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Physical activity and exercise Archive

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You don’t say? The many colors of urine

Urine is often pale yellow, but different colors can indicate dehydration, injury, or conditions like kidney stones or liver disease. In some cases, different colors are caused by certain foods or medications.

Adding 10 extra minutes of daily activity linked to a longer life

Researchers estimated that if people increased daily activity by 10 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, like brisk walking, it could result in 7% fewer deaths per year. Increasing daily activity by 20 or 30 minutes could lower the rate by 13% or 17%, respectively.

When medication deliveries hit a snag

Prescription deliveries have the potential for several problems. They might be delayed, damaged, delivered to the wrong address, lost, or stolen. People can miss a delivery if it requires a signature and they aren't home or they can't get to the door before the delivery person leaves. And packages are sometimes left in an unusual spot and overlooked. If medications don't arrive when expected, a recipient should first see if the package was left somewhere on the property, and then contact the delivery service or pharmacy to locate the package.

New Harvard tool helps fact-check cancer claims

Scary or misleading claims about things that may cause cancer are so plentiful that it's hard to know which ones to take seriously. A new website developed by experts aims to provide reliable information about whether a particular cancer claim is true.

Moving to wellness while practicing body neutrality

It can be helpful to think of health as a spectrum, with illness at one end and wellness at the other. Someone who is in the neutral (middle) position can move to the wellness side by adopting and sustaining healthy lifestyle habits — and that has little to do with a person's shape or size.

Laughing with friends linked to lower risk of disability

An observational study published in the February 2022 issue of Preventive Medicine suggests that laughing with friends is associated with a 30% reduced risk of developing functional disability—problems performing essential everyday activities.

A healthier way to look at body fat

According to the CDC, about 42% of men ages 60 and older are obese. But fat in itself is not the issue, as the body needs a certain amount of fat to stay healthy. The amount of stored fat, and especially its location in the body, have the greatest impact on health. Consuming too many calories and not getting enough exercise both contribute to stored fat, but people can reduce their amounts by watching calorie intake and increasing exercise, in particular with resistance training for men.

Harvard study: High olive oil consumption associated with longevity

A study published Jan. 18, 2022, in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that people who consumed the most olive oil had a 19% lower risk of dying during a 28-year study period, compared with those who rarely or never consumed olive oil.

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