The Gary Null Show

The Gary Null Show - Friday - 10-16-26 

Ischemic stroke accounts for approximately 85% of all strokes and remains a major cause of death and long-term disability. Current treatments can restore blood flow in eligible patients, but therapeutic options remain limited, particularly for protecting threatened brain tissue and supporting recovery. Two types of ginseng -- Panax notoginseng and Panax ginseng have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine and are commonly associated with "activating blood" and "replenishing qi," respectively. Modern studies have reported anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-apoptotic effects for their saponins.

A study published in Targetome reports that the two saponin preparations alleviate ischemic brain injury through shared neuroprotective effects but preferentially regulate vascular-cytoskeletal and mitochondrial-metabolic pathways, respectively.

The researchers established permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion in male C57BL/6 mice and administered low or high doses of P. notoginseng saponins (PNS) or P. ginseng saponins (PGS), with edaravone serving as a positive control. Twenty-four hours later, they assessed neurological deficits, infarct volume, tissue damage, neuronal integrity, and apoptosis; a separate experiment monitored survival for seven days. At 200 mg·kg, PNS and PGS lowered neurological scores from 3.67 in untreated model mice to 2.00 and 2.17, respectively. PNS reduced average infarct volume from 30.73% to 11.70%, comparable to the drug edaravone, while PGS reduced it to 13.33%. Seven-day survival increased from 25% in model mice to 75% with PNS and 50% with PGS.

Whether you're a quick or slow thinker depends on several factors, such as the efficiency of the brain's wiring and the amount of gray matter in specific control centers. But there may be another, rather surprising influence, and that's the bacteria in your mouth. Scientists have found an association between the mix of microbes on your tongue and how well the brain performs cognitive tasks as we age.

Previous studies have shown that poor oral health and gum disease are linked to cognitive impairment. Other research has found that nitrate from the food we eat can influence blood flow to the brain and cognitive performance.

Each volunteer completed a set of 10 tests that assessed memory, processing speed and focus. The researchers collected tongue swabs and blood and saliva samples. They then sequenced the DNA in the swabs to identify which bacteria were present.

People with higher levels of Prevotella histicola in their mouth showed faster reaction times on different cognitive tasks. But the results for another microbe, Haemophilus parainfluenzae, were mixed. Older adults had higher levels of bacteria tied to gum disease, such as Treponema and Tannerella.

People with Parkinson’s disease who stay more physically active may experience slower declines in memory, thinking, and movement abilities, according to a study that followed participants for up to seven years. Researchers found that greater activity was consistently associated with more favorable outcomes.

The study included 294 adults with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease, whose average age was 66. Participants reported how much time they spent being physically active each week, including activities at work, around the house, and during recreation. Participants were classified into three groups: those active for up to four hours weekly, those active for four to eight hours, and those exceeding eight hours.

On a 30-point cognitive assessment, where lower scores indicate poorer performance, the least active participants experienced an estimated average decline of 0.478 points per year. The middle group declined by 0.090 points annually, while the most active group showed almost no average decline, at just 0.007 points per year.

Vegetables deliver nitrate packaged with protective antioxidants like vitamin C and polyphenols. These compounds help steer nitrate toward forming beneficial nitric oxide while blocking its conversion into harmful molecules called N-nitrosamines, which animal studies have linked to brain cell damage.

Meat, however, presents a riskier biochemical package. It contains elements like heme iron and specific proteins that can promote the formation of those damaging N-nitrosamines. This creates a scenario where the same initial compound—nitrate—can lead to vastly different outcomes in the brain.

Researchers found elevated dementia rates associated with nitrate concentrations between 1.8 and 5.1 milligrams per liter. These levels are roughly one-tenth of the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency safety limit of 44 mg/L, a standard set decades ago primarily to prevent acute infant illness, not long-term brain health in adults.The primary source of water nitrate is agricultural fertilizer runoff.

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, October 13 2026 (Euerkalert)

Daytime napping is common among older adults. New research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that how often, how intentionally, and how long older people nap may be linked to their risk of developing dementia.

The study, published in The Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, followed 995 U.S. Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older who were free of dementia at the start of the study in 2013 and tracked them for up to 10 years.

The researchers found that participants who napped frequently—defined as most days or every day—had a 48% higher risk of developing dementia compared to those who rarely or never napped, even after accounting for demographic factors, health conditions, and nighttime sleep characteristics such as sleep duration, daytime sleepiness, and a measure of obstructive sleep apnea risk. 

