Living Well News

October 28, 2025

Top Headlines

Why Women Live Longer Than Men, Explained by Evolution

Oct. 28, 2025 — An international team of researchers led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, working with 15 collaborators around the world, has conducted the most comprehensive study yet of lifespan differences ...

This Easy Daily Habit Cuts Heart Risk by Two Thirds

Oct. 28, 2025 — New research reveals that walking in longer, uninterrupted bouts of 10–15 minutes significantly lowers cardiovascular disease risk—by up to two-thirds compared to shorter strolls. Scientists from the University of Sydney and Universidad Europea ...

Bananas Could Be Ruining Your Smoothie’s Health Benefits

Oct. 27, 2025 — Researchers at UC Davis discovered that adding a banana to your smoothie may drastically reduce the absorption of flavanols — powerful compounds linked to heart and brain health. The culprit is polyphenol oxidase (PPO), an enzyme abundant in ...

Scientists Discover a Surprising Way to Quiet the Anxious Mind

Oct. 27, 2025 — Generalized anxiety disorder affects millions, often trapping sufferers in cycles of fear and isolation that conventional medications barely relieve. At UCSF, neuroscientist Jennifer Mitchell is testing a pharmaceutical form of LSD called MM120, ...

Scientists Say Gluten Isn’t the Problem After All

Oct. 27, 2025 — Groundbreaking research published in The Lancet suggests that most people who believe they’re sensitive to gluten are actually reacting to other factors like FODMAPs or brain-gut dynamics. The study challenges the idea that gluten itself is the ...

Weight-loss Drugs Like Ozempic May Also Curb Drug and Alcohol Addiction

Oct. 26, 2025 — GLP-1 drugs, originally developed for diabetes and obesity, may also curb addictive behaviors by acting on reward circuits in the brain. Early trials show reductions in alcohol intake, opioid seeking, and nicotine use. Though more research is ...

Scientists Say This Simple Diet Change Can Improve Sleep Fast

Oct. 25, 2025 — A new study shows that eating more fruits and vegetables during the day can significantly improve sleep that same night. Researchers found a clear link between diet quality and sleep depth, with participants who met the CDC’s daily produce ...

Your Gut Microbes Might Be Turning Fiber Into Extra Calories

Oct. 24, 2025 — ASU scientists found that people whose gut microbes make more methane extract more calories from fiber-rich foods. Methanogens help the microbiome turn fiber into energy by consuming hydrogen and producing methane. Using advanced metabolic chambers, ...

MIT Discovers Amino Acid That Helps the Gut Heal Itself

Oct. 23, 2025 — MIT scientists have found that an amino acid called cysteine can help the gut heal itself. In mouse studies, a cysteine-rich diet activated immune cells that release a molecule speeding up tissue repair in the small intestine. This process helped ...

New Treatment Cuts Cholesterol by Nearly 50%, Without Statins or Side Effects

Oct. 22, 2025 — Researchers have developed a DNA-based therapy that targets the PCSK9 gene to lower cholesterol naturally. Using polypurine hairpins, they increased cholesterol uptake by cells and reduced ...

Forget Fiber. Science Just Found the Foods That Really Help Constipation

Oct. 22, 2025 — Researchers at King’s College London have created the first evidence-based dietary guidelines for chronic constipation, finding real relief may come from kiwifruit, rye bread, and mineral water. Psyllium, probiotics, and magnesium oxide also ...

AI Turns X-rays Into Time Machines for Arthritis Care

Oct. 22, 2025 — Researchers at the University of Surrey developed an AI that predicts what a person’s knee X-ray will look like in a year, helping track osteoarthritis progression. The tool provides both a visual forecast and a risk score, offering doctors and ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:59pm EDT

Cavities and Gum Disease Could Nearly Double Stroke Risk

Oct. 27, 2025 — People with both cavities and gum disease were found to have an 86% higher stroke risk than those with healthy mouths. The study followed thousands of adults for two decades, linking poor oral health ...

Life Expectancy Gains Have Slowed Sharply, Study Finds

Oct. 26, 2025 — Researchers found that life expectancy growth in wealthy nations has dramatically slowed since 1939. Once driven by major reductions in child mortality, longevity gains are now limited by slower ...

How Strong Is Your Weed, Really? Scientists Say Labels Often Mislead

Oct. 23, 2025 — Colorado researchers discovered that nearly half of tested cannabis flower products exaggerated their THC levels, while concentrates were mostly accurate. The team’s statewide audit revealed ...

This Everyday Vitamin Could Be the Closest Thing We Have to an “anti-Aging Pill”

Oct. 22, 2025 — A study found that daily vitamin D supplements helped slow telomere shortening—the cellular process linked to aging and disease. Researchers ...

Running Fixes What Junk Food Breaks in the Brain

Oct. 21, 2025 — New research reveals that exercise counteracts the mood-damaging effects of a Western-style diet through specific gut and hormonal mechanisms. Running restored metabolites tied to mental well-being ...

Scientists Discover How a High-Fat Keto Diet Could Keep Your Brain Young

Oct. 21, 2025 — Mizzou scientists are exploring how a ketogenic diet may protect the brain and prevent Alzheimer’s in people genetically predisposed to it. Their study found that female mice with the APOE4 gene ...

Brain Fog During Menopause? Here’s What’s Really Going on

Oct. 21, 2025 — Menopause brings profound shifts not just in hormones but in the very structure of the brain. Scientists have found that gray matter in regions tied to memory and thinking can shrink, while white ...

How Just Minutes of Running Can Supercharge Your Health

Oct. 21, 2025 — Interval running condenses the powerful effects of regular running into shorter, high-intensity bursts. Research shows it can improve cardiovascular health, regulate blood sugar, and reduce body fat ...

