embark on a journey of discovery and self-improvement.
Health
The War on Sunscreen: How Misinformation May Be Undermining Cancer Prevention
Despite its wide recognition as an effective tool for skin cancer prevention, many Americans still say they aren’t sure how sunscreen works. This sunscreen confusion highlights a central challenge in preventing skin cancer, which is the most common form of cancer in the United States.
(Feature Impact) Despite its wide recognition as an effective tool for skin cancer prevention, many Americans still say they aren’t sure how sunscreen works. In fact, confusion about its use and misinformation persist, especially on social media.
According to a national survey conducted by Atomik Research on behalf of the nonprofit Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), 53% of the 2,000 adult respondents said they’ve seen claims that sunscreen ingredients may be harmful while 59% reported they’re concerned about what’s in sunscreen and 38% don’t believe sunscreen is safe and effective.
This sunscreen confusion highlights a central challenge in preventing skin cancer, which is the most common form of cancer in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Among the various types of skin cancer, 9 out of 10, including melanoma, are linked to exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, according to the MRA. The survey found most Americans have a basic understanding of the risks of sun exposure, including the more than 8 in 10 who recognize spending long hours in the sun contributes to melanoma risk. However, roughly one-quarter said they rarely or never use sunscreen when outdoors.
Reducing exposure to UV radiation lowers the risk of skin cancer, making sunscreen a key part of prevention, even during those everyday moments you may not immediately recognize as “risky,” like a short walk through a parking lot or an hour sitting in the bleachers at a sporting event.
To combat the confusion, it’s important to first understand how sunscreen works. It absorbs or blocks UV radiation from reaching the skin, preventing DNA damage that can cause cancer.
“Conflicting or incomplete information can make people less likely to wear sunscreen consistently,” said Dr. Joan Levy, chief science officer at the MRA, “but the science on sun protection is clear, and sunscreen is one of the most effective tools to prevent melanoma.”
Active ingredients in sunscreen in the U.S. undergo rigorous review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which evaluates them as over-the-counter drugs – a standard which requires extensive testing and contributes to a more limited set of approved UV filters compared to Europe, where sunscreens are regulated as cosmetics.
The FDA is evaluating additional methodologies for assessing sunscreen ingredients, a process that could, according to Levy, expand the number of approved UV filters available in the U.S.
While melanoma remains the deadliest form of skin cancer, real progress is being made in melanoma research. Recent advances are improving outcomes for many patients with the disease, though approximately 50% of patients do not respond to current treatments, according to the MRA, underscoring why prevention and early detection are critical.
“Treatments such as immunotherapy have significantly improved outcomes for many melanoma patients, but we should never need to treat what we could have prevented,” Levy said.
To learn more and find strategies to protect your skin, visit CureMelanoma.org.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
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Our Lifestyle section on STM Daily News is a hub of inspiration and practical information, offering a range of articles that touch on various aspects of daily life. From tips on family finances to guides for maintaining health and wellness, we strive to empower our readers with knowledge and resources to enhance their lifestyles. Whether you’re seeking outdoor activity ideas, fashion trends, or travel recommendations, our lifestyle section has got you covered. Visit us today at https://stmdailynews.com/category/lifestyle/ and embark on a journey of discovery and self-improvement.
Child Health
9 Steps for a Lifetime of Heart-Healthy Eating
Heart Healthy: More than half of adults and about 60% of children in the United States have unhealthy diets, which can contribute to higher rates of health factors such as high blood pressure and obesity. However, these nine key features of a heart-healthy dietary pattern may help reduce cardiovascular disease risk and improve quality of life.
9 Steps for a Lifetime of Heart-Healthy Eating
(Feature Impact) More than half of adults and about 60% of children in the United States have unhealthy diets, which can contribute to higher rates of health factors such as high blood pressure and obesity, and lead directly to poor health outcomes including death from chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease.
These findings come from the American Heart Association, a global force changing the future of health for all, which published its “2026 Dietary Guidance to Improve Cardiovascular Health” in its peer-reviewed, flagship journal “Circulation” recommending Americans follow a lifelong healthy eating pattern that may reduce cardiovascular disease risk and improve quality of life based on the latest in evidence-based science.
The statement outlines nine key features of a heart-healthy dietary pattern:
- Adjust energy intake and expenditure to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight: Try to balance how much you eat with how active you are to reach and maintain a healthy body weight.
- Eat a variety of vegetables and fruits: Include different colors, textures and types of produce. Remember, even canned and frozen can be nutritious and affordable.
- Choose foods made mostly with whole grains: Foods such as whole‑wheat bread, brown rice and oatmeal are typically better choices than refined grains including white bread or rice.