Unintentional napping—defined as falling asleep without meaning to rather than planning a nap—was associated with a 39% higher risk of dementia. Napping for 30 minutes or less was also linked to a 40% higher risk.

Part 3 of - How To Become Self-Sufficient Instead Of Co-Dependent - you can read the full article on Gary Null Substack https://garynull.substack.com/publish/post/220402566?back=%2Fpublish%2Fposts%2Fpublished

Nearly one-third of U.S. adults report sleeping less than seven hours a night, below the minimum amount recommended for most adults, while nearly one in five has trouble staying asleep most days or every day. At the same time, nearly one-third of Americans say they are seeking improved sleep from foods, beverages or nutrients. 

Pistachios have attracted researchers' attention because they naturally bring together several nutrients and plant compounds connected to sleep. Now, a new narrative review published in Nutrition Research Reviews identifies pistachios as a promising whole food for sleep research and explores how their nutrient profile may influence processes related to sleep quality, falling asleep, staying asleep and regulation of the sleep–wake cycle.

Pistachios provide tryptophan, vitamin B6 and magnesium, which the body uses in the production of serotonin and melatonin. Serotonin is involved in sleep regulation and is also used to make melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate the sleep–wake cycle. Pistachios also contain phytomelatonin, the form of melatonin produced by plants, although its absorption and effects from eating pistachios have not been established in people.

Pistachios provide vitamin B6 and magnesium, which are involved in the production and function of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a brain chemical that helps quiet nerve activity and plays a role in regulating sleep.

A one-ounce serving of pistachios provides about 71 milligrams of tryptophan, roughly 20% of the daily amount recommended for a 154-pound adult. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid the body uses to make serotonin, a brain chemical involved in sleep regulation, and melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate the sleep–wake cycle.

The authors of this review concluded that pistachios could represent a promising wholefood intervention for improving sleep due to their unique combination of nutrients and bioactives, and map a clear path to additional research needed.

The glycemic index, or GI, is a scale that ranks carbohydrate-containing foods by how quickly they raise blood sugar after eating.

Boiling sweet potatoes may be better for blood sugar than baking or roasting, according to dietitians. The result is a sweeter, denser vegetable with a different effect on blood glucose than a boiled sweet potato.

Researchers compared a baked or roasted potato to a raisin and a boiled potato to a grape. That moisture difference is one reason the two preparations behave differently in the body.

Research on carotenoid retention suggests boiling generally preserves these compounds well compared with some higher-heat methods, though results vary by sweet potato variety and the antioxidant being measured. One study found that boiling unpeeled medium-sized sweet potato roots for 30 minutes resulted in a 14 to 59 percent reduction of total carotenoid content across four sweet potato cultivars. Other research on orange-fleshed sweet potato reported a true retention of all-trans-beta-carotene ranging from 70 percent to 80 percent with longer boiling times.

People with long COVID have distinct differences in the mix of bacteria that live in their mouths and lungs, according to a study of more than 700 people published in the European Respiratory Journal. The research also shows that these differences in the lung microbiome are linked to respiratory symptoms, as well as the cognitive and digestive problems known to occur in long COVID.

Researchers say their findings may shed light on why some people develop long COVID and could point to new ways to treat the condition. Prior studies have shown some changes in the gut microbiome with long COVID, but COVID is a lung disease and so it makes sense to look to see if the lung microbiome is changed in long COVID."

Researchers divided the participants into four groups based on how severe their symptoms were five months after being discharged from the hospital. These were "very severe," with serious physical, mental and cognitive impairments; "severe," with serious mental and physical impairments but no cognitive problems; "moderate," with primarily cognitive difficulties; and "mild," with few symptoms and good recovery.

Six months after patients were discharged, researchers collected saliva samples from their mouths and sputum samples from their lungs and used DNA sequencing to identify which microbes were present.

University of California at Berkeley, October 9 2026 (Eurekalert)

Brian Christian has spent 20 years thinking about how artificial intelligence will change our minds and our world. His 2020 book The Alignment Problem has been praised as one of the best on AI, and like many scientistss.

Christian was part of a team behind a landmark study that found that spending just 10 minutes relying on an AI tool significantly impairs our ability to focus and persist with difficult tasks. 

