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Research reveals how long it takes Aussies to save for a holiday

Saving up for a holiday can seem like an overwhelming task, but some destinations are easier to save for than others. According to new research by <a href="http://money.com.au/">money.com.au</a>, nearly a third of travellers - or 31 percent - need on average a year to save for a trip, while 29 percent of Aussies save for up to six months before jetting off. For 18 percent of travellers, it takes more than a year to save for a trip, while just 13 percent of Aussies manage to save for a holiday in less than three months. On the flip side, 7 percent of eager travellers decide to skip saving altogether and cover their holiday expenses fully on a credit card, while just 2 percent opt for a personal loan to fund their trips. Money.com.au's Finance Expert, Sean Callery said of the survey, "Our research also shows that travel is the one expense Australians aren't willing to forgo, no matter their financial goals or income level." "Going into debt for a holiday brings additional costs and risks. It's important to have a plan for clearing the debt as quickly as possible." With these saving trends in mind, the experts have crunched the numbers to estimate how long it would take the average Aussie to save for a trip to the most popular overseas holiday destinations. The saving time for each location was calculated based on a 10 per cent savings rate of the average weekly earnings of $1,923.40 (from ABS data). Two of the quickest destinations to save for are China and Thailand, while other destinations the experts say you can save for in around half a year include New Zealand, Vietnam and Singapore. Image credits: Shutterstock

Travel Tips

Readers response: What career path could you have seen yourself taking but didn’t?

When it comes to work, we often pick a career path and stick with the same industry for most of our working lives. However, it's not uncommon to have regrets over work, given many people pick their career paths as a young adult. We asked our readers what career path they could you have seen themselves taking but didn’t, and the response was overwhelming. Here's what they said. Jill Waterhouse - Nursing, but my parents wouldn't let me. I would have loved to have been a nursery nurse. After coming to Australia I did become a medical secretary, so I suppose I was a bit there. Nola Martin - Primary school teacher but my father wouldn't let me. Unforgivable. Peter King - Medicine, but ended up doing aviation instead. Joy Saker - Speech therapist, but I would have had to live at home for another 4 years. Helen McKee - I always wanted to be a police officer. Charlie Hedges - Wanted to be a doctor in space but could not afford the many years of college. Christina Hutchings - I wanted to be a librarian. Sue Nixon - I wish I was an airline stewardess or researcher, something to do with travel. Image credits: Shutterstock

Retirement Life

Why do I need to take some medicines with food?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mary-bushell-919262">Mary Bushell</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-canberra-865">University of Canberra</a> Have you ever been instructed to take your medicine with food and wondered why? Perhaps you’ve wondered if you really need to? There are varied reasons, and sometimes complex science and chemistry, behind why you may be advised to take a medicine with food. To complicate matters, some similar medicines need to be taken differently. The antibiotic amoxicillin with clavulanic acid (sold as Amoxil Duo Forte), for example, is recommended to be taken with food, while amoxicillin alone (sold as Amoxil), can be taken with or without food. Different brands of the same medicine may also have different recommendations when it comes to taking it with food. <h2>Food impacts drug absorption</h2> Food can affect how fast and how much a drug is absorbed into the body in up to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jpp/article-abstract/71/4/510/6122024?login=false">40% of medicines</a> taken orally. When you have food in your stomach, the makeup of the digestive juices change. This includes things like the fluid volume, thickness, pH (which becomes less acidic with food), surface tension, movement and how much salt is in your bile. These changes can impair or enhance drug absorption. Eating a meal also delays how fast the contents of the stomach move into the small intestine – this is known as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9505616/">gastric emptying</a>. The small intestine has a large surface area and rich blood supply – and this is the primary site of drug absorption. Eating a larger meal, or one with lots of fibre, delays gastric emptying more than a smaller meal. Sometimes, health professionals will advise you to take a medicine with food, to help your body absorb the drug more slowly. But if a drug can be taken with or without food – such as paracetamol – and you want it to work faster, take it on an empty stomach. <h2>Food can make medicines more tolerable</h2> Have you ever taken a medicine on an empty stomach and felt nauseated soon after? Some medicines can cause stomach upsets. Metformin, for example, is a drug that reduces blood glucose and treats type 2 diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome. It commonly causes gastrointestinal symptoms, with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4452716/">one in four users affected</a>. To combat these side effects, it is generally recommended to be taken with food. The same <a href="https://amhonline.amh.net.au/auth">advice</a> is given for corticosteroids (such as prednisolone/prednisone) and certain antibiotics (such as doxycycline). Taking some medicines with food makes them more tolerable and improves the chance you’ll take it for the duration it’s prescribed. <h2>Can food make medicines safer?</h2> Ibuprofen is one of the most widely used over-the-counter medicines, with around one in five Australians reporting use <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/medications/latest-release">within a two-week period</a>. While effective for pain and inflammation, ibuprofen can impact the stomach by inhibiting protective prostaglandins, increasing the risk of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1586/14737175.6.11.1643#d1e212">bleeding, ulceration and perforation</a> with long-term use. But there <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4574824/">isn’t enough research</a> to show taking ibuprofen with food reduces this risk. Prolonged use may also affect kidney function, particularly in those with pre-existing conditions or dehydration. The <a href="https://amhonline.amh.net.au/auth">Australian Medicines Handbook</a>, which guides prescribers about medicine usage and dosage, advises taking ibuprofen (sold as Nurofen and Advil) with a glass of water – or with a meal if it upsets your stomach. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4574824/">A systematic review published in 2015</a> found food delays the transit of ibuprofen to the small intestine and absorption, which delays therapeutic effect and the time before pain relief. It also found taking short courses of ibuprofen without food reduced the need for additional doses. To reduce the risk of ibuprofen causing damage to your stomach or kidneys, use the lowest effective dose for the shortest duration, stay hydrated and avoid taking other <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/medications-non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory-drugs">non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines</a> at the same time. For people who use ibuprofen for prolonged periods and are at higher risk of gastrointestinal side effects (such as people with a history of ulcers or older adults), your prescriber may start you on a <a href="https://australianprescriber.tg.org.au/articles/peptic-ulcer-disease-and-non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory-drugs.html">proton pump inhibitor</a>, a medicine that reduces stomach acid and protects the stomach lining. <h2>How much food do you need?</h2> When you need to take a medicine with food, how much is enough? Sometimes a full glass of milk or a couple of crackers may be enough, for medicines such as prednisone/prednisolone. However, most head-to-head studies that compare the effects of a medicine “with food” and without, usually use a heavy meal to define “with food”. So, a cracker may not be enough, particularly for those with a sensitive stomach. A more substantial meal that includes a mix of fat, protein and carbohydrates is generally advised. Your health professional can advise you on which of your medicines need to be taken with food and how they interact with your digestive system.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/235782/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mary-bushell-919262">Mary Bushell</a>, Clinical Associate Professor in Pharmacy, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-canberra-865">University of Canberra</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-i-need-to-take-some-medicines-with-food-235782">original article</a>.

