All posts tagged: Heart

Walking football: This sport boosts heart health and helps people lose weight – and ‘anyone’ can do it

Walking football: This sport boosts heart health and helps people lose weight – and ‘anyone’ can do it

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the Well Enough newsletter with Harry Bullmore for tips on living a healthier, happier and longer life Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Inspired by the recent Premier League excitement or the tension of FIFA World Cup qualifiers, many might feel the urge to get back on the pitch. While a call-up to the England squad might be a distant dream, a more accessible and equally rewarding option exists: walking football. This increasingly popular sport offers all the thrill of the beautiful game, but without the intensity or pressure. Between 2021 and 2023, Age UK partnered with Sport England and the Football Association to establish the Age UK Walking Football Programme. This initiative has led to a proliferation of local walking football games, clubs, and sessions now running across the UK every week, making it easier than ever to join. Anyone can get involved, irrespective of their ability or experience. (Alamy/PA) “It’s a slower, more gentle version of the game that everyone loves because …

The surprise health benefits of eating honey – from sleep to heart disease

The surprise health benefits of eating honey – from sleep to heart disease

Published by Daniella Wilson

Sign up to IndyEat’s free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our food and drink newsletter for free Get our food and drink newsletter for free Honey is often praised for a range of health benefits, from soothing a sore throat and helping you get to sleep to healing woulds and lowering risk factors for diabetes and heart disease. Honey’s acidity has the potential to prevent bacterial growth, while its density and stickiness generate osmotic pressure (in the same way as quicksand), which restrains bacteria. Other compounds in honey contribute anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. But do the claims about honey for specific health problems and injuries stack up to science? Let’s check what the evidence says. First, what’s in honey? Honey contains up to 20% water. The remaining 80% is made of simple sugars: monasaccharides that we rapidly digest. Fructose (32-28%) and glucose (26-31%) are the main ones, followed by small amounts of sucrose and others. This can increase blood sugar levels to varying degrees. The glycemic index (GI) measures how …

Boost heart health, learn new skills and fall in love with cardio with this athlete-approved alternative to road running

Boost heart health, learn new skills and fall in love with cardio with this athlete-approved alternative to road running

Published by Jenni Sidey

In February, Anna Gibson finished fourth for Team USA alongside mixed relay partner Cam Smith as ski mountaineering (aka skimo) made its Olympics debut. It capped a remarkable rise for the Wyoming native. A prodigious runner from an early age, Gibson had only entered the sport 18 months earlier at the behest of teammate Smith. Rather than in skis and skins on snowy slopes, it was on the dusty running trails of Grand Teton National Park and the vertical kilometer of Palisades Tahoe where Gibson, 26, forged her athletic prowess. Article continues below You may like Now the Olympian is setting her sights on climbing to the top of the sport she first fell in love with, a sport she believes all runners would benefit from trying. Here the 26-year-old explains why we should all head for the trails this summer. Five reasons why you should try trail running 1. It’s mentally stimulating “You will never do the same run twice,” Gibson tells Fit&Well. “Even if you run the same trail every single day, the …

Ford CEO says Chinese EVs would hit the heart and soul of the US

Ford CEO says Chinese EVs would hit the heart and soul of the US

Published by skeptic

“We should not let them into our country,” Ford’s CEO Jim Farley warned during a recent interview, admitting it wouldn’t be a fair fight. Ford CEO warns against allowing Chinese EVs in the US Farley has warned several times now that Chinese EV brands pose an “existential threat” to US automakers, including Ford. During an interview with Fox & Friends on Monday, Ford’s CEO said China has enough capacity to build over 50 million vehicles, or enough “to cover all the manufacturing, all the vehicle sales in the US.” “We should not let them into our country,” Farley said, referring to Chinese EVs entering the US. Ford’s CEO stressed the economic impact would be “devastating,” given that manufacturing is the “heart and soul of our country.” Advertisement – scroll for more content Farley also pointed out the “cyber and privacy” risks of allowing Chinese EVs in the US, noting that they feature multiple cameras that “collect a lot of data.” Although he admitted “there’s no way this is a fair fight,” Farley said Ford still …

The man who crawls into the perilous heart of the Chernobyl reactor

The man who crawls into the perilous heart of the Chernobyl reactor

Published by skeptic

Anatoly Doroshenko is tasked with entering Chernobyl’s reactor 4 to take vital radioactivity readings Mykhaylo Palinchak The shattered remains of Chernobyl’s reactor 4 are one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. Not only are the ruins physically dangerous, but they are highly irradiated, pitch black and shrouded by a crumbling, concrete sarcophagus, which is, in turn, covered by the New Safe Confinement structure. But it is vital that scientists understand what is going on inside. And that task falls to Anatoly Doroshenko, a young scientist at the Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants (ISPNPP). He has what could be considered to be the most dangerous job on the planet: crawling deep within the ruins of the reactor to take readings and samples, getting within 8 metres of the core, sometimes as often as once a month. “It’s not scary,” Doroshenko tells me, as he stands next to a scale model of Chernobyl at the institute’s laboratory in the exclusion zone around the plant. “I got ready for it for a long time. …

