Here’s an important finding about sleep as we age.

We’ve known for a long time that there are health benefits to being married. Now there is more evidence In a study published in the Journal of the American heart Association. Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta found that people with cardiovascular disease who were not married –- including those who were divorced, separated, widowed or never married –- had 24 percent higher rates of death from any cause during the study period, compared to those who were married. Divorced and separated people had a 41 percent increased risk of death; widowed people had nearly double that risk. Being unmarried was also associated with a higher risk of death from cardiovascular causes, like heart attacks and strokes. This was a large study of more than 6000 people with heart disease, aged 50 to 70.,

The researchers say this contributes to a growing body of work showing how social relationships, particularly the disruption of these relationships through divorce or widowhood, can have major consequences for our health.

We’ve known for a long time that there are health benefits to being married.

Here’s an important finding about the importance of social contact and interacting with the outside world. Researchers at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem found that for older people, getting out of the house regularly may contribute to a longer life.

They asked people in their 70s, 80s and 90s, how often they left the house and found that those who ventured out frequently were most likely to live to the next age milestone regardless of medical problems or mobility issues.

The work published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society compared the benefits to treating blood pressure or cholesterol with medicine.

At all ages, people who left home less frequently tended to be male, less educated and to have higher rates of loneliness, financial difficulties, and poor health.

The scientists now plan to look at the oldest cohort as they reach 98 to 100 to study the role that optimism, social engagement and environmental aspects such as community sidewalks play in longer life.

Here’s an important finding about the importance of social contact and interacting with the outside world.

For years, we’ve been told that when it comes to losing weight, slow and steady is the best approach. Now an Australian study is casting doubt on that assumption. According to the research published The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. the rate at which you shed excess pounds has no bearing on whether or not you will gain them back.

As a matter of fact, if your goal involves losing 12.5 percent of your body weight, you’re more likely to succeed if you do it quickly. This study included 200 obese adults randomly assigned to either a 36-week gradual weight-loss program, or a 12-week rapid weight-loss regimen.

80 percent of those in the rapid weight-loss group and 50 percent of those in the gradual weight-loss group lost more than 12.5 percent of their body weight.

There are a number of possible reasons for the study findings, according to the researchers. The limited carbohydrate intake of a very-low-calorie diet — the type used in rapid weight loss — may cause a greater feeling of being full, and reduce food intake by forcing the body to burn fat. Speedy weight loss may also motivate people to stick with their diet and drop more weight.

The bad news is that people in both groups gained back much of the weight after 3 years. But the bottom line here is the idea that rapid weight loss leads to rapid weight regain is a myth!

For years, we’ve been told that when it comes to losing weight, slow and steady is the best approach.

The latest report on the dangers of processed and red meat sparked a social media backlash and a flurry of clarification followed the first sensational headlines. It came from an international panel of experts convened by the World health Organization, and it concluded that processed meat definitely causes cancer and red meat probably causes cancer. It made that determination after sifting through more than 800 studies and then classified processed meat as a carcinogen that is in the same category as cigarettes, asbestos and plutonium.

The report says if you eat 50 grams of processed meat every day, that’s about two slices of ham or a sausage, you would raise your risk of colon cancer by 18 percent. That means an 18% increase in a risk that is low. For an average Canadian man, that much daily consumption would raise the risk from about 7% to around eight per cent.

And even if bacon is in the same category as diesel fumes, these experts are NOT saying it’s as dangerous as smoking.

Red meat fared slightly better under the scrutiny, and was classified as a possible carcinogen. After all the alarmist headlines, the bottom line seems to fall in line with longstanding recommendations to limit red meat to 3 times and week and to eat processed meat only in moderation.

The latest report on the dangers of processed and red meat sparked a social media backlash and a flurry of clarification followed the first sensational headlines.

Here’s yet another reason to count your calories. There’s research showing that Zoomers who eat too much are at risk for memory impairment.

People 70 and older who eat between 2,100 and 6,000 calories a day may be at double the risk of these deficits in memory, which can be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease.

Investigators from the Mayo Clinic collected data on more than 1,200 people, aged 70 to 89. 163 had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.

One-third ate between 600 and 1,525 calories a day, one-third between 1,526 and 2,142 calories a day, and one-third ate between 2,143 and 6,000 calories a day.

Those who ate the most, were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with the impaired-memory disorder compared to those who ate the least. There was apparently no significant increase in risk for memory problems among those in the middle group.

These findings remained the same after taking into account a history of stroke, diabetes, education and other risk factors for memory loss.

These findings are preliminary but they reinforce the axiom that what’s good for the heart is also good for the brain.