Body

Parents under fire for taking their sick toddler on a long-haul flight

A couple has come under fire after documenting their experience online of boarding a long-haul flight with their toddler, despite the child being sick. Alina and her husband were excited to go on their long-awaited holiday to Thailand with their one-year-old son in tow, taking off on their first big family trip. However, shortly before they were set to take off, their child developed a raging fever, and they decided to go on the trip anyway. Taking the experience to social media, Alina said her son’s temperature soared to around 40 degrees, with their little boy’s condition escalating so rapidly that the parents were considering calling off their entire trip. “My husband and I even wanted to cancel the flight,” she confessed in the video, which has received around 1.4 million views. However, after realising they would be out of pocket by several thousands of dollars if they cancelled the trip at such short notice, they decided to take the risk and board the plane. “Our tickets would have been wasted, and the trip that cost us $3,000 would have been wasted,” the mum wrote. "One plus of this flight was that the flight was at night, and the child could sleep and recover.” In the clip, the parents were seen walking their son around the plane, cradling the sick toddler as he cried uncontrollably. Luckily, the parents “managed to bring down the temperature”, but they weren’t convinced their son would keep quiet for the rest of the trip. “We were so worried about how the baby would feel on an eight-hour flight,” she continued, walking the baby up and down the corridors of the airport, trying to calm him down. As they tried to settle the child, they realised that their hopes that he would sleep the whole way were misguided. “The flight turned out to be difficult,” Alina confessed. “The baby kept waking and crying.” In the middle of the night, their son’s fever returned, which forced the parents to “bring the temperature down again” and left them “very worried” about their son’s health. Their baby’s fever took a toll on the parents as well, who complained of feeling “squeezed like a lemon” while trying to keep his temperature down, as Alina recalled, “We took turns looking after the baby so each of us could sleep.” In a later video, the parents defended their choice to take their son on the flight despite his intense fever and blamed it on his teething, not sickness. “Our baby wasn’t sick, he was teething, and that’s why he had a fever,” she said. “If our child had been sick, we would have cancelled everything … I consider myself a wonderful mother.” Despite the mother's clarification of her son's fever, the parents were slammed for even considering taking a sick child on such a long flight. “It’s OK, don’t worry about making anyone else on that flight sick,” a sarcastic comment read. “This is so tremendously selfish, you are appalling for doing this to him and others.” “I was in the same situation,” another parent said. “I lost all bookings, but who cares, my daughter comes first always and forever, no matter the amount of money!” “Trips come and go; your baby’s health is priceless!” read another comment. “Forty degrees is a hospital admission! Not a flight to Thailand!” However, not everyone was as judgmental, with many parents extending their sympathies to the first-time parents, as one person wrote, “You know what’s best for your baby. Everyone will say things. But only you will know when you are in that situation.” “Everyone is a first-time parent,” another defended. “This was a lesson learned. A baby’s health is of utmost importance. No holiday is more important than that. I hope he is OK now.” Image credits: TikTok

Travel Trouble

I’m iron deficient. Which supplements will work best for me and how should I take them?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alannah-mckay-1548258">Alannah McKay</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a> Iron deficiency is common and can be debilitating. It mainly affects women. One in three premenopausal women <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57bfc0498419c24a01318ae2/t/607fc2e06ace2f22d5ca9a43/1618985699483/20210421+-+IDC+-+economic+impact+of+iron+deficiency+-+FINAL.pdf">are low in iron</a> compared to just 5% of Australian men. Iron deficiency particularly affects teenage girls, women who do a lot of exercise and those who are pregnant. The <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11160590/">body needs iron</a> to make new red blood cells, and to support energy production, the immune system and cognitive function. If you’re low, you may experience a range of symptoms including fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, headache, irregular heartbeat and reduced concentration. If a blood test shows you’re iron deficient, your doctor may recommend you start taking an oral iron supplement. But should you take a tablet or a liquid? With food or not? And when is the best time of day? Here are some tips to help you work out how, when and what iron supplement to take. <h2>How do I pick the right iron supplement?</h2> The iron in your body is called “elemental iron”. Choosing the right oral supplement and dose will depend on how much elemental iron it has – your doctor will advise exactly how much you need. The sweet spot is between <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0098299720300364?via%3Dihub">60-120 mg of elemental iron</a>. Any less and the supplement won’t be effective in topping up your iron levels. Any higher and you risk gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhoea, cramping and stomach pain. In Australia, iron salts are the most common oral supplements because they are cheap, effective and come in different delivery methods (tablets, capsules, liquid formulas). <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK557376/">The iron salts</a> you are most likely to find in your local chemist are ferrous sulfate (~20% elemental iron), ferrous gluconate (~12%) and ferrous fumarate (~33%). These formulations <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3867244/">all work similarly</a>, so your choice should come down to dose and cost. Many multivitamins may look like an iron supplement, but it’s important to note they usually have too little iron – usually less than 20 mg – to correct an iron deficiency. <h2>Should I take tablets or liquid formulas?</h2> Iron contained within a tablet is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3867244/">just as well absorbed</a> as iron found in a liquid supplement. Choosing the right one usually comes down to personal preference. The main difference is that liquid formulas tend to contain less iron than tablets. That means you might need to take more of the product to get the right dose, so using a liquid supplement could work out to be more expensive in the long term. <h2>What should I eat with my iron supplement?</h2> Research <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajh.26987">has shown</a> you will absorb more of the iron in your supplement if you take it on an empty stomach. But this can cause more gastrointestinal issues, so might not be practical for everyone. If you do take your supplement with meals, it’s important to think about what types of food will boost – rather than limit – iron absorption. For example, taking the supplement alongside vitamin C improves your body’s ability to absorb it. Some supplements already contain vitamin C. Otherwise you could take the supplement along with a glass of orange juice, or other <a href="https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/">vitamin C-rich foods</a>. On the other hand, tea, coffee and calcium all <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajh.26987">decrease the body’s ability to absorb iron</a>. So you should try to limit these close to the time you take your supplement. <h2>Should I take my supplement in the morning or evening?</h2> The best time of day to take your supplement is in the morning. The body can <a href="https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/fulltext/2019/10000/the_impact_of_morning_versus_afternoon_exercise_on.20.aspx">absorb significantly more</a> iron earlier in the day, when concentrations of hepcidin (the main hormone that regulates iron) are at their lowest. Exercise also affects the hormone that regulates iron. That means taking your iron supplement after exercising can <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/32/5/article-p359.xml">limit your ability to absorb it</a>. Taking your supplement in the hours following exercise will mean significantly poorer absorption, especially if you take it between two and five hours after you stop. <a href="https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/fulltext/2024/01000/iron_absorption_in_highly_trained_male_runners_.14.aspx">Our research</a> has shown if you exercise every day, the best time to take your supplement is in the morning before training, or immediately after (within 30 minutes). <h2>My supplements are upsetting my stomach. What should I do?</h2> If you experience gastrointestinal side effects such as diarrhoea or cramps when you take iron supplements, you may want to consider taking your supplement every second day, rather than daily. Taking a supplement every day is still the fastest way to restore your iron levels. But a recent study <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(23)00463-7/fulltext#%20">has shown</a> taking the same total dose can be just as effective when it’s taken on alternate days. For example, taking a supplement every day for three months works as well as every second day for six months. This results in fewer side effects. Oral iron supplements can be a cheap and easy way to correct an iron deficiency. But ensuring you are taking the right product, under the right conditions, is crucial for their success. It’s also important to check your iron levels prior to commencing iron supplementation and do so only under medical advice. In large amounts, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430862/">iron can be toxic</a>, so you don’t want to be consuming additional iron if your body doesn’t need it. If you think you may be low on iron, talk to your GP to find out your best options.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/235315/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alannah-mckay-1548258">Alannah McKay</a>, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Sports Nutrition, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/im-iron-deficient-which-supplements-will-work-best-for-me-and-how-should-i-take-them-235315">original article</a>.