To test how quickly people’s focus and persistence plummeted, researchers designed a series of randomized controlled trials and recruited 1,222 participants online. 

For the first experiment with 354 participants, one group was tasked with solving 15 basic fraction problems without help, while another had ChatGPT open on the side to use for assistance and to even ask for the answer. The group with AI access started off more accurately than the group without it. Then, after 12 problems, researchers took away the AI tool. Almost immediately, the people in that group stopped solving questions accurately. 

A similar thing happened when they ran the experiment on a second, larger group of 667 participants. Whereas the AI users got answers wrong or gave up entirely when the AI assistance was withdrawn, the group without AI stuck with the task and were more successful at the end.

Researchers then ran a third experiment with 201 participants and an SAT reading comprehension prompt. The results echoed those from the fraction problems: When the AI tool was removed, persistence and accuracy dropped. 

New research led by Oregon Health & Science University suggests you should think twice about indulging in a late-night snack if you'd like to preserve liver health.

The study, published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, documents an increase in the correlation between people who reported late-night eating - defined as eating after dinner or after bedtime - and a heightened risk of two types of liver disease, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and cirrhosis.

Researchers analyzed three large, preexisting nationwide datasets. They extracted diet and lifestyle habits self-reported by almost 200,000 participants in all three studies, grouped them by eating behaviors, and then looked for correlations to people who reported fatty liver disease or cirrhosis.

They found a 20% to 30% increase in all forms of liver disease among the group of people who reported late-night eating compared to those who did not.

Nearly one-third of U.S. adults report sleeping less than seven hours a night, below the minimum amount recommended for most adults, while nearly one in five has trouble staying asleep most days or every day. At the same time, nearly one-third of Americans say they are seeking improved sleep from foods, beverages or nutrients. 

Pistachios have attracted researchers' attention because they naturally bring together several nutrients and plant compounds connected to sleep. Now, a new narrative review published in Nutrition Research Reviews identifies pistachios as a promising whole food for sleep research and explores how their nutrient profile may influence processes related to sleep quality, falling asleep, staying asleep and regulation of the sleep–wake cycle.

Pistachios provide tryptophan, vitamin B6 and magnesium, which the body uses in the production of serotonin and melatonin. Serotonin is involved in sleep regulation and is also used to make melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate the sleep–wake cycle. Pistachios also contain phytomelatonin, the form of melatonin produced by plants, although its absorption and effects from eating pistachios have not been established in people.

Pistachios provide vitamin B6 and magnesium, which are involved in the production and function of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a brain chemical that helps quiet nerve activity and plays a role in regulating sleep.

A one-ounce serving of pistachios provides about 71 milligrams of tryptophan, roughly 20% of the daily amount recommended for a 154-pound adult. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid the body uses to make serotonin, a brain chemical involved in sleep regulation, and melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate the sleep–wake cycle.

The authors of this review concluded that pistachios could represent a promising wholefood intervention for improving sleep due to their unique combination of nutrients and bioactives, and map a clear path to additional research needed.

The glycemic index, or GI, is a scale that ranks carbohydrate-containing foods by how quickly they raise blood sugar after eating.

Boiling sweet potatoes may be better for blood sugar than baking or roasting, according to dietitians. The result is a sweeter, denser vegetable with a different effect on blood glucose than a boiled sweet potato.

Researchers compared a baked or roasted potato to a raisin and a boiled potato to a grape. That moisture difference is one reason the two preparations behave differently in the body.

Research on carotenoid retention suggests boiling generally preserves these compounds well compared with some higher-heat methods, though results vary by sweet potato variety and the antioxidant being measured. One study found that boiling unpeeled medium-sized sweet potato roots for 30 minutes resulted in a 14 to 59 percent reduction of total carotenoid content across four sweet potato cultivars. Other research on orange-fleshed sweet potato reported a true retention of all-trans-beta-carotene ranging from 70 percent to 80 percent with longer boiling times.

People with long COVID have distinct differences in the mix of bacteria that live in their mouths and lungs, according to a study of more than 700 people published in the European Respiratory Journal. The research also shows that these differences in the lung microbiome are linked to respiratory symptoms, as well as the cognitive and digestive problems known to occur in long COVID.

Researchers say their findings may shed light on why some people develop long COVID and could point to new ways to treat the condition. Prior studies have shown some changes in the gut microbiome with long COVID, but COVID is a lung disease and so it makes sense to look to see if the lung microbiome is changed in long COVID."