This Simple Neck Measurement Might Reveal Hidden Heart Risks

Oct. 20, 2025 — Neck size is proving to be a powerful indicator of hidden health risks. Larger neck circumferences are associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and sleep apnea, even among those with normal ...

Feeling Stressed? Science Finds a Simple Way to Take Back Control

Oct. 20, 2025 — Feeling in control may be the key to conquering daily stress. Penn State researchers found that people were 62% more likely to resolve everyday hassles on days when they felt greater control. This ...

This Powerful Drug Combo Cuts Prostate Cancer Deaths by 40%

Oct. 19, 2025 — A new drug combo of enzalutamide and hormone therapy has been shown to extend survival for men with recurring prostate cancer, reducing death risk by over 40%. The study followed more than 1,000 ...

Cancer Patients Who Got a COVID Vaccine Lived Much Longer

Oct. 19, 2025 — A groundbreaking study reveals that cancer patients who received a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy lived dramatically longer than those who didn’t. Researchers from ...

Scientists Reveal the Best Exercise to Ease Knee Arthritis Pain

Oct. 20, 2025 — A sweeping review of over 200 studies finds that aerobic exercises like walking and cycling offer the best pain relief and mobility gains for knee osteoarthritis. Compared to other types of exercise, ...

Fentanyl Overdoses Among Seniors Surge 9,000% — A Hidden Crisis Few Saw Coming

Oct. 13, 2025 — Overdose deaths from fentanyl mixed with stimulants have skyrocketed among seniors, increasing 9,000% in just eight years. Once thought to affect mainly the young, the opioid epidemic’s fourth wave ...

Breakthrough Cancer Therapy Stops Tumor Growth Without Harming Healthy Cells

Oct. 19, 2025 — Scientists have found a new way to stop cancer growth without damaging healthy cells. Researchers from the Francis Crick Institute and Vividion Therapeutics discovered a compound that blocks the ...

Scientists Find Gold Hiding in Food Waste

Oct. 12, 2025 — Researchers are finding extraordinary new uses for what we throw away. Beet pulp may help crops resist disease, while composted coconut fibers could replace peat moss. Discarded radish and beet ...

A Sweet Fix for Baldness? Stevia Compound Boosts Hair Growth

Oct. 10, 2025 — Researchers discovered that stevioside, a compound from the Stevia plant, enhances the skin absorption of minoxidil, the main treatment for pattern baldness. In mice, a stevioside-infused patch ...

Scientists Discover Brain Circuit That Can Switch Off Chronic Pain

Oct. 10, 2025 — Scientists have pinpointed Y1 receptor neurons in the brain that can override chronic pain signals when survival instincts like hunger or fear take precedence. Acting like a neural switchboard, these ...

Scientists Just Debunked the Calcium and Dementia Myth

Oct. 18, 2025 — A long-term Australian study found that calcium supplements do not raise dementia risk in older women, countering previous fears. The research followed more than 1,400 participants for nearly 15 ...

Even “diet” Soda May Be Quietly Damaging Your Liver, Scientists Warn

Oct. 19, 2025 — Both regular and “diet” soft drinks may be far worse for liver health than believed. A massive study of over 120,000 participants found that consuming more than one can a day of either ...

Why Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t the Real Villain Behind Overeating

Oct. 5, 2025 — Researchers from Leeds found that overeating is driven more by what people believe about food than by its actual ingredients or level of processing. Foods perceived as fatty, sweet, or highly ...

Why the Brain’s GPS Fails With Age, and How Some Minds Defy It

Oct. 5, 2025 — Stanford scientists found that aging disrupts the brain’s internal navigation system in mice, mirroring spatial memory decline in humans. Older mice struggled to recall familiar locations, while a ...

Hidden Cellular “power Switch” Could Transform Parkinson’s Treatment

Oct. 4, 2025 — Researchers uncovered a key cellular regulator, PP2A-B55alpha, that controls both the cleanup of damaged mitochondria and the creation of new ones. In Parkinson’s disease models, reducing this ...

Fat May Secretly Fuel Alzheimer’s, New Research Finds

Oct. 3, 2025 — New research from Houston Methodist reveals how obesity may directly drive Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists discovered that tiny messengers released by fat tissue, called extracellular vesicles, can ...

A Single Dose of Psilocybin May Rewire the Brain for Lasting Relief

Oct. 2, 2025 — Penn researchers found that psilocybin can calm brain circuits tied to pain and mood, easing both physical suffering and emotional distress in animal studies. The compound works in the anterior ...

A Flu Test You Can Chew

Oct. 2, 2025 — Flu detection could soon be as simple as chewing gum. Scientists have created a molecular sensor that releases a thyme-like flavor when it encounters influenza, offering a low-tech, taste-based ...

Scientists Finally Reveal What’s Behind Long COVID’s Mysterious Brain Fog

Oct. 6, 2025 — Researchers in Japan have pinpointed a biological cause of Long COVID brain fog using advanced PET brain imaging. They discovered widespread increases in AMPA receptor density linked to cognitive ...

Scientists Discover Hidden Protein That Switches Off Hunger

Oct. 4, 2025 — Researchers have uncovered how a protein called MRAP2 acts as a key regulator of hunger. It helps move the appetite receptor MC4R to the cell’s surface, allowing it to send stronger “stop ...

Poor Sleep Speeds Brain Aging and May Raise Dementia Risk

Oct. 2, 2025 — New research shows that poor sleep could make the brain appear years older than it really is. Using MRI scans and machine learning, scientists found a clear link between unhealthy sleep patterns and ...

Long Commutes and Small Homes Are Wrecking Sleep

Sep. 30, 2025 — Tokyo residents face a trade-off between home size and commute time when it comes to sleep health. A new study shows longer commutes increase both insomnia and daytime sleepiness, while smaller ...