Body

Considering taking Wegovy to lose weight? Here are the risks and benefits – and how it differs from Ozempic

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-burch-438717">Emily Burch</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a> The weight-loss drug <a href="https://www.ebs.tga.gov.au/ebs/picmi/picmirepository.nsf/pdf?OpenAgent=&id=CP-2022-PI-01930-1&d=20240731172310101&d=20240827172310101">Wegovy</a> is now <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/safety/shortages/medicine-shortage-alerts/new-semaglutide-product-becomes-available">available</a> in Australia. Wegovy is administered as a once-weekly injection and is approved specifically for weight management. It’s intended to be used <a href="https://www.ebs.tga.gov.au/ebs/picmi/picmirepository.nsf/pdf?OpenAgent=&id=CP-2022-PI-01930-1&d=20240731172310101">in combination</a> with a reduced-energy diet and increased physical activity. So how does Wegovy work and how much weight can you expect to lose while taking it? And what are the potential risks – and costs – for those who use it? Let’s look at what the science says. <h2>What is Wegovy?</h2> Wegovy is a brand name for the medication semaglutide. Semaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA). This means it makes your body’s own glucagon-like peptide-1 hormone, called GLP-1 for short, work better. Normally when you eat, the body releases the GLP-1 hormone which helps signal to your brain that you are full. Semaglutides enhance this effect, leading to a feeling of fullness, even when you haven’t eaten. Another role of GLP-1 is to stimulate the body to produce more insulin, a hormone which helps lower the level of glucose (sugar) in the blood. That’s why semaglutides have been used for <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6231279/">several years</a> to treat type 2 diabetes. <h2>How does Wegovy differ from Ozempic?</h2> Like Wegovy, Ozempic is a semaglutide. The way Wegovy and Ozempic work in the body are essentially the same. They’re made by the same pharmaceutical company, Novo Nordisk. But there are two differences: 1) They are approved for two different (but related) reasons. In Australia (and the United States), Ozempic is <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/prescription-medicines-registrations/ozempic-novo-nordisk-pharmaceuticals-pty-ltd">approved for use</a> to improve blood glucose levels in adults with type 2 diabetes. By managing blood glucose levels effectively, the medication aims to reduce the risk of major complications, such as heart disease. Wegovy is <a href="https://www.ebs.tga.gov.au/ebs/picmi/picmirepository.nsf/pdf?OpenAgent=&id=CP-2022-PI-01930-1&d=20240731172310101">approved for use</a> alongside diet and exercise for people with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater, or 27 or greater but with other conditions such as high blood pressure. Wegovy can also be used in people aged 12 years and older. Like Ozempic, Wegovy aims to reduce the risk of future health complications, including heart disease. 2) They are both injected but come in different strengths. Ozempic is available in pre-loaded single-dose pens with varying dosages of 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg, or 2 mg per injection. The dose can be slowly increased, up to a maximum of 2 mg per week, if needed. Wegovy is available in prefilled single-dose pens with doses of 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 1.7 mg, or 2.4 mg. The treatment starts with a dose of 0.25 mg once weekly for four weeks, after which the dose is gradually increased until reaching a maintenance dose of 2.4 mg weekly. While it’s unknown what the impact of Wegovy’s introduction will be on Ozempic’s availability, Ozempic is still <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/safety/shortages/information-about-major-medicine-shortages/about-ozempic-semaglutide-shortage-2022-2024">anticipated to be in low supply</a> for the remainder of 2024. <h2>Is Wegovy effective for weight loss?</h2> Given Wegovy is a semaglutide, there is <a href="https://www.cochranelibrary.com/central/doi/10.1002/central/CN-02495006/full">very strong evidence</a> it can help people lose weight and maintain this weight loss. A recent <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-02996-7">study</a> found that over four years, participants taking Wevovy as indicated experienced an average weight loss of 10.2% body weight and a reduction in waist circumference of 7.7cm. For those who stop taking the medication, analyses have shown that about two-thirds of weight lost is <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35441470/">regained</a>. <h2>What are the side effects of Wegovy?</h2> The most common <a href="https://www.wegovy.com/dashboard/my-library/week-02-tips-for-managing-common-side-effects.html">side effects</a> are nausea and vomiting. However, other serious side effects are also possible because of the whole-of-body impact of the medication. Thyroid tumours and cancer have been detected as a risk in animal studies, yet are rarely seen in human <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11050669/">scientific literature</a>. In the four-year Wegovy <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2307563">trial</a>, 16.6% of participants who received Wegovy (1,461 people) experienced an adverse event that led to them permanently discontinuing their use of the medication. This was higher than the 8.2% of participants (718 people) who received the placebo (with no active ingredient). Side effects included gastrointestinal disorders (including nausea and vomiting), which affected 10% of people who used Wegovy compared to 2% of people who used the placebo. Gallbladder-related disorders occurred in 2.8% of people who used Wegovy, and 2.3% of people who received the placebo. Recently, concerns about suicidal thoughts and behaviours have been raised, after a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2822453">global analysis</a> reviewed more than 36 million reports of adverse events from semaglutide (Ozempic or Wegovy) since 2000. There were 107 reports of suicidal thoughts and self-harm among people taking semaglutide, sadly including six actual deaths. When people stopped the medication, 62.5% found the thoughts went away. What we don’t know is whether dose, weight loss, or previous mental health status or use of antidepressants had a role to play. Finally, concerns are growing about the negative effect of semaglutides on our social and emotional connection with food. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/nov/09/i-miss-eating-weight-loss-drug-ozempic-food-repulsive">Anecdotal</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7839771/">scientific</a> evidence suggests people who use semaglutides significantly reduce their daily dietary intake (as anticipated) by skipping meals and avoiding social occasions – not very enjoyable for people and their loved ones. <h2>How can people access Wegovy?</h2> Wegovy is available for purchase at pharmacists with a prescription from a doctor. But there is a hefty price tag. Wegovy is <a href="https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/news/wegovy-to-be-available-in-australia/">not currently subsidised</a> through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, leaving patients to cover the cost. The current cost is <a href="https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/wegovy-launches-in-australia#:%7E:text=Novo%20Nordisk%20told%20newsGP%20the,each%20dose%20lasting%20one%20month.">estimated at around A$460</a> per month dose. If you’re considering Wegovy, <a href="https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/wegovy-launches-in-australia#:%7E:text=The%20manufacturer%20assured%20GPs%20supply,cost%20to%20customers%20than%20Ozempic.">make an appointment</a> with your doctor for individual advice.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/237308/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-ball-14718">Lauren Ball</a>, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emily-burch-438717">Emily Burch</a>, Accredited Practising Dietitian and Lecturer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/southern-cross-university-1160">Southern Cross University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/considering-taking-wegovy-to-lose-weight-here-are-the-risks-and-benefits-and-how-it-differs-from-ozempic-237308">original article</a>.

