Reader's Digest - USA (2019-07)

News From the

WORLD OF

MEDICINE

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HEAT CAN MAKE YOUR

BRAIN SLUGGISH

If you find it hard to get your work done

during the dog days of summer, blame

the heat. In a Harvard University study,

20 students who lived in a dormitory with

no air-conditioning had slower reaction

times, 13 percent lower performance on

basic arithmetic tests, and a nearly 10 per-

cent reduction in the number of correct re-

sponses per minute compared with students

who lived in an air-conditioned building.

Take a Break,

Live Longer

In a 40-year study of

1,222 men, half the

participants received

advice to lose weight,

exercise, and give up

smoking. Compared

with the men who

weren’t counseled, this

group of men reduced

their risk of cardiovas-

cular disease, but their

death rate was higher—

perhaps because

making these changes

caused stress. Within

this group, those who

took fewer than three

weeks off work every

year were 37 percent

more likely to die be-

tween the ages of 40

and 85 than those who

vacationed regularly,

giving further evidence

of the need to de-stress.

Photograph by The Voorhes

Reader’s Digest

32 july/august 2019 | rd.com