By Dennis Thompson
THURSDAY, July 3, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The age-old “early to bed, early to rise” proverb applies to your daily exercise regimen as well as your health, wealth and wisdom, a new study says.

Folks who get to bed earlier tend to be more physically active every day, researchers reported June 30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

On average, folks with a typical bedtime around 9 p.m. logged about 30 more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day, compared to night owls up ’til 1 a.m., researchers found.

Even delaying sleep by a couple of hours can hamper the next day’s workout, results show.

Those hitting the hay at 9 p.m. recorded nearly 15 additional minutes of exercise compared to those who delayed their sleep until 11 p.m., researchers found.

“Sleep and physical activity are both critical to health, but until now we didn’t fully grasp how intricately connected they are in everyday life,” senior investigator Elise Facer-Childs, a senior research fellow with the Monash University School of Psychological Sciences in Australia, said in a news release.

For the study, nearly 20,000 people wore a sleep-and-activity tracker on their wrist for a year. On average, the entire sample tended to nod off around 11 p.m.
Results show that sleeping less than usual and falling asleep earlier were both associated with increased physical activity, compared with sleeping longer or delaying sleep later in the evening.

These findings were further validated using Fitbit data from another study involving nearly 6,000 people, researchers added.

The results suggest that conventional work schedules can interfere with a person’s exercise regimen, says lead researcher Josh Leota, a research fellow in psychology at Monash University.

“Standard 9-to-5 routines can clash with the natural sleep preferences of evening types, leading to social jetlag, poorer sleep quality and increased daytime sleepiness – which can all reduce motivation and opportunity for physical activity the next day,” Leota said in a news release.

Importantly, the study also found that folks can successfully change up their routine.

When people went to sleep earlier than usual but still got their typical amount of sleep, they recorded the highest levels of physical activity the next day, the study says.

Leota said these insights hold meaningful implications for public health.
“Rather than just promoting sleep and physical activity independently, health campaigns could encourage earlier bedtimes to naturally foster more active lifestyles,” he said.

“A holistic approach that recognizes how these two essential behaviors interact may lead to better outcomes for individual and community health,” Leota concluded.

More information
West Virginia University has more on how sleep can affect an exercise routine.

SOURCE: Monash University, news release, June 30, 2025

Health News

By Dennis Thompson
THURSDAY, June 26, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Kids watching YouTube videos are being hammered with messages promoting junk food like candy, sugary drinks, fast food and sweet or salty snacks, a new study says. About 75% of 6- to 8-year-olds and 36% of 3- to 5-year-olds were fed promotions for junk food while watching YouTube or YouTube Kids videos they chose on their own mobile devices, researchers reported in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

“More than half of food brands in these videos came from companies that participate in the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a U.S. food industry self-regulatory program,” said senior investigator Jennifer Harris, a senior research advisor at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health at the University of Connecticut.

“Despite these companies’ pledges to only advertise healthier choices to children, child-influencers frequently promoted their brands, including candy, sugary drinks and sweet and salty snacks,” she said in a news release.

For the study, researchers observed 101 kids as they watched YouTube videos in their homes for 30 minutes.
About 73% of food brand appearances promoted junk food, while only 3% of food-related messages highlighted healthy options, results show.

Most of this messaging occurred as part of brand appearances embedded within video content that purposely blurred food promotion with entertainment.

More than 60% of food brand appearances were embedded in the video content, with only 23% showing up during video previews and 17% in advertisements, researchers said.

Lifestyle videos contributed 77% of these appearances, and 71% showed an influencer or another character either consuming or preparing to consume the product, researchers said.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has called on companies and influencers to halt these common stealth marketing practices, particularly in videos aimed at young children, researchers noted.

“Very young children are being bombarded with unhealthy product promotion on YouTube and YouTube Kids, frequently embedded in their favorite videos as props or part of the storyline which disguises persuasive intent,” said lead researcher Frances Fleming-Milici, director of marketing initiatives at the Rudd Center.

“As children as young as age 3 spend more and more time on these platforms, policies must be enacted to protect them from this stealth marketing of products that harm their health,” she added in a news release.

Google bans food and beverage advertising on YouTube Kids and during “made-for-kids” videos, researchers said.

But more than a third of 3- to 8-year-olds watching YouTube Kids viewed food brands embedded in videos and thumbnail images, researchers said.

In addition, none of the videos embedded with a food or beverage brand disclosed that a food company had sponsored the content, as required by the FTC, researchers said.

More information
The University of California-Irvine has more on targeting children as consumers.

SOURCE: University of Connecticut, news release, June 25, 2025
HealthDay

by: Dennis Thompson

Want to reduce your risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease?

Get on your bike and ride, a new study recommends.

Biking regularly for transportation appears to lower risk of dementia by 19% and Alzheimer’s by 22%, according to results published June 9 in JAMA Network Open.

The results also suggest that cycling might even help increase the size of a brain region important for memory, researchers noted.