Body

Cruise worker shares what you should always take into a lifeboat

A cruise ship worker has shared the six essentials you should always take if you ever need to get into the lifeboat on a cruise. Lucy Southerton, who has worked on cruise ships for nine years, regularly shares cruising advice on social media to help travellers get the most out of their voyage. In her most recent video, Lucy shared invaluable advice on what items you should take on a lifeboat in the event of an emergency. While many people would instinctively leave all their belongings behind in an emergency, Lucy said there are six things you should always take. The first thing to bring in the event of an emergency is your documentation, such as a form of ID, such as a passport, driving licence or even a visa. The second thing may surprise some people, as Southerton recommends always having lip balm in case of emergencies. The cruise worker said, “[In a life-threatening situation] the body prioritises the distribution of water to essential organs such as the liver and the brain.” “Because of this, the lips receive no water so they are going to dehydrate faster, meaning they could crack. If you are in a lifeboat for a long period of time, your lips are going to be one of the first things that suffer so you should protect them at all costs.” Thirdly, Lucy recommends you should always have sunscreen, as you never know how long you will be exposed to the elements for. She said, “If you are sitting directly under the hatch or where they take the roof off to let the breeze in, you're going to want a hat or sun cream to protect yourself from the beating sun.” “This is not as much of a priority as lip balm, but if you can get hold of some sun cream before entering a lifeboat then you should.” Next up, the veteran cruise-ship worker said you should always take layers of clothes that you can easily take on and off in changing weather. Lucy's penultimate item that passengers should always take on a lifeboat might seem obvious but she warned that it is essential for those who take medication on a regular basis to bring it with them. However, she added, “What they don't tell you to take is stuff like paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin, Sudocrem and ointments.” “'While you may not need these types of medication, somebody else on your lifeboat might - it's better to have it and not need it than the reverse scenario. Just shove them in your pocket just in case.” Last but not least, Lucy said you should - as obvious and essential as it may seem - never forget to take water on board a lifeboat. She stressed that “there is only so much water you can fit in a lifeboat, so the water is going to be rationed out”. Lucy continued, “If you can take extra water on board with you, do it, even if it's just in the form of an extra water bottle. [Humans] cannot last long without water so make sure you grab some if you are able to.” Finishing up the video, Lucy reassured passengers that “getting into a lifeboat is the absolute last resort”, adding that it is more likely that anyone on board the ship is taken to an assembly station while emergency services on board attempt to fix any issues that could arise. Image credits: Instagram / Shutterstock

Cruising

Our obsession with taking photos is changing how we remember the past

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/giuliana-mazzoni-175429">Giuliana Mazzoni</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-hull-1191">University of Hull</a> I recently visited the <a href="http://hermitage--www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/?lng=sv">Hermitage</a> in St Petersburg, Russia – one of the best art museums in the world. I was expecting to serenely experience its masterpieces, but my view was blocked by a wall of smart phones taking pictures of the paintings. And where I could find a bit of empty space, there were people taking selfies to create lasting memories of their visit. For many people, taking hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures is now a crucial part of going on holiday – documenting every last detail and posting it on social media. But how does that affect our actual memories of the past – and how we view ourselves? As an expert on memory, I was curious. Unfortunately, psychological research on the topic is so far scant. But we do know a few things. We use smart phones and new technologies <a href="http://studie-life.de/en/life-reports/smart-payments;%20https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tim_Fawns/publication/275331048_Blended_Memory_the_Changing_Balance_of_Technologically-mediated_Semantic_and_Episodic_Memory/links/56962c6d08ae820ff07594ee.pdf">as memory repositories</a>. This is nothing new – humans have always used external devices as an aid when acquiring knowledge and remembering. Writing certainly serves this function. Historical records are collective external memories. Testimonies of migrations, settlement or battles help entire nations trace a lineage, a past and an identity. In the life of an individual, written diaries serve a similar function. <h2>Memory effects</h2> Nowadays we tend to commit very little to memory – we entrust a huge amount to the cloud. Not only is it almost unheard of to recite poems, even the most personal events are generally recorded on our cellphones. Rather than remembering what we ate at someone’s wedding, we scroll back to look at all the images we took of the food. This has serious consequences. Taking photos of an event rather than being immersed in it has been shown to lead to <a href="https://theconversation.com/memory-loss-isnt-just-an-old-persons-problem-heres-how-young-people-can-stay-mentally-fit-102352">poorer recall of the actual event</a> – we get distracted in the process. Relying on photos to remember has a similar effect. Memory needs to be exercised on a regular basis in order to function well. There are many studies documenting the importance of memory retrieval practice – <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.738.2035&rep=rep1&type=pdf">for example in university students</a>. Memory is and will remain essential for learning. There is indeed some evidence showing that committing almost all knowledge and memories to the cloud <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/691462">might hinder the ability to remember</a>. However, there is a silver lining. Even if some studies claim that all this makes us more stupid, what happens is actually shifting skills from purely being able to remember to being able to manage the way we remember more efficiently. This is called metacognition, and it is an overarching skill that is also essential for students – for example when planning what and how to study. There is also substantial and reliable evidence that external memories, selfies included, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23957379">can help</a> individuals with memory impairments. But while photos can in some instances help people to remember, the quality of the memories may be limited. We may remember what something looked like more clearly, but this could be at the expense of other types of information. One study showed that while photos could help people remember what they saw during some event, they <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797617694868">reduced their memory of what was said</a>. <h2>Identity distortions?</h2> There are some rather profound risks when it comes to personal memory. Our identity is a product of our life experiences, which can be easily accessed through our memories of the past. So, does constant photographic documentation of life experiences alter how we see ourselves? There is no substantial empirical evidence on this yet, but I would speculate that it does. Too many images are likely to make us remember the past in a fixed way – blocking other memories. While it is <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-your-first-memory-and-did-it-ever-really-happen-95953">not uncommon for early childhood memories</a> to be based on photos rather than the actual events, these are not always true memories. Another issue is the fact that research has uncovered <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563216302503;%20http://www.vulture.com/2014/01/history-of-the-selfie.html">a lack of spontaneity in selfies</a> and many other photos. They are planned, the poses are not natural and at times the image of the person is distorted. They also reflect a narcissistic tendency which shapes the face in unnatural mimics – artificial big smiles, sensual pouts, funny faces or offensive gestures. Importantly, selfies and many other photos are also <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5318447/">public displays</a> of specific attitudes, intentions and stances. In other words, they do not really reflect who we are, they reflect what we want to show to others about ourselves at the moment. If we rely heavily on photos when remembering our past, we may create a distorted self identity based on the image we wanted to promote to others. That said, our natural memory isn’t actually perfectly accurate. Research shows that we often <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-real-you-is-a-myth-we-constantly-create-false-memories-to-achieve-the-identity-we-want-103253">create false memories about the past</a>. We do this in order to maintain the identity that we want to have over time – and avoid conflicting narratives about who we are. So if you have always been rather soft and kind – but through some significant life experience decide you are tough – you may dig up memories of being aggressive in the past or even completely make them up. Having multiple daily memory reports on the phone of how we were in the past might therefore render our memory less malleable and less adaptable to the changes brought about by life – making our identity more stable and fixed. But this can create problems if our present identity becomes different from our fixed, past one. That is an uncomfortable experience and exactly what the “normal” functioning of memory is aimed to avoid – it is malleable so that we can have a non-contradictory narrative about ourselves. We want to think of ourselves as having a certain unchanging “core”. If we feel unable to change how we see ourselves over time, this could seriously affect our sense of agency and mental health. So our obsession with taking photos may be causing both memory loss and uncomfortable identity discrepancies. It is interesting to think about how technology changes the way we behave and function. As long as we are aware of the risks, we can probably mitigate harmful effects. The possibility that actually sends shivers to my spine is that we lose all those precious pictures because of some widespread malfunctioning of our smart phones. So the next time you’re at a museum, do take a moment to look up and experience it all. Just in case those photos go missing.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109285/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/giuliana-mazzoni-175429">Giuliana Mazzoni</a>, Professor of Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-hull-1191">University of Hull</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-obsession-with-taking-photos-is-changing-how-we-remember-the-past-109285">original article</a>.

