News by Subject Medicine & Health

A new Northwestern University study found that while exercise, in this case, a 16-minute conditioning class, generally improved women's mood and body satisfaction, women felt even better if the instructor made motivational comments that focused on strength and health instead of on losing weight or changing the appearance of one's body.

Exercise has been touted to build bone mass, but exactly how it actually accomplishes this is a matter of debate. Now, researchers show that an exercise-induced hormone activates cells that are critical for bone remodeling in mice. A study appearing in Cell on identifies a receptor for irisin, an exercise hormone, and shows that irisin impacts sclerostin in mice, a major cellular regulator of bone structure in humans.

To help patients with muscle disorders, scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have engineered a new stem cell line to study the conversion of stem cells into muscle. Findings appeared in Cell Reports.

Changes in relationships have links to physical activity. The total number of non-exercise steps was reduced during a four-year follow-up study for men who divorced. For women who found a new spouse between the measurement points, the total steps decreased significantly when compared to women married throughout the period.

Physical inactivity is nearly on par with unhealthy diets and tobacco use as a public health concern among Canadians, a new UBC study has found. Approximately 55 per cent of respondents in a national survey of 2,519 people rated physical inactivity as a serious public health concern, compared with 58 per cent for unhealthy diets and 57 per cent for tobacco use.