Researchers divided the participants into four groups based on how severe their symptoms were five months after being discharged from the hospital. These were "very severe," with serious physical, mental and cognitive impairments; "severe," with serious mental and physical impairments but no cognitive problems; "moderate," with primarily cognitive difficulties; and "mild," with few symptoms and good recovery.

Six months after patients were discharged, researchers collected saliva samples from their mouths and sputum samples from their lungs and used DNA sequencing to identify which microbes were present.

University of California at Berkeley, October 9 2026 (Eurekalert)

Brian Christian has spent 20 years thinking about how artificial intelligence will change our minds and our world. His 2020 book The Alignment Problem has been praised as one of the best on AI, and like many scientistss.

Christian was part of a team behind a landmark study that found that spending just 10 minutes relying on an AI tool significantly impairs our ability to focus and persist with difficult tasks. 

To test how quickly people’s focus and persistence plummeted, researchers designed a series of randomized controlled trials and recruited 1,222 participants online. 

For the first experiment with 354 participants, one group was tasked with solving 15 basic fraction problems without help, while another had ChatGPT open on the side to use for assistance and to even ask for the answer. The group with AI access started off more accurately than the group without it. Then, after 12 problems, researchers took away the AI tool. Almost immediately, the people in that group stopped solving questions accurately. 

A similar thing happened when they ran the experiment on a second, larger group of 667 participants. Whereas the AI users got answers wrong or gave up entirely when the AI assistance was withdrawn, the group without AI stuck with the task and were more successful at the end.

Researchers then ran a third experiment with 201 participants and an SAT reading comprehension prompt. The results echoed those from the fraction problems: When the AI tool was removed, persistence and accuracy dropped. 

New research led by Oregon Health & Science University suggests you should think twice about indulging in a late-night snack if you'd like to preserve liver health.

The study, published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, documents an increase in the correlation between people who reported late-night eating - defined as eating after dinner or after bedtime - and a heightened risk of two types of liver disease, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and cirrhosis.

Researchers analyzed three large, preexisting nationwide datasets. They extracted diet and lifestyle habits self-reported by almost 200,000 participants in all three studies, grouped them by eating behaviors, and then looked for correlations to people who reported fatty liver disease or cirrhosis.

They found a 20% to 30% increase in all forms of liver disease among the group of people who reported late-night eating compared to those who did not.

It's Friday,  and Gary takes calls from his listeners and reads part four of his latest essay Saving Civilization Before Our Own Beliefs and Behaviors Destroy It. 

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THE LIES WE LIVE WITH,

YET THE TRUTHS WE MUST FACE

We spend much of our lives searching for success, security, approval, and control. Along the way, we absorb countless ideas about who we should be, what we should value, and what is supposed to make us happy. Rarely do we stop to ask whether these beliefs are true, or whether they are quietly keeping us from the lives we were meant to live.

In The Lies We Live With Yet the Truths We Must Face, Gary Null, PhD, examines the fears, habits, emotional wounds, and social forces that separate us from our authentic selves. With insight and compassion, he explores guilt, shame, addiction, materialism, betrayal, and the pressure to conform, while showing how courage, forgiveness, awareness, and love can lead us toward a more conscious life.

This book invites us to look honestly at what we have accepted, what we have avoided, and what we are finally ready to change. By releasing what no longer belongs in our lives, we can recover what has been lost, rediscover our inner strength, and begin creating a life of greater meaning, freedom, and purpose.

Within these pages, you will explore:

How social conditioning shapes your beliefs, choices, and sense of identity

Why guilt, shame, fear, and emotional wounds continue to influence your life

How to recognize the habits and distractions that keep you from being fully present

What it means to release addiction, negativity, and patterns of self sabotage

How love, forgiveness, trust, and vulnerability can restore human connection

Ways to reclaim your passion, inner strength, and authentic purpose

How conscious choices can help you create a more balanced, meaningful, and fulfilling life

In a recent study published in Food & Function, researchers evaluated whether 8 weeks of walnut consumption affects mood states in young adults and whether these effects are associated with urinary 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), cortisol, and urolithin levels. 

