Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at You

This will encourage you to brush your teeth: it seems that gum disease can increase your risk of developing mental health problems and other illnesses by more than a third. So say some researchers at the University of Birmingham, following a recent study of more than 64,000 patients with a history of gum disease. It...

When parents of toddlers often browse social media, they risk damaging the development of their child. A recent study has found that when mothers are on their smartphones, they talk to their toddlers only a quarter as much, give few opportunities for the child to practise conversation with them, provide a slower response to the...

A recent study has found that just an hour a week of digging and shovelling could be enough to cut your risk of dying. Such ‘muscle strengthening exercises’ has been found linked to a 10 to 20 per cent lower risk of death from all causes. The study, recently published in the British Journal of...

Common houseplants are your friend if your home or office is near a busy road. A recent study has found that where houseplants are placed in a poorly ventilated room, they can suck up the nitrogen dioxide from traffic emissions by up to 20 per cent. The researchers at the University of Birmingham used peace...

If you go to church and/or volunteer for local good causes, the good that you do to others will come back to you.  A recent study has found that having a rich social life can help older people retain normal brain functions, and slow down any onset of dementia. The research, done at the University...

The latest State of Britain’s Hedgehogs report warns that between 30 per cent and 75 per cent of the UK’s population of hedgehogs has been lost in rural areas in the last two decades.  The largest falls are in the eastern half of England. However, there is some evidence that in our towns and cities,...

If music be the food of love… Going off to Uni Things you do on holiday but never at any other time Walnuts Two sleep better than one How to keep your house cool in a heatwave How many hours of sleep do you really need at night? Eat your porridge Have you taken your...

 You are in the centre of your local town looking at market stalls, and you become aware of a growing racket nearby. Some local young musicians have got loose. Pretty soon you cannot even hear yourself speak because it is so noisy. The sound is blaring out through amplified loudspeakers with a heavy bass. People...

This month thousands of young people will be preparing themselves for the exciting prospect of going off to what they all call ‘Uni’ in the autumn. Parents, grandparents and godparents will enjoy a mixture of pride and apprehension. This is a major step in life: leaving home, making new friends, study without compulsion and the...

Lend your key to a neighbour and spend half an hour explaining the knack of locking the front door which entails pulling, turning, and pushing at the same time. Worry about your hanging baskets and runner beans. Worry about your cat. Spend an hour looking for window lock keys which you have not seen since...

A handful of walnuts may help reduce your feelings of hunger. Walnuts are unique among nuts in that they are mainly comprised of polyunsaturated fats, which help decrease ghrelin, a hormone that increases hunger.  They also seem to increase peptide YY (PYY), a hormone that increases fullness or satiety. As appetite hormones play an important...

Adults sleep better together than they do alone. Of course, that may be hard to believe if your partner snores, sleepwalks or likes a different level of darkness and coolness in the bedroom. But a recent study at the University of Arizona has found that working-age adults who sleep with a partner fall asleep faster...