Mind

You don’t need a doctor to get more physically active – here are 10 simple steps you can take by yourself

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nerys-m-astbury-410114">Nerys M Astbury</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-oxford-1260">University of Oxford</a> We all know physical activity has many <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/exercise-health-benefits/">health benefits</a>, including for mental health. It helps <a href="https://theconversation.com/exercise-can-reduce-stress-and-improve-sleep-particularly-for-women-with-breast-cancer-186144">manage stress</a>, ease joint or back pain, and boost energy levels. Exercise can also improve <a href="https://theconversation.com/exercise-and-the-brain-three-ways-physical-activity-changes-its-very-structure-150203">brain function</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/exercise-really-can-help-you-sleep-better-at-night-heres-why-that-may-be-192427">sleep</a>, and lift mood. In contrast, inactivity or spending too much time <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6308180/">sedentary</a> is a leading factor in developing a range of diseases. The <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240015128">World Health Organization</a> recommends we should do a weekly minimum of 150-300 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity, such as walking, or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity, such as swimming, jogging or an exercise class – as well as <a href="https://theconversation.com/strength-training-could-be-the-answer-to-one-of-the-worlds-worst-killers-228665">regular strength training</a>. However, many people <a href="https://www.who.int/teams/health-promotion/physical-activity/global-status-report-on-physical-activity-2022">fail to meet these guidelines</a>. So what to do about this <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/12/lack-exercise-inactivity-preventable-diseases/">health crisis</a>? There is already <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj-2021-068465">evidence</a> that when GPs give patients guidance and continued support to increase physical activity, this encourages them to be more physically active – at least in the short term. However, we don’t yet know the best way for doctors to communicate with patients to help them sustain these increased activity levels so the current guidance and support on offer to patients isn’t as effective as it could be. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vCCD1xHKpZc?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> For example, my <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj-2023-078713">latest research</a> examines the <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/340/bmj.c1900">“motivational interviewing” (MI)</a> method GPs currently use to encourage patients to change their lifestyle. MI is a patient-centred, non-confrontational communication style that helps patients address any problem behaviour by exploring their ambivalence towards changing it. MI has been shown to help patients with a host of health problems, including <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25577724/">addiction issues</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23001832/">eating disorders</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25726920/">smokers</a> and those with <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33637368/">diabetes</a> to change their behaviour. However, I found that while MI programmes can help patients increase their total amount of physical activity – the benefits are only short term. <h2>Ten simple ways to be more physically active</h2> If you want more physical activity in your life, then, there are many self-directed things you can do to help yourself, without joining a programme or seeing your GP. Here are ten simple and effective ways to help you become – and stay – more physically active: 1) Don’t sit, stand We <a href="https://theconversation.com/sitting-is-bad-for-your-health-and-exercise-doesnt-seem-to-offset-the-harmful-effects-225056">sit a lot</a>. In fact, it’s likely you’re sitting right now – and you needn’t be. Sitting for long periods has been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2010.05.024">linked</a> with many adverse health outcomes, so try to stand more. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wUEl8KrMz14?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> 2) Take the stairs Being physically active needn’t mean expensive gym memberships. Try building physical activity into your daily routine. One easy way to do this is by swapping the lift or escalator for the stairs. 3) Make it fun If you like doing something, you’re <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-shouldnt-let-guilt-motivate-you-to-exercise-220342">more likely</a> to continue doing it. Why not try an activity you liked doing as a child, or even something new? Who knows, you might enjoy it. 4) Phone a friend Exercising <a href="https://theconversation.com/exercise-can-be-punishing-but-heres-how-to-stop-thinking-of-it-as-a-punishment-76167">with a friend</a> or loved one is a great way to stay motivated, and it can make physical activity more fun too. 5) Do less, more often <a href="https://pilotfeasibilitystudies.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40814-023-01272-8">“Snacktivity”</a> – a term for breaking up your activity into shorter <a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-the-gym-in-january-exercise-snacking-is-the-way-forward-69702">activity “snacks”</a> – can help you increase activity in convenient, manageable bursts while reaping the health benefits. 6) Track your progress Activity trackers aren’t a fad. There is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2589-7500(22)00111-X">evidence</a> that just using an activity tracker such as a pedometer to count steps or a smart watch that logs activity can help increase your activity levels, reduce body fat and increase muscle mass – and increase your overall physical fitness. 7) Get into a habit We know it takes about ten weeks to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3505409/">form a habit</a>. Repetition is key – so stick with it and keep going. Once you’ve formed a physical activity habit, it will be <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/habit-formation#:%7E:text=Building%20healthy%20habits%20can%20involve,listening%20to%20music%20while%20exercising">hard to shake it off</a>.). 8) Hold still Try to incorporate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isometric_exercise">isometric exercises</a> like the plank or wall squats into your routine. These exercises, which need no equipment, require you to tighten muscles and hold still – and have been shown to <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/57/20/1317">lower your blood pressure</a>. 9) Set a goal Give yourself an achievable target to work towards – it will <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-tips-to-help-you-stay-motivated-to-keep-exercising-all-year-long-175868">motivate you</a> to reach your goal. 10) Reward yourself And don’t forget to reward yourself when you meet that goal. You can also build in rewards to mark your progress along the way. After all, who doesn’t like to treat themselves when they’ve done well?<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/231991/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nerys-m-astbury-410114">Nerys M Astbury</a>, Associate professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-oxford-1260">University of Oxford</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/you-dont-need-a-doctor-to-get-more-physically-active-here-are-10-simple-steps-you-can-take-by-yourself-231991">original article</a>. </div>