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter involved in mood regulation and is produced from the dietary amino acid tryptophan. Its main metabolite, 5-HIAA, can be measured in urine as an indicator of serotonin metabolism. Walnuts are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, tryptophan, fiber, and polyphenols, including ellagitannins that gut microbiota convert into urolithins. These metabolites may indicate walnut intake and biological responses; however, further research is needed to clarify how walnut consumption relates to mood and metabolic pathways. 

The study used an 18-week open-label randomized crossover trial involving adults aged 20–35 years.  Participants were randomly assigned to consume 40 g of walnuts per day with dinner or to refrain from nuts and nut products for the next 8 weeks. After a 2-week washout period, participants crossed over to the alternate condition.

During the walnut condition, total mood disturbance was 4.85 points lower than during the control condition. Anger and fatigue also decreased. Two trait food-craving domains showed initial reductions: anticipation of relief from negative states and feelings after eating and guilt associated with cravings or giving in to them.

Urinary 5-HIAA increased significantly during walnut consumption, while urinary cortisol did not differ significantly between conditions. Higher urinary 5-HIAA was associated with lower total mood disturbance. The paper also reports an association with lower fatigue.

King's College London, October 1 2026 (Eurekalert)

The more adolescents walked, the fewer mental health problems they had a year later, and the benefit didn't level off at any point the researchers could measure. Teenagers who took under 5,000 steps a day had the most symptoms; those averaging around 8,000 had fewer; and those hitting 12,000 or more had the fewest of all. 

Adolescents with the highest step counts also showed slightly thicker brain tissue in two areas involved in movement and in regulating emotion, and this difference helped explain part of the link to better mental health. 

How much of last night did you actually spend dreaming?  Most people have no idea.  Until recently, most sleep researchers didn’t either, since large studies relied on people guessing how well they slept.

Now, wrist trackers worn by more than 95,000 adults have put real numbers on those hours.  The results reach far beyond feeling rested in the morning, because one sleep stage lined up with lower risk for 83 separate diseases. Over a median follow-up of 8.9 years, the team checked those sleep patterns against more than 1,000 diseases in participants’ health records.

REM sleep, the stage when most dreaming happens, stood out above everything else.  For roughly every extra 48 minutes of REM, dementia risk fell by 46% and heart failure risk dropped by 26%. Even more striking, Parkinson’s disease risk was 80% lower.

Total hours were only part of the picture.  Participants who woke up often during the night faced a higher risk of several conditions.  For 69 of the 83 conditions tied to sleep duration, the lowest risk fell between six and eight hours a night.  Meanwhile, people sleeping fewer than five hours faced a higher risk of 37 different conditions, the worst showing in the entire study.

Chamomile, lemon balm, passionflower, and valerian root have long histories as evening teas.  In fact, research suggests valerian and chamomile can improve sleep quality for some people.  Pair a warm cup with magnesium-rich foods like pumpkin seeds, spinach, or wild-caught salmon at dinner.  Together, these create a slower wind-down than scrolling ever will.

University of Illinois at Chicago, October 6 2026 (Medical Xpress)

A terracotta-tiled village in the mountains of Sardinia may offer researchers a rare opportunity to uncover the secrets of exceptional longevity.

A new study found that women in the village of Bolotana, on the Italian island of Sardinia, who reach age 70 are nearly four times as likely to reach age 100 as women in the United States. The findings suggest the community could represent a newly identified "blue zone," an area where people live unusually long lives.

The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Aging, examined demographic records from the village of about 2,300 residents and found a favorable pattern of survival among older adults, particularly women. Researchers estimated that 13.8% of women in Bolotana who reach age 70 will live to 100, compared with approximately 3.5% of women in Italy and 3.6% of women in the United States. 

The traditional diet of the Sardinian longevity zone in the mountainous Ogliastra area is a largely plant-centered Mediterranean-pastoral diet rather than a strictly vegetarian diet. The diet centers heavily on locally grown vegetables, legumes, whole grains, potatoes, fruits when available, and olive oil. Beans and other pulses are regularly consumed. The mountain communities of the Blue Zone have a strong pastoral culture, and sheep's and goat's milk, cheese and other dairy foods are important sources of protein and fat. 

Hinda & Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research & Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, September 30 2026 (Medical Xpress)

A new pilot study found that older, sedentary adults who consumed blueberries daily showed a greater, more consistent reduction in depressive symptoms, along with minor changes in markers of gut microbial enzymes.

The preliminary data warrant further research into the link between blueberries, the gut microbiome and mood in older adults.