- Choose healthy sources of protein: Shift from meat to plant-based sources such as legumes, including beans, peas and lentils, along with nuts and seeds; regularly consume fish and seafood; select low-fat or fat-free dairy products; and, if red meat is desired, choose lean cuts, avoid processed forms and limit portion size.
- Choose sources of unsaturated fats: Replace saturated fats with healthy unsaturated fats, including those from nuts, seeds, avocados and nontropical plant oils.
- Choose minimally processed foods: Go with foods close to their natural state, with minimal added commercial ingredients, rather than those that are highly processed with additives.
- Minimize intake of added sugars: Limit the sugar-sweetened beverages you drink and the foods with added sugar you eat.
- Choose foods low in sodium and prepare foods with minimal or no salt: Be aware of hidden sources of sodium in prepared and packaged foods, and season food with healthier options such as herbs, spices or lemon instead of salt.
- If alcohol is not consumed, do not start; if alcohol is consumed, limit intake: Alcohol can increase your risk for high blood pressure and other health conditions, so if you don’t drink, don’t start.
“For healthy eating to be more attainable and sustainable, we recommend people focus on their overall eating pattern rather than specific nutrients or foods,” said Alice H. Lichtenstein, D.Sc., FAHA, volunteer chair of the scientific statement writing committee and senior scientist and leader of the Diet and Chronic Disease Prevention Directive at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. “Every time you choose to make a swap for a healthier alternative, you’re making a step toward a healthier life.”
While the updated guidance is specifically designed to improve cardiovascular health, it’s generally consistent with dietary recommendations for other conditions like Type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, some cancers and brain health as well due to shared risk factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, excess weight and reduced kidney function.
“A healthy dietary pattern can support lifelong health and well-being beyond cardiovascular health,” Lichtenstein said.
To learn more about eating for heart and brain health, visit heart.org/healthydietand talk to your health care provider about what will work best for you.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
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The Food and Drink section at STM Daily News delivers fresh coverage on dining, drinks, recipes, and the food stories bringing communities together.
Lifestyle
You have 30 minutes to save a knocked-out tooth. Only 27% of U.S. adults know that.
Saving a knocked-out tooth: Most U.S. adults say they would do almost anything to avoid losing a natural tooth. Most have also put off going to the dentist when they suspected something was wrong. And some may not be aware of the dental specialists whose entire focus is helping them do exactly that.
You have 30 minutes to save a knocked-out tooth. Only 27% of U.S. adults know that.
(Tiffany Miller) Most U.S. adults say they would do almost anything to avoid losing a natural tooth. Most have also put off going to the dentist when they suspected something was wrong. And some may not be aware of the dental specialists whose entire focus is helping them do exactly that. A new national survey from the American Association of Endodontists, the organization representing those specialists, finds all three of those things together at the center of how U.S. adults actually approach their dental health.
That tension runs through the entire survey. When faced with a serious tooth infection, 61% would choose a treatment that saves the tooth over extraction. Seventy-eight percent say they would do almost anything to avoid losing a natural tooth. The attachment runs deeper than appearances. It is about the tooth itself, the one that has been there your whole life, that feels irreplaceable in a way an implant or crown never quite does.
The gap is not in conviction. It is in knowing what to do.
Only 27% of U.S. adults correctly identify that a knocked-out tooth needs to be treated within 30 minutes to give it the best chance of being saved. The rest either guess wrong or have no idea how quickly the clock is running. And the specialists most equipped to help in that moment, dental professionals called endodontists whose entire focus is saving natural teeth, are known to only 44% of U.S. adults.
Cost widens the gap. Sixty percent of U.S. adults admit to having put off going to the dentist when they suspected something was wrong. The anatomy of that delay is familiar: a symptom that does not seem urgent enough, a bill that feels easier to avoid than face, an appointment that keeps getting pushed to next month. Of those who waited, 51% say it made things worse.
And then there is the fear. Root canals have a reputation that the data does not support. Asked what they believe, 28% of U.S. adults say a root canal is usually more painful than the toothache that sent them to the dentist in the first place. They have it backward. A root canal is designed to relieve that pain, not add to it, according to the American Association of Endodontists. But the perception lingers, shaped in part by a fragmented information environment where 35% of U.S. adults say they have encountered conflicting or confusing information online about procedures such as root canals.
U.S. adults feel strongly about their natural teeth, probably more than they would have predicted before being asked. They delay the care that protects them, do not know what to do when time is short, and are not always getting their information from sources that serve them well.
For a tooth that can often be saved in 30 minutes, that combination has consequences.
Methodology
American Association of Endodontists commissioned Atomik Research, a creative market research agency part of 4media group, to conduct an online survey of 2,000 adults throughout the United States. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level. Fieldwork was conducted between April 3 and April 8, 2026.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
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American Association of Endodontists
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