Body

Horrifying moment wheel falls off plane during take-off

Video footage has captured the horrifying moment a wheel fell off a United Airlines Boeing plane just moments after take off on Monday morning. The video captured by RadarBox shows the tire coming loose from the aircraft's undercarriage and plummeting to the ground seconds after take off. The airline confirmed that a wheel fell off the plane as the flight departed Los Angeles International airport en route to Denver, but it safely touched down around three hours later. None of the 174 passengers or seven crew members on board were injured. <div class="embed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; outline: none !important;"><iframe class="embedly-embed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; vertical-align: baseline; width: 573px; max-width: 100%; outline: none !important;" title="tiktok embed" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7389507936625691920&display_name=tiktok&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40theprojecttv%2Fvideo%2F7389507936625691920%3Fq%3Dboeing%2520wheel%26t%3D1720568253683&image=https%3A%2F%2Fp16-sign-sg.tiktokcdn.com%2Fobj%2Ftos-alisg-p-0037%2FoEEROKIMm2EpV6DrBgf3FeAUB4EjlBg0BMjmzE%3Flk3s%3Db59d6b55%26nonce%3D85756%26refresh_token%3D9848a1a77a4d011f7ceeb76a41229609%26x-expires%3D1720738800%26x-signature%3DKRkuV5%252BXkjrhdVj9cxtL5oLH5ow%253D%26shp%3Db59d6b55%26shcp%3D-&key=5b465a7e134d4f09b4e6901220de11f0&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=tiktok" width="340" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> A United spokesperson said that the wheel has been found in Los Angeles and they are investigating the cause. “The wheel has been recovered in Los Angeles, and we are investigating what caused this event,” the statement read. It is not known whether it caused any damage on the ground. The incident comes just four months after a Japan-bound Boeing airlines carrying 249 passengers also lost a wheel not long after take off in San Francisco. The flight, that took place in March. was diverted to LAX where it landed safely. The wheel reportedly damaged some vehicles in an airport parking lot. Images: CaliPlanes/ Youtube

Travel Trouble

Take my (bad) breath away – causes of halitosis and how to check whether you have it

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dan-baumgardt-1451396">Dan Baumgardt</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-bristol-1211">University of Bristol</a> In Greek mythology, the many-headed beast <a href="https://mythopedia.com/topics/hydra">Hydra</a> had such severe <a href="https://patient.info/oral-dental-care/bad-breath-halitosis">halitosis</a> that the stench of its breath was deadly to anyone who smelled it. Thankfully, our morning breath might not be that pungent – although eating <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/get-rid-of-garlic-onion-breath">onions or garlic</a> can put some people in competition with the Hydra. Halitosis has many causes (aside from poor oral hygiene) and can indicate problems with the gut, the sinuses and even the bloodstream. In fact, breath samples can even be tested to make formal diagnoses of health conditions. One condition that can affect the smell of breath is <a href="https://www.diabetes.org.uk/">diabetes mellitus</a>. This is a metabolic disorder where sugar (glucose) is unable to access the body’s cells where it is needed to provide energy, and so rises in the bloodstream. In some instances, such as insufficient insulin dosing, or infection, the body’s response is to break down fats into compounds called ketones to act as a rapid form of fuel. This serious condition is called <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/diabetic-ketoacidosis/">diabetic ketoacidosis</a>. Ketones have a distinctive scent. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/acetone-properties-and-incident-management/acetone-general-information">Acetone</a>, which is also an ingredient in some nail varnish removers, is one of these ketones and has the smell of pear drops. When ketones build up in the bloodstream they easily <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0967-3334/32/8/N01/pdf">diffuse into the breath</a>, giving it a <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319683">fruity odour</a>. It’s not just diabetes that can trigger ketone production. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36033148/">Some diets</a> are based on generating ketones from the breakdown of fats to promote weight loss. These methods, such as the <a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/atkins-diet-101">Atkins diet</a>, force the body to convert fat into energy by restricting carbohydrates. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5U8IDO1fHlU?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> Other diets based on the same principles include the <a href="https://patient.info/healthy-living/weight-loss-weight-reduction/52-diet">5:2</a> intermittent fasting diet. On this diet, followers restrict food intake on two days of the week to significantly reduce calorie consumption – and make the body produce ketones. These diets may help weight loss, but the side-effects can be grim. One of the most notorious side-effects is foul breath, although there are also anecdotal reports of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2019/03/03/is-keto-crotch-really-a-side-effect-of-the-keto-diet/">“keto crotch”</a> where some followers of keto diets complain of strong genital odour. <h2>Bacteria and breath</h2> Another cause of bad breath is an <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1752-7155/4/1/017003/pdf">overgrowth of bacteria</a> that produce foul smells. There are plenty of nooks and crannies in the mouth for bacteria to hide, grow and fester, especially the hard-to-clean areas – in between the teeth, and in and around the gums and tongue – or out-of-reach places, such as right at the back of the mouth and the throat. The throat acts as a passage for food, fluids and air. Some patients can develop a condition called <a href="https://www.entuk.org/patients/conditions/49/pharyngeal_pouch_surgery_new">pharyngeal pouch</a>. This is where a pocket forms at the back of the pharynx (the medical name for the throat) in which food and fluids can accumulate, ferment and give breath a pungent odour. Bacteria can also trigger infections in the mouth, like tonsillitis and tooth abscesses where tissues become inflamed, or develop purulence (production of pus). Pus is a collection of different dead cells, including bacteria, and it too can give off a putrid smell. Also, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25234037/">sinusitis</a> – which is an infection of the air-filled cavities in the skull – can drip foul-smelling infected secretions into the throat, causing bad breath. <h2>Breath tests</h2> Doctors can test breath for bacteria to diagnose some health conditions. For example, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28891138/">Helicobacter pylori</a>, bacteria that can irritate the gut and lead to the development of potentially dangerous ulcers, turns the compound urea into carbon dioxide. To test for H pylori, a <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stomach-ulcer/diagnosis/">diagnostic breath test</a> is performed before and after dosing a patient with urea. If the patient exhales increased levels of carbon dioxide after being dosed with urea, then the test is positive. Breath can also be tested for an overgrowth of bacteria in the <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/sibo">small intestine</a> (Sibo), which can lead to symptoms like abdominal pain and bloating. Sibo produces gases like hydrogen and methane that can also be detected with a breath test. If you’re worried about pongy breath and don’t have any medical issues, then you can <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/dental-and-oral-health/how-to-smell-your-own-breath">test your own breath</a>. The age-old method is to lick the back of your wrist, let it dry and then have a sniff. You can also do the same with a tongue scraper, dental floss or a sample of breath exhaled into a cupped hand. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ak5UEM8FK2s?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> Often, we can become used to the smell of our own breath. We might only notice when it becomes really bad, or when there are other symptoms, like a foul taste in the mouth. Or when someone plucks up the courage to finally tell you that you have a case of the breath pongs. Suppose someone has broken the news – what do you do now? <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bad-breath/">Simple measures can work well</a>, including regular fluid intake – <a href="https://www.dentalhealth.org/bad-breath">dry mouth</a> can lead to bad breath so make sure you’re drinking enough water – and good oral hygiene. This involves brushing the teeth, tongue and flossing between your teeth to eliminate any bacterial hot spots, as well as regular checkups at the dentist. Mouthwash can be an effective temporary solution but there’s evidence that a <a href="https://theconversation.com/eating-leafy-greens-could-be-better-for-oral-health-than-using-mouthwash-221181#:%7E:text=But%20research%20has%20indicated%20that,alternative%20for%20treating%20oral%20disease.">diet rich in leafy greens</a> might be even better at countering bad breath. Smoking is another potential underlying <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-get-rid-of-cigarette-breath#1-brush-teeth">cause of halitosis</a>. So if you want sweeter breath, pack in the cigarettes – yet another good reason to give up.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/231858/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dan-baumgardt-1451396">Dan Baumgardt</a>, Senior Lecturer, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-bristol-1211">University of Bristol</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/take-my-bad-breath-away-causes-of-halitosis-and-how-to-check-whether-you-have-it-231858">original article</a>. </div>