Fiber and anthocyanins in blueberries have potential to modify the gut microbiome and metabolites that are relevant to depression in older adults. 

Sedentary adults 65 and older with mild depressive symptoms were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, parallel-arm, placebo-controlled pilot study. Participants consumed 48 grams (1.7 ounces) of blueberry powder per day (approximately two cups, or 475 milliliters, of fresh berries) or a matched placebo powder for three months.

Within the blueberry group, there were statistically significant differences in the gene abundance of several enzyme commissions of the gut microbiome—including EC 3.6.3.31 Polyamine Transporting ATPase, which is involved in the production of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

Researchers found that biological aging may accelerate already in early adulthood. In addition to lifestyle factors, environmental exposures and living environment may contribute to faster biological aging. In the study, childhood and adolescent lifestyle and environmental exposures explained approximately 28% of the variation in biological age at the age of 22. 

Genetics, lifestyles and environmental factors shape how fast our bodies age. Biological aging begins already before birth, and it can progress faster or slower than chronological age. Faster biological aging increases the risk of developing age-related diseases earlier in life.

In a longitudinal twin study researchers examined the exposome, the totality of lifestyle and environmental exposures, and its effect on biological age in young adulthood using machine learning models. In the study, the exposome was captured based on 186 lifestyle and environmental exposures, including lifestyle factors, surrounding greenness, air pollution, and living area sociodemographic factors.

The researchers found that the measured childhood and adolescent exposures explained approximately 28% of the variation in epigenetic age at the age of 22.

Smoking, alcohol use, and youth unemployment were associated with accelerated biological aging. In contrast, higher tree cover, vegetation index, and neighbourhood age structure predicted slower aging.

The findings highlight the significant impact that living environments and social circumstances have on biological age already in youth.

Salt can make or break a dish. A little too much or too little can throw everything off, leaving even the most luxurious ingredients tasting off. But get the balance right, and salt can bring out the flavor in even the simplest ingredients. The brain relies on a similar balancing act for healthy function and memory. While we are aware of the ill effects of having too much salt, what happens when we consume too little?

A recent study compared how long-term low-salt and high-salt diets affected memory, gut health and brain health in mice whose guts were colonized with human gut bacteria. The researchers focused on the gut–metabolite–brain axis, examining how dietary salt alters gut bacteria and their chemical products, and how those changes signal back to the brain.

Mice on either a low-salt or a high-salt diet struggled with memory, but through two different biological pathways. Compared with mice eating a normal amount of salt, they did worse on tests of short-term working memory and long-term recognition memory. 

Inside the hippocampus, the brain's memory center, both diets lowered critical synaptic proteins like SYN1, PSD95 and BDNF and suppressed CREB activation. All of these are essential tools neurons use to build memories and adapt, so weakening them reduced the brain's ability to form memories. With a low-salt diet, a drop in essential hippocampal synaptic proteins impaired long-term and short-term memory.

Barcelona Institute for Global Health, October 5 2026 (Eurekalert)

Regular walking reduces symptom flare ups for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, even if they live in an area with poor air quality, according to a study published in ERJ Open Research.

The researchers carried out a study with 262 COPD patients from five European countries: the UK, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland and Greece. All participants wore a movement sensor for a period of seven days that could monitor how many steps each person took, how long they walked for and how fast they walked.

The researchers also collected data on levels of air pollution at the patients’ home addresses over the two previous years. This included levels of particulate matter smaller than 2.5μm (PM2.5), black carbon, nitrogen dioxide and ozone.

Researchers identified 2,076 first-ever strokes over the 27-year period, with the rate climbing from 33.9 to 62.2 cases per 100,000 person-years. The finding adds to a growing body of evidence that cardiovascular disease is no longer confined to older populations. While age remains an important risk factor, younger adults can and do experience strokes, with 10% to 14% of all strokes occurring in people under 45.

Ischemic strokes, the most common type that occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked, accounted for most of the increase in the study. Hemorrhagic strokes, which occur when a blood vessel ruptures and bleeds into the brain, did not show the same upward trend.

The study also tracked health characteristics of younger adults who experienced strokes and found increases in several cardiovascular risk factors. High blood pressure, diabetes, atrial fibrillation and substance use all became more common. Substance use saw an especially large jump, rising from 4.6% in the early 1990s to 40.2% in 2020, much of which reflected marijuana use, according to the study.

