Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! And welcome to my January news update with the pick of the most interesting stories in health and wellbeing over the last month. Please explore these new findings and be sure to share them with your friends, families and colleagues.
With warmest good wishes, – Dr Rosy Daniel
Positive News Stories from 2020
The Recovery Room: The best non-pandemic stories of 2020
2020 has been challenging, and COVID-19 has dominated our headlines for much of the year. But away from the pandemic, the world of health and medicine has continued to deliver fresh research, new treatments for old diseases, and surprising developments that will affect our health next year. Articles including ‘Honeybee venom kills aggressive breast cancer cells’, ‘2nd person cured of HIV thanks to stem cell transplant’, ‘Could AI replace the finger prick blood sugar test?’
Click here to read the full Medical News Today Article
Nutrition
Too Much Sugar Linked to Aggression, ADHD and Bipolar Disorder
Discover the bitter truth about high-sugar diets, particularly in how they may be triggering ADHD and aggressive behaviors by overactivating the fructose pathway, a mechanism nature may have intended to be used for energy storage and survival. Yet another research study confirms the link between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder and aggressive behaviors with sugar intake.
Read the full Green Med Info Article
‘Food for Thought’: Reflections on an organic life
Phil Haughton is old friend of mine, best known as the founder of three Bristol food shops flying under the banner of The Better Food Company. I wanted to say a few words about his book, Food for Thought, which ‘celebrat[es] the joy of eating well and living better’. I much admire the man and all his achievements, particularly in Bristol, where he virtually pioneered the concept of a wholly organic food shop, but also because I knew that amongst his formative influences was a period when he lived in a commune in southwest Scotland.
Read the full Sustainable Food Trust Article
Integrated Approach to Brain Health
Iceland joins forces with WHO to support an integrated approach to brain health
His Excellency Mr Harald Aspelund, Ambassador of the Permanent Representative of Iceland to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva and Ms Jane Ellison, WHO Executive Director for External Relations and Governance signed a new contribution agreement to support work towards integrated brain health, that will be led by a newly established unit within the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use.
Read the full World Health Organization Article
Environmental Health
An Action Plan for Greener Prisons
A new report published by the Sustainable Food Trust’s Harmony Project recommends that prisons in the UK should provide more opportunities for inmates to connect with the natural world with the goal of improving the wellbeing of staff and prisoners and supporting rehabilitation. ‘An Action Plan for Greener Prisons’ draws on research which indicates that access to the natural world, such as having the opportunity to grow food and work with animals, can improve mental wellbeing and reduce stress, anxiety and depression.
Read the full Sustainable Foot Trust Article
Environmental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as observed from space
COVID-19 has changed the way we live and work, as various health and safety restrictions keep more of us at home more often. The resulting changes to our behavior are already impacting the environment around us in myriad ways, according to comparisons of remote sensing data before and during the pandemic collected by NASA, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and ESA (European Space Agency) Earth-observing satellites and others.
Read an extract from this Science Daily Article
To see lots more exciting news and evidence go to www.health-e-learning.org.uk and see the health-e-information platform.
Researcher – Sophie Daniel, Health and Wellbeing Trust
Images bought from iStock Getty images – https://www.istockphoto.com