Body

Emirates takes cheeky swipe at other airlines in new safety video

Emirates have taken a cheeky swipe at Qantas, Air New Zealand and British Airways with their new “no nonsense” in-flight safety video. The Dubai-based airline took a different approach to other major airlines, saying they chose not to include dancers and singers for its in-flight entertainment because they “take your safety seriously”. “Hello and welcome on board your Emirates flight today,” a flight attendant says at the start of the four minute video. “This is your no-nonsense safety video. We do not have dancers breaking into song, characters from movies, or celebrities trying to be funny I’m afraid.” Another cabin crew member then chips in, “But at Emirates, safety always comes first. So it’s important that we take you through some safety features before takeoff. And then you can all get back to our award-winning entertainment system.” <iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MCW5kH1G_1Y?si=IgvSjvOEa-n_f01v" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> The decision to stick to the basics for such an important video has been praised online, with many comparing the video to others by competing airlines. “Excellent video. No fuss, no faff, just informative and not distracting. These videos are about safety first and foremost, not entertainment,” wrote one fan. “Emirates got it right. This is THE safety video, simple and comprehensive which it should be,” agreed another. “This video is sending a message to other airlines,” stated a third. Emirates has gone in the opposite direction to its Aussie partner <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/travel/travel-trouble/disappointing-new-inflight-qantas-video-slammed-for-missing-the-mark">Qantas</a>, as a safety video from the Flying Kangaroo went viral earlier this year for all the wrong reasons. The video was widely panned for being “elitist” and “sexist”, while skimming over vital safety information, as one person on social media wrote, “I’d prefer just focus on, oh I dunno, in flight safety during the in-flight safety video? “Why do we need a long video with all this added stuff?” The video, which replaced an earlier retro video released in 2020 that marked the airline’s 100th birthday, features frequent flyers and Qantas staff delivering the pre-flight safety announcement from their favourite “magic places” around the world. Image credits: Emirates

International Travel

Taking too many medications can pose health risks. Here’s how to avoid them

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/caroline-sirois-1524891">Caroline Sirois</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-laval-1407">Université Laval</a> When we see an older family member handling a bulky box of medications sorted by day of the week, we might stop and wonder, is it too much? How do all those pills interact? The fact is, as we get older we are more likely to develop different chronic illnesses that require us to take several different medications. This is known as polypharmacy. The concept applies to people taking five or more medications, but there are all sorts of <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7030126">definitions with different thresholds</a> (for example, four, 10 or 15 medicines). I’m a pharmacist and pharmacoepidemiologist interested in polypharmacy and its impact on the population. The research I carry out with my team at the Faculty of Pharmacy at Université Laval focuses on the appropriate use of medication by older family members. We have published this <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afac244">study</a> on the perceptions of older adults, family carers and clinicians on the use of medication among persons over 65. <h2>Polypharmacy among older adults</h2> Polypharmacy is very common among older adults. In 2021, a quarter of persons over 65 in Canada were prescribed <a href="https://www.cihi.ca/en/drug-use-among-seniors-in-canada">more than ten different classes of medication</a>. In Québec, persons over 65 used an average of <a href="https://www.inspq.qc.ca/sites/default/files/publications/2679_portrait_polypharmacie_aines_quebecois.pdf">8.7 different drugs in 2016</a>, the latest year available for statistics. Is it a good idea to take so many drugs? According to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/07334648211069553">our study</a>, the vast majority of seniors and family caregivers would be willing to stop taking one or more medications if the doctor said it was possible, even though most are satisfied with their treatments, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afac244">have confidence in their doctors</a> and feel that their doctors are taking care of them to the best of their ability. In the majority of cases, medicine prescribers are helping the person they are treating. Medications have a positive impact on health and are essential in many cases. But while the treatment of individual illnesses is often adequate, the whole package can sometimes become problematic. <h2>The risks of polypharmacy: 5 points to consider</h2> When we evaluate cases of polypharmacy, we find that the quality of treatment is often compromised when many medications are being taken. <ol> <li> Drug interactions: polypharmacy increases the risk of drugs interacting, which can lead to undesirable effects or reduce the effectiveness of treatments. </li> <li> A drug that has a positive effect on one illness may have a negative effect on another: what should you do if someone has both illnesses? </li> <li> The greater the number of drugs taken, the greater the risk of undesirable effects: for adults over 65, for example, there is an increased risk of confusion or falls, which have significant consequences. </li> <li> The more medications a person takes, the more likely they are to take a <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmz060">potentially inappropriate medication</a>. For seniors, these drugs generally carry more risks than benefits. For example, benzodiazepines, medicine for anxiety or sleep, are the <a href="https://www.inspq.qc.ca/sites/default/files/publications/2575_utilisation_medicaments_potentiellement_inappropries_aines.pdf">most frequently used class</a> of medications. We want to reduce their use as much as possible <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-use/controlled-illegal-drugs/benzodiazepines.html">to avoid negative impacts</a> such as confusion and increased risk of falls and car accidents, not to mention the risk of dependence and death. </li> <li> Finally, polypharmacy is associated with various adverse health effects, such as an <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1007/s41999-021-00479-3">increase in frailty, hospital admissions and emergency room visits</a>. However, studies conducted to date have not always succeeded in isolating the effects specific to polypharmacy. As polypharmacy is more common among people with multiple illnesses, these illnesses may also contribute to the observed risks. </li> </ol> Polypharmacy is also a combination of medicines. There are almost as many as there are people. The risks of these different combinations can vary. For example, the risks associated with a combination of five potentially inappropriate drugs would certainly be different from those associated with blood pressure medication and vitamin supplements. Polypharmacy is therefore complex. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-021-01583-x">Our studies attempt to use artificial intelligence</a> to manage this complexity and identify combinations associated with negative impacts. There is still a lot to learn about polypharmacy and its impact on health. <h2>3 tips to avoid the risks associated with polypharmacy</h2> What can we do as a patient, or as a caregiver? <ol> <li> Ask questions: when you or someone close to you is prescribed a new treatment, be curious. What are the benefits of the medication? What are the possible side effects? Does this fit in with my treatment goals and values? How long should this treatment last? Are there any circumstances in which discontinuing it should be considered ? </li> <li> Keep your medicines up to date: make sure they are all still useful. Are there still any benefits to taking them? Are there any side effects? Are there any drug interactions? Would another treatment be better? Should the dose be reduced? </li> <li> Think about de-prescribing: this is an increasingly common clinical practice that involves stopping or reducing the dose of an inappropriate drug after consulting a health-care professional. It is a shared decision-making process that involves the patient, their family and health-care professionals. The <a href="https://www.deprescribingnetwork.ca">Canadian Medication Appropriateness and Deprescribing Network</a> is a world leader in this practice. It has compiled a number of tools for patients and clinicians. You can find them on their website and subscribe to the newsletter. </li> </ol> <h2>Benefits should outweigh the risks</h2> Medications are very useful for staying healthy. It’s not uncommon for us to have to take more medications as we age, but this shouldn’t be seen as a foregone conclusion. Every medication we take must have direct or future benefits that outweigh the risks associated with them. As with many other issues, when it comes to polypharmacy, the saying, “everything in moderation,” frequently applies.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/230612/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/caroline-sirois-1524891">Caroline Sirois</a>, Professor in Pharmacy, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-laval-1407">Université Laval</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/taking-too-many-medications-can-pose-health-risks-heres-how-to-avoid-them-230612">original article</a>.

