1. Vaginally applied estrogen in post-menopausal women is linked with improved sexual health.
Applying estrogen vaginally in post-menopausal women resulted in less dry and painful intercourse, according to a study from the federally-funded Women’s Health Initiative. This study found that the estrogen was more beneficial for women who were not currently using hormone replacement therapy, with women stating they were experiencing significantly more enjoyable sex lives.
Fox News
2. Lowering blood pressure below the recommended target level reduces risk of stroke, heart failure and death, study says.
In a study sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 9,300 individuals with high blood pressure and other risk factors like high cholesterol and smoking benefited from a significant lowering of blood pressure. By lowering the participants blood pressure to 120 or lower, heart attacks and strokes were reduced by approximately a third and risk for death went down almost a quarter.
NPR
3. Salads are viewed as feminine because people associate health foods with women.
A paper titled “Macho Nachos” from the Social Psychology journal reported that people associate foods with gender. Women are culturally expected to eat healthier than men, which is why this study suggests that health foods are generally associated with femininity. In the study with 93 adults who were shown different types of food and asked to associate them to a gender, most frequently were fatty foods like cheeseburgers associated with men and healthy foods like salads associated with women.
Time
4. Babies who are born between 22 and 28 weeks of a pregnancy are surviving more now than in past years.
A typical gestation period is 40 weeks, and in the past extremely premature babies had little chance of surviving. Thanks to new technology and practices put in place since 1993, more premature babies are surviving and the number of illnesses they have has decreased, stated a study by the National Institutes of Health.
Washington Post
5. Frequent fish eaters have a 17 percent lower risk of developing depression.
In a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, it was found that the more fish you consumed the happier you felt. The study examined 26 other studies on fish and depression, and found that those who consumed more fish had a 17 percent lower chance of developing depression than those who eat no or little fish. The study stated that this might be attributed to the healthy omega 3 found within the fish.
Time
6. A decade after the trans-fat ban in Denmark, heart disease deaths have gone down significantly.
The country of Denmark implemented a ban trans-fat ban in 2004 due to their unhealthy affects. Ten years after their ban of the ‘bad’ fat, a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showed that the number of the country’s cardiovascular deaths has significantly decreased.