“Cycling is a moderate- to high-intensity workout, and also requires balance,” said Dr. Liron Sinvani, director of geriatric services at Northwell Health in Manhasset, N.Y., who reviewed the findings. “It requires more complex brain function than walking, which is why maybe it was a better reducer of dementia risk.”

“It’s not about just doing exercise and making that part of your routine, but thinking about the way you live your life,” she added in a news release. “So instead of having to drive somewhere, taking that bike and using active travel modes to get around as part of your lifestyle becomes very important.”

For the study, researchers analyzed data on nearly 480,000 people participating in the UK Biobank, a long-term health study of people living in England, Scotland and Wales.

As part of the study, participants noted the forms of transport they used most often to get about, not including travel to and from work.

During an average follow-up of 13 years, more than 8,800 participants developed dementia and nearly 4,000 developed Alzheimer’s.

Results showed a lower risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s among those who cycled or included cycling among other forms of travel like walking, driving or using public transportation.

“Our findings suggest that promoting active travel strategies, particularly cycling, may be associated with lower dementia risk among middle-aged and older adults, which carries substantial public health benefits by encouraging accessible, sustainable practices for cognitive health preservation,” concluded the research team led by Liangkai Chen, an associate professor at Tongji Medical College at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China.

MRI brain scans showed that cycling also was associated with a larger hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in memory formation and learning, researchers noted.

However, cycling’s benefits appeared to extend mostly to people without a genetic risk for Alzheimer’s, results showed.

People without the APOE E4 genetic variant had a 26% lower risk of dementia and 25% lower risk of Alzheimer’s.

Results were not statistically significant among APOE E4 carriers, but indicated less protection from cycling.

Interestingly, the results also indicate that driving offered some protection against dementia compared to taking the bus or subway.

“Even when using inactive travel like car or public transportation, it seemed like driving had a little bit better impact [on brain health] than public transportation,” Sinvani said in the news release.

However, researchers noted that this observational study could not draw a direct cause-and-effect link between cycling and healthy brain aging.

“What I tell my patients and family and friends whenever they ask me what they can do to reduce their risk of dementia, is whatever gets you outside doing stuff is what you should be doing,” she said. “I think we see that it’s not just the physical activity, but it’s also in the balance, and it really engages different parts of your brain.”

If you’re able to get on a bike, Sinvani said, do that. If you’re aren’t, use your feet.

“I think if it’s, ‘should I walk or take a bike?’ I would say take a bike, but if it’s ‘should I walk or just stay home?’ I would say definitely walk,” she said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on how Physical Activity Boosts Brain Health | Physical Activity | CDC

SOURCES: Northwell Health, news release, June 9, 2025; JAMA Network Open, June 9, 2025
HealthDay

by: Dennis Thompson

Men in “watchful waiting” mode for their low-risk prostate cancer are staying healthier longer thanks to advanced imaging and treatments designed to keep their tumor at bay, a new study says.
Advanced MRI imaging and MRI-guided biopsies are providing a much clearer view of the prostate, allowing doctors to more easily track cancer changes over time, researchers wrote in The Journal of Urology.

Meanwhile, focal therapies are curbing the progress of prostate cancer by using heat, cold and electricity to kill tumor cells on the prostate, researchers said.

This combination is allowing men to remain in active surveillance longer without surgery or radiation therapy, which can cause long-lasting side effects like impotence and incontinence, researchers said.

“This represents a major advancement in the management of prostate cancer,” senior researcher Dr. Leonard Marks, chair of urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said in a news release.
“By combining MRI-guided diagnosis with selective focal therapy, we can offer men a more personalized approach,” Marks said. “This strategy not only helps avoid unnecessary procedures, but also gives us a better way to predict who will benefit from extended surveillance, potentially improving quality of life and reducing side effects without compromising safety.”

About 60% of men with low-risk prostate cancer are in active surveillance, where doctors hold off on treatment until there are signs the tumor has progressed, according to the National Cancer Institute.

These low-risk prostate cancers grow so slowly that they may never cause symptoms, and men with these tumors are more likely to die from some other cause, experts say.
However, many men are queasy with the thought of having an untreated cancer, and they wind up opting for surgery or radiation even though the chances of unpleasant and lasting side effects are high, researchers said.

To improve men’s confidence in active surveillance, researchers tested whether using MRI-guided biopsy and focal therapy could make watchful waiting safer, more effective and easier for patients to stay on longer.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from 869 men in UCLA’s active surveillance program between 2010 and 2022. All patients had an MRI-guided biopsy at the start that showed low- to medium-risk prostate cancer.

Starting in 2016, some of the men also were offered focal therapy if their cancer was slightly higher-risk or had showed signs of progressing.

About a quarter of the men wound up undergoing focal therapy, which uses cold gases, lasers, ultrasound or electric shocks to kill off cancer cells.

MRI was highly accurate in identifying cancers that qualified for active surveillance, correctly predicting stable tumors in 90% to 95% of men with low-risk cancer and 70% of men with medium-risk cancer, results show.

In fact, the MRI was so accurate that there was a reduced need for repeat biopsies, researchers said.

