NEWS FROM THE World of Medicine

More Work Time Means More Bar Time

Risky alcohol consumption is more likely among those who work long hours, according to a Finnish-led paper published in The British Medical Journal. This translates to upwards of 14 drinks a week for women or 21 drinks for men. Among the 330,000 study subjects from 14 countries, those who worked 48 hours a week or longer were more likely to be risky drinkers, a habit linked to health problems such as liver disease, cancer and mental illness.

Meditation Saves Brains

Yet another reason to get “omming”: mediation may preserve grey matter. UCLA researchers mapped the brains of 50 people who meditate and 50 people who don’t and found that while older subjects in both groups had less grey matter than younger ones, the regular meditators staved off some mental decline.

Stairs as a Diagnosis Tool

Does climbing a flight of stairs make you wince? Think about seeing a doctor now. Scientists from the University of Leeds were concerned that knee osteoarthritis sufferers usually only visit the doctor once the disease is well advanced and they’re already in significant pain. So they followed 4700 people who already had or were at high risk of developing the condition over seven years. Using the stairs proved to be the most likely weight-bearing activity during which study subjects with osteoarthritis first noticed discomfort, followed by walking and then standing.

Mouth Exercise for Snoring

Have a snoring partner? A Brazilian study found that doing three months of mouth exercises like saying “A” for seven minutes thrice daily, cut people’s rate of snoring by 36% and snoring volume by 59%.