Monthly Archives: July 2017

Can you afford not to meditate? Lessons learnt from mindfulness therapy in liver cirrhosis

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Mindfulness-based meditation, which originated over 2 centuries ago in the Asian Buddhist traditions, is intended to increase attention and develop a nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment. A recent study published in Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology aimed to identify the ways in which meditation based practices could impact the quality of life in patients with cirrhosis and their caregiver.

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World Hepatitis Day Quiz – 2017

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July 28th marks Word Hepatitis Day and aims to raise awareness of the global burden of viral hepatitis. This year’s theme is #showyourface to eliminate hepatitis, highlighting that every single person could be affected by viral hepatitis and that we all have a part to play in achieving elimination. To mark the occasion we’ve put together a quiz to test your knowledge.

How headphone-listening habits affect hearing thresholds

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It’s impossible to walk down the street in any city around the world without seeing at least one person with their earbuds in, listening to music. However recent studies have begun to look into the effects these listening habits have on hearing thresholds. How do headphones affect hearing thresholds, and are these new listening habits causing an increase in hearing-related conditions like tinnitus?

Why adolescent contraceptive access and use is a global issue

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Today, on July 11, 2017, governments, the United Nations, foundations, the private sector and civil society gather at the Family Planning Summit in London to galvanize progress toward the Family Planning 2020 goal of enabling 120 million additional women and girls to use modern contraception by 2020 and to strengthen the foundation for universal access to sexual and reproductive health, including family planning, by 2030, a vision set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this Q&A, we spoke with Cate Lane (USAID), Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli (World Health Organization), Matti Parry (World Health Organization), and Pooja Subramanian Parameshwar (World Health Organization) on why improving adolescents’ access to contraceptives and ensuring their correct use is of major importance to global health.

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Is purpose in life associated with less sleep disturbance in older adults?

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Sleep disturbance has been linked to several negative health issues such as depression, cognitive impairment and heart disease. These closely mirror the positive health benefits that purpose in life is associated with. In order to explore whether a relationship between these exists, researchers have examined two cohorts of elderly African Americans, a group particularly prone to sleep disturbance. Here to talk about their study published Sleep Science and Practice are Arlener Danielle Turner, Christine E Smith, Jason and C Ong.