Results also showed a decline in men leaving active surveillance due to anxiety, which could reflect growing confidence in MRI-based monitoring, researchers said.

“Although the numbers for the focal therapy group are small and the follow up was relatively brief, the near-term advantage of focal therapy in avoiding surgery or radiation is clear,” Marks said.

“This study offers some of the strongest evidence yet that active surveillance, when guided by modern imaging and minimally invasive treatments like focal therapy, can safely be expanded to more patients,” he concluded.

However, researchers said these techniques should be further tested in larger studies involving more hospitals.

More information

The Cleveland Clinic has more on focal therapy for prostate cancer.

SOURCE: UCLA, news release, May 8, 2025
Health Day

By: Dennis Thompson

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 26, 2025 (HealthDay News) — A diet rich in fish might slow the progression of multiple sclerosis in some patients, a new study says.

The nutrients found in fish can quell inflammation and protect brain cells, and this might be of particular benefit for MS patients, researchers reported in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

MS patients who ate larger amounts of lean or oily fish had a 34% lower risk of their symptoms growing worse, researchers found.

They also had about a 45% lower risk of scoring worse on a scale that measures MS disability, the results show.

“The results underscore the potential role of diet, particularly fish consumption, as a modifiable factor that could complement existing therapeutic strategies for MS,” concluded a team led by Anna Karin Hedström, a senior research specialist with the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

MS occurs when a person’s immune system attacks myelin, the protective sheath that coats nerve fibers. The damage to nerve cells causes the brain to shrink as well as symptoms like muscle weakness, stiffness, spasms, vision problems, thinking declines and pain.

For the study, researchers analyzed data for more than 2,700 Swedish MS patients who participated in a nationwide study between April 2005 and June 2015.

Upon entering the study, participants reported on many of their lifestyle habits, including their consumption of fish.

Results showed that people who ate more fish had a lower risk of their MS disability and symptoms growing worse, compared to those who ate the least.

Likewise, people who increased their fish intake following diagnosis benefitted from it.

Compared to folks who ate little fish, MS patients who bumped up fish in their diet had a 20% to 59% lower risk of disability worsening within five years after diagnosis, depending on how much more they ate.

These results held true even after accounting for other risk factors like physical activity, weight, smoking, alcohol intake, and sun exposure.

Omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish are known to have brain benefits, but “the beneficial effects observed from lean fish consumption suggest that other factors may also play a significant role,” researchers said.

Taurine, an amino acid found in abundance in fish and seafood, could be one reason why MS patients might benefit.

“Taurine is the most abundant free amino acid in the brain,” and a dietary supply of the amino acid is required to meet the body’s needs, researchers noted.

“Taurine has diverse cellular functions, including cytoprotective actions through antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects, making it a potential therapeutic agent for neurological disorders,” researchers added.

More information
The National MS Society has more on living with MS.

SOURCE: BMJ, news release, Feb. 25, 2025

Health News

By: Dennis Thompson THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2025 (HealthDay News) — A radioactive gas could be contributing to asthma among schoolkids, researchers have found. Children exposed to elevated levels of radon gas tended to have more asthma symptoms, results show. “Residential radon has not previously been described as an environmental risk factor for asthma,” a team led by Dr. Wanda Phipatanakul, director of immunology research with Boston Children’s Hospital, concluded. “For the first time, we demonstrate a relationship between residential radon exposure and airway inflammation and asthma symptoms among school‐aged children with asthma,” researchers wrote recently in the journal Pediatric Pulmonology. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that’s odorless and invisible, occurring to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It emanates from the breakdown of trace amounts of uranium found in soil. Homes can fill with radon as it seeps out of soil and up through cracks and crevices, the CDC says. It is the second-leading cause of lung cancer deaths in the U.S. after cigarette smoke. For the study, researchers tracked the health of nearly 300 children with asthma attending inner-city schools. The team compared kids’ radon exposure in their homes — estimated based on ZIP code — to their asthma symptoms. Asthmatic kids exposed to radon tended to have more days with asthma symptom flare-ups, researchers found. They also suffered from increased airway inflammation as warm weather turned cold. “It is known radon levels may fluctuate seasonally, with indoor levels typically higher during winter months, at a time when windows and doors are more often shut limiting natural ventilation,” researchers wrote. The use of heaters and the compacting of cold soil during the winter also can create pressure differences that might draw more radon gas into the house, researchers added. The risk posed by radon is akin to that from gas stoves, Dr. Joyce Yu noted in a recent review of the study published in the journal Pediatrics. “In recent years, some local municipalities, and even New York state, have banned the use of gas stoves in new buildings to reduce indoor pollutant exposures in the homes over concerns for possible environmental impacts and health risks, such as childhood asthma,” wrote Yu, a pediatric allergy and immunology specialist with Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. “Results from studies like this could help inform scientists, environmental advocates, and lawmakers who are investigating environmental and climate change issues and could potentially impact governmental initiatives and future legislation,” she concluded. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about radon gas. SOURCES: Pediatrics, research review, Dec. 1, 2024; Pediatric Pulmonology, April 2023