Previous research has linked frequent cannabis use to heart risks, including increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Tufts University endocrinologists shared their collective expertise, drawn from Tufts Medical Center, to providesevidence-based guidance for anyone seeking to maintain steady blood glucose while enjoying nature's sweetest offerings.

Fruit sugars arrive wrapped in fiber and water, surrounded by antioxidant polyphenols, vitamins and minerals that slow digestive absorption. A meta-analysis of nineteen randomized controlled trials published in Frontiers in Endocrinology found that eating whole fresh and dried fruit in moderation significantly decreased fasting blood glucose in people with diabetes.

Apples with intact skin provide soluble fiber that forms a gel in the digestive tract, delaying sugar absorption. Dr. Willis recommended pairing apples with almond butter for improved post-meal blood glucose response. Pears contain even more fiber than apples, making them a slightly superior choice. Both fruits have been linked to lower type 2 diabetes risk in observational studies.

Raspberries, strawberries and blueberries offer exceptional fiber-to-carbohydrate ratios, Their polyphenol content, plant compounds acting as antioxidants, has demonstrated positive effects on blood sugar regulation. 

Kiwis provide prebiotic benefits that support beneficial gut bacteria, potentially improving insulin sensitivity. 

Avocados combine fiber with healthy fats that slow stomach emptying.

This study used data, which included 371,038 adults. The team performed a secondary analysis of the data to examine whether the frequencies of whole-fruit and fruit-juice consumption differed between people with and without CVD and between those with and without CVD risk factors. CVD measures included myocardial infarction (heart attack), angina/coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke.

In regression analyses, participants with high cholesterol consumed fruit juice less frequently, whereas those with a heart attack consumed it more frequently. Fruit juice consumption frequency did not differ significantly after adjustment between individuals with and without high BP, stroke, or CHD.

The research analyzed data from 95,559 UK Biobank participants who wore wrist accelerometers for seven consecutive days and nights. Participants were followed for a median of 8.9 years.

Greater REM sleep, measured per interquartile range of 47.6 minutes, was associated with lower risk of 83 diseases, the report stated. Hazard ratios were 0.74 for heart failure, 0.54 for dementia and 0.20 for Parkinson's disease, indicating a substantial reduction in relative risk for those in higher REM sleep categories. Greater deep sleep was linked to lower risk of seven conditions, including type 2 diabetes and major depressive disorder.

"The findings provide additional evidence supporting the role of a 6-8 hours' sleep duration as a health safeguard for middle-aged and older adults, likely attributable to more favorable distributions of sleep stages. The study adds to a body of research examining how sleep architecture, rather than total sleep time alone, relates to long-term health outcomes. 

Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche (Portugal), September 28 2026 (Eurekalert)

A polyphenol-rich extract from Cistus salviifolius or Mediterranean rockrose traditionally used to treat skin conditions, has shown fungicidal activity against several dermatophytes, the fungi responsible for superficial infections of the skin, hair and nails. The rockrose has traditionally been used in different regions in topical preparations to treat wounds, inflammation and skin infections.

Dermatophytes are fungi capable of colonizing keratin-rich tissues such as the skin, hair and nails, causing very common infections, including different types of ringworm. The researchers prepared the polyphenol-rich extract and tested its activity against different fungal species. Dermatophytes were particularly sensitive, especially Trichophyton rubrum—one of the main causes of fungal skin infections—and Microsporum canis, which can be transmitted from animals to humans. The extract showed no antifungal activity at the concentrations tested against yeasts such as Candida albicans.

The extract was also tested on reconstructed human epidermis, tissue grown in the laboratory from primary keratinocytes, the cells that make up most of the outer layer of the skin.The researchers infected this tissue with dermatophytes to study whether the treatment could slow the infection and protect the skin barrier. When applied after infection, the rockrose extract reduced fungal load and tissue invasion, preserved the epidermal barrier and decreased the inflammatory response. It also did not reduce keratinocyte viability under the conditions tested.

Among adults who read for just 30 minutes each week, 64% reported a better understanding of other people's feelings. Twenty percent said they began taking better care of their health, and 19% took up a new hobby as a result of reading. Half of the readers noted they became more tolerant of other people's beliefs, and 17% said they were able to stay calmer during a disagreement.

Survey data cited in the review also found that 74% of adult readers said reading positively affected their mental health and well-being, and 41% said it helped them feel more connected to others.