Short naps can improve alertness and some cognitive performance, but no nap duration is proven to extend life. Here’s what studies say about 10–30 vs 60+ minutes.
Health
27 Articles
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Welcome to the ‘Health’ tag page of Markus’ blog, your comprehensive guide to all things health-related. Dive into a variety of topics ranging from nutrition, exercise, mental wellbeing to the latest advancements in health science.
Finnish sauna studies show a striking association with lower mortality. But after separating what the models actually adjusted for, the causal story becomes much less simple.
A three-day analysis of wearable-sensor data found a repeatable personal turning-direction bias. Turning direction was not convincingly related to falls or physical mobility, but a counterclockwise bias showed an exploratory association with better cognitive performance, echoing a 1992 visuospatial study.
Hormesis has one of the most attractive ideas in health science: a small stress can make a…
The 1918 Rosenau experiments famously failed to transmit influenza under the conditions used. That negative result is historically important, but modern human challenge studies show that influenza virus can reproducibly infect people, including by aerosol.
Host biology and the microbiome strongly influence infection outcomes, but that does not mean viruses are imaginary. Modern virology can culture, sequence, image and experimentally transmit viruses while also showing why PCR and symptoms must be interpreted carefully.
The common cold has no proven one-day cure. Most cases are viral and improve on their own. Stress can increase susceptibility after viral exposure, but it does not replace infection as the cause.
“Hitting the wall” is the abrupt loss of pace and rising effort that some runners experience late…
Olive oil, vinegar and lemon can be part of a healthy diet, but there is no evidence that a morning mixture cleans arteries or dissolves plaque. Plaque regression is linked to sustained cardiovascular risk reduction, especially LDL lowering.
Walking has a branding problem. It is too ordinary. If an activity requires expensive equipment, pain, a…
Clockwise and counterclockwise movement do not have universal opposite health effects. Forward-rotating shift schedules may better match circadian adaptation, while body-spinning direction is mainly a biomechanical, vestibular and training variable rather than a general health rule.
When you start seeing the first results in fitness, there’s a real risk of overdoing it. You…
Before an interview, exam or public performance, I sometimes rehearse the stressful situation while exercising. The idea…
Whether you work from home or in an office, chances are you spend a lot of time…
Stress and mental health can influence behavior, symptoms and quality of life in liver disease, but claims that anger is stored in the liver or that unresolved conflicts cause liver growth are not supported by modern hepatology.
Proline and lysine are biologically important amino acids, but that does not mean isolated supplements automatically improve collagen, arteries, skin or muscle. The strongest human evidence is narrower.
When Tony Stark upgraded the reactor inside the Iron Man suit, the appeal was obvious: more power…
Parasitic infections are real but symptoms are usually nonspecific. Diagnosis depends on exposure history and the suspected organism; there is no single test for every parasite, and preventive deworming or homemade herbal mixtures are not appropriate for most people without a diagnosis.
Andrew Weil’s diet overlaps strongly with Mediterranean eating, but some anti-aging claims go further than the evidence. Here is what holds up, what is uncertain, and why looking younger is not biological age.
In the late 18th century, a remarkable British scholar and physician named George Staunton embarked on an…