PROTIME-FITNESS HOLISTIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS

  HOW INFRARED RADIATION HELPS MOSQUITOES FIND YOU The recently discovered cue is one of many insects integrated across various distances. While a mosquito bite is often no more than a temporary bother, it can be scary in many parts of the world. One mosquito species,  Aedes aegypti , spreads the viruses that cause over 100,000,000 cases of dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and other diseases yearly. Another,  Anopheles gambiae , spreads the parasite that causes malaria. The World Health Organization estimates that malaria alone causes more than 400,000 deaths every year. Indeed, their capacity to transmit disease has earned mosquitoes the title of deadliest animal. Male mosquitoes are harmless, but females need blood for egg development. Unsurprisingly, there are over 100 years of rigorous research on how they find their hosts. Over that time, scientists have discovered a single cue that these insects rely on. Instead, they integrate information from many different senses acro...

  Mental health and chronic diabetes link and consequences. Researchers say there is a need for better screening of both risk factors. .         Heart attack, stroke, nerve damage. These are just some of the complications for which millions of Americans with diabetes are at greater risk. When a person has any of these chronic diabetes complications, they are more likely to have a mental health disorder, and vice versa, according to a University of Michigan-led study . That is, the relationship goes both ways: having a mental health condition also increases the risk of developing chronic complications of diabetes. "We wanted to see if chronic diabetes complications led to mental health disorders or if mental health disorders led to those diabetes complications -- but we found that both relationships are true," said Brian Callaghan, M.D., M.S., senior author and the Eva L. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Neurology at U-M Medical School. "The findings highlight ...

  STRESSED? PLACEBOS MAY HELP         A team from Michigan State University has found that placebos can help people handle stress—even when they know exactly what they're taking and get the pills by mail. In the study, adults dealing with ongoing stress from the COVID-19 pandemic were split into two groups. One group received placebo pills in the mail, along with straightforward explanations about how placebos work; the other group didn’t take any pills. Everyone took part in four Zoom meetings with researchers over two weeks. By the end of the study, those who took the so-called “open-label” placebos (meaning they knew the pills were inactive) reported noticeably lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression compared to those who took nothing. Participants also found the placebo routine easy to follow. “Chronic stress can really mess with your ability to manage emotions and can snowball into serious mental health problems, so it’s encouraging to see that some...

  STRENGTH TRAINING AND CELLULAR HEALTH IMPACT University of Bonn study: regulated degradation of damaged cell components prevents heart failure and nerve diseases B        The elimination of damaged cell components is essential for the maintenance of the body's tissues and organs. An international research team led by the University of Bonn has made significant findings on mechanisms for clearing cellular wastes, showing that strength training activates such mechanisms. The findings could form the basis for new heart failure and nerve disease therapies and even afford benefits for manned space missions. Muscles and nerves are long-lasting, high-performance organs whose cellular components are subject to constant wear and tear. The protein BAG3 plays a critical role in eliminating damaged components, identifying these, and ensuring that they are enclosed by cellular membranes to form an "autophagosome." Autophagosomes are like a garbage bag in which cellular was...

  FIGHT DEPRESSION WITH 10 MINUTES OF MINDFULNESS         In a new study published in the  British Journal of Health Psychology , researchers from the Universities of Bath and Southampton have unveiled how just 10 minutes of daily mindfulness practice can improve wellbeing, ease Depression and Anxiety, and help people to be more motivated to improve their lifestyle -- including healthier exercise, eating and sleeping habits. The research, which enrolled 1247 adults from 91 countries, demonstrates that brief daily mindfulness sessions, delivered through a free mobile app Medito, can have profound benefits. Most participants had no prior mindfulness experience and were randomly allocated to a month-long mindfulness routine or a control condition -- listening to excerpts from  Alice in Wonderland . Daily mindfulness sessions included relaxation exercises, intention-setting, body scans, breath-focused attention, and self-reflection. The participants comple...

  FIFTEEN MINUTES THAT CAN BOOST YOUR HEALTH         Corporate Cup, lunchtime yoga, or even 'walk and talks', organizations develop wellness initiatives to encourage people to be more active in the workplace. But before you duck and hide, new research shows that all it takes is 15 minutes and a touch of gamification to put you on the path to success. Assessing results from 11,575 participants across 73 Australian, New Zealand, and UK companies, the University of South Australia researchers found that a gamified workplace wellness program -- the  15 Minute Challenge * --  leads to substantial increases in physical activity levels, with 95% of participants meeting (36%) or exceeding (59%) physical activity guidelines. In addition, participants' average daily physical activity levels increased by 12 minutes per day (85 minutes per week) throughout the six-week challenge, with the median daily exercise duration being 45 minutes. Participants also reported ...