HEALTH

Aerobic exercise could help women alleviate symptoms of post natal depression, a study shows.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham examined data from 13 trials involving 1,734 new mums.

Their study, published in the British Journal of General Practice today, concludes that physical exercise can reduce depressive symptoms after birth.

Dr Judy Shakespeare, spokeswoman for perinatal mental health for the Royal College of GPs and co-author of the study, said: “Physical activity has numerous benefits for all patients’ physical and mental health - so it’s not surprising this study found it to have a positive effect on postnatal depression.”

Find it hard to resist having one more drink?

The ability to say no to more alcohol – and protect your health – could be as simple as listening to music, research reveals.

Scientists at Yale University in the US asked men and women addicted to booze to rate their cravings for a drink while listening to songs through headphones. They then repeated the experiment, but instead played white noise — a hissing sound that has no frequency patterns. Their desire for a drink was much lower with the music which stimulates the mesolimbic system — the same part of the brain that alcohol activates.

When you eat could be as important as how much you eat when it comes to dieting.

The UT Southwestern Medical Centre in Texas compared mice fed only at night (when most active) to those fed only in daytime. Only the night feeders lost weight, even though both groups had the same number of calories.

In journal Cell Metabolism, researchers said: “Eating at the wrong time at night will not lead to weight loss even when dieting.”

ANDREW GREGORY is the Mirror’s Health Editor