I Had Warning Signs For Years But A Heart Attack Revealed The Rare Genetic Disease Doctors Missed

I Had Warning Signs For Years But A Heart Attack Revealed The Rare Genetic Disease Doctors Missed

Published by Jenni Sidey

When I think about who I was growing up and what brought me joy, I think about the feeling of the waves under my board when I’m surfing. I think about fixing classic cars with my dad. And now, I think about spending time with my sons on warm days at the beach. Looking back, my journey to being a dad to two wonderful sons was very nearly cut short before it even began when I was diagnosed with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH), an ultra-rare inherited cholesterol condition that affects approximately 1,300 people in the U.S.  It’s the most severe form of familial hypercholesterolemia — a defect in how the body clears low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL cholesterol], referred to as “bad” cholesterol. People with HoFH are at risk for premature atherosclerotic disease and cardiac events, even in their teenage years.  I had warning signs for years, but it took a heart attack to reveal the rare genetic disease doctors missed Photoroyalty via Shutterstock I’d always been active growing up, but when I was around 16, …

‘I walked up to the truck, saw the padlock on the ground, and my heart sank’

‘I walked up to the truck, saw the padlock on the ground, and my heart sank’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Add McCartney: the Hunt for the Lost Bass to your watchlist More than 50 years later, it still hurts. “It felt like the worst moment of my life,” says Ian Horne, remembering the morning in October 1972 when, aged 25, he realised he had just lost one of the most famous musical instruments of the 20th century. “I walked up to the truck, saw the padlock on the ground, and my heart sank.” Horne is a former sound engineer with Wings, the band Paul McCartney started with his wife Linda a year after the Beatles split up in 1970. Following a day in the recording studio with the band, Horne had parked a truck full of their musical equipment on a west London street. “It was a three-ton truck with a roller shutter at the back,” he recalls. “When I pushed the shutter up, I saw straightaway that it was gone. The bass wasn’t there.” Sir Paul McCartney. Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images The instrument in question, a 1961 Höfner 500/1 violin bass, is at the …

Scientists develop AI tool to spot heart failure risk five years before it strikes | Heart disease

Scientists develop AI tool to spot heart failure risk five years before it strikes | Heart disease

Published by Sam Flores

Oxford scientists have developed a simple AI tool that can predict the risk of heart failure five years before it develops. More than 60 million people worldwide have the condition in which the heart cannot pump blood around the body as well as it should. Spotting cases before they develop into heart failure would be a big step forward, experts say. Doctors could prepare better for and manage the condition at an earlier stage or even prevent it entirely. The AI tool, developed by a team at the University of Oxford, looks for signs in fat around the heart that indicate whether it is inflamed and unhealthy. The signs are not visible to the human eye. Until now, there had not been a way to accurately predict heart failure using routine cardiac CT scans, the researchers said. The tool provides doctors with a patient’s risk score that could help them make decisions about care such as how closely patients should be monitored. Those in the highest risk group were 20 times more likely to develop …

Only got five minutes to spare? Try this kettlebell workout to build strength and get your heart pumping

Only got five minutes to spare? Try this kettlebell workout to build strength and get your heart pumping

Published by Jenni Sidey

When I’m trying to squeeze a short workout into a busy day, it can feel like I spend longer choosing a workout than actually doing it. In these situations, it can be a good idea to have a set of exercises ready to go. Denise Chakoian, a certified fitness trainer and the owner of Core Cycle and Fitness LaGree, has just the thing. Article continues below You may like When she has just five minutes to exercise—and wants to get the most out of that time—she does a single set of timed kettlebell exercises, to get the most bang for her buck. She begins with the kettlebell swing. “It’s one of the most efficient exercises that exists, and gets your heart rate up fast,” she says. She explains that she chose the rest of the exercises in this workout to complement the swing. She features pressing, squatting and grip work exercises to keep the quick workout balanced and not too heavily focused on the hip-hinge movement. “The final exercise is a deliberate cooldown in disguise,” …

Putting science at the heart of health

Putting science at the heart of health

Published by skeptic

Today marks World Health Day, an annual moment that turns global attention to one of the most fundamental issues shaping societies everywhere: health. Held each year on April 7 to mark the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO), World Health Day 2026 is centred on a clear and urgent message – science must serve everyone, everywhere. From major cities to remote communities, governments, health organisations and researchers are using World Health Day to highlight how scientific progress can, and must, translate into better health outcomes for all. What World Health Day represents in 2026 World Health Day has long been used to spotlight pressing global health challenges, including access to care, mental health, and the impact of climate change. This year, the focus sharpens around the role of science as both a driver of progress and a tool for reducing inequality. The emphasis reflects a growing concern: while scientific innovation has transformed healthcare over the past century, its benefits are not evenly shared. Millions of people still lack access to basic services such as …