Body

I’ve been given opioids after surgery to take at home. What do I need to know?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katelyn-jauregui-1527878">Katelyn Jauregui</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/asad-patanwala-1529611">Asad Patanwala</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jonathan-penm-404921">Jonathan Penm</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shania-liu-1433659">Shania Liu</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-alberta-1232">University of Alberta</a> Opioids are commonly prescribed when you’re discharged from hospital after surgery to help manage pain at home. These strong painkillers may have unwanted side effects or harms, such as constipation, drowsiness or the risk of dependence. However, there are steps you can take to minimise those harms and use opioids more safely as you recover from surgery. <h2>Which types of opioids are most common?</h2> The <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0310057X231163890">most commonly prescribed</a> opioids after surgery in Australia are oxycodone (brand names include Endone, OxyNorm) and tapentadol (Palexia). In fact, <a href="https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bcp.16063">about half</a> of new oxycodone prescriptions in Australia occur after a recent hospital visit. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0310057X231163890">Most commonly</a>, people will be given immediate-release opioids for their pain. These are quick-acting and are used to manage short-term pain. Because they work quickly, their dose can be easily adjusted to manage current pain levels. Your doctor will provide instructions on how to adjust the dosage based on your pain levels. Then there are slow-release opioids, which are specially formulated to slowly release the dose over about half to a full day. These may have “sustained-release”, “controlled-release” or “extended-release” on the box. Slow-release formulations are primarily used for chronic or long-term pain. The slow-release form means the medicine does not have to be taken as often. However, it takes longer to have an effect compared with immediate-release, so it is not commonly used after surgery. Controlling your pain after surgery is <a href="https://www.nps.org.au/assets/4811a27845042173-00a4ff09097b-postoperative-pain-management_36-202.pdf">important</a>. This allows you get up and start moving sooner, and recover faster. Moving around sooner after surgery prevents muscle wasting and harms associated with immobility, such as bed sores and blood clots. Everyone’s pain levels and needs for pain medicines are different. Pain levels also decrease as your surgical wound heals, so you may need to take less of your medicine as you recover. <h2>But there are also risks</h2> As mentioned above, side effects of opioids include constipation and feeling drowsy or nauseous. The drowsiness can also make you more likely to fall over. Opioids prescribed to manage pain at home after surgery are usually prescribed for short-term use. But up to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35545810/">one in ten</a> Australians still take them up to four months after surgery. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/msc.1837">One study</a> found people didn’t know how to safely stop taking opioids. Such long-term opioid use may lead to dependence and overdose. It can also reduce the medicine’s effectiveness. That’s because your body becomes used to the opioid and needs more of it to have the same effect. Dependency and side effects are also more common with <a href="https://www.anzca.edu.au/getattachment/535097e6-9f50-4d09-bd7f-ffa8faf02cdd/Prescribing-slow-release-opioids-4-april-2018#:%7E:text=%E2%80%9CSlow%2Drelease%20opioids%20are%20not,its%20Faculty%20of%20Pain%20Medicine.">slow-release opioids</a> than immediate-release opioids. This is because people are usually on slow-release opioids for longer. Then there are concerns about “leftover” opioids. One study found 40% of participants were prescribed <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0310057X231163890">more than twice</a> the amount they needed. This results in unused opioids at home, which <a href="https://www.anzca.edu.au/getattachment/558316c5-ea93-457c-b51f-d57556b0ffa7/PS41-Guideline-on-acute-pain-management">can be dangerous</a> to the person and their family. Storing leftover opioids at home increases the risk of taking too much, sharing with others inappropriately, and using without doctor supervision. <h2>How to mimimise the risks</h2> Before using opioids, speak to your doctor or pharmacist about using over-the-counter pain medicines such as paracetamol or anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen (for example, Nurofen, Brufen) or diclofenac (for example, Voltaren, Fenac). These can be quite effective at controlling pain and will lessen your need for opioids. They can often be used instead of opioids, but in some cases a combination of both is needed. Other techniques to manage pain include physiotherapy, exercise, <a href="https://theconversation.com/hot-pack-or-cold-pack-which-one-to-reach-for-when-youre-injured-or-in-pain-161086">heat packs or ice packs</a>. Speak to your doctor or pharmacist to discuss which techniques would benefit you the most. However, if you do need opioids, there are some ways to make sure you use them <a href="https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-04/opioid-analgesic-stewardship-in-acute-pain-clinical-care-standard.pdf">safely and effectively</a>: <ul> <li> ask for <a href="https://associationofanaesthetists-publications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/anae.16085">immediate-release</a> rather than slow-release opioids to lower your risk of side effects </li> <li> do not drink alcohol or take sleeping tablets while on opioids. This can increase any drowsiness, and lead to reduced alertness and slower breathing </li> <li> as you may be at higher risk of falls, remove trip hazards from your home and make sure you can safely get up off the sofa or bed and to the bathroom or kitchen </li> <li> before starting opioids, have a plan in place with your doctor or pharmacist about how and when to stop taking them. Opioids after surgery are ideally taken at the lowest possible dose for the shortest length of time. </li> </ul> <h2>If you’re concerned about side effects</h2> If you are concerned about side effects while taking opioids, speak to your pharmacist or doctor. Side effects include: <ul> <li> <a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-what-causes-constipation-114290">constipation</a> – your pharmacist will be able to give you lifestyle advice and recommend laxatives </li> <li> drowsiness – do not drive or operate heavy machinery. If you’re trying to stay awake during the day, but keep falling asleep, your dose may be too high and you should contact your doctor </li> <li> weakness and slowed breathing – this may be a sign of a more serious side effect such as respiratory depression which requires medical attention. Contact your doctor immediately. </li> </ul> <h2>If you’re having trouble stopping opioids</h2> Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you’re having trouble stopping opioids. They can give you alternatives to manage the pain and provide advice on gradually lowering your dose. You may experience withdrawal effects, such as agitation, anxiety and insomnia, but your doctor and pharmacist can help you manage these. <h2>How about leftover opioids?</h2> After you have finished using opioids, take any leftovers to your local pharmacy to <a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-what-should-you-do-with-your-unused-medicine-81406">dispose of them safely</a>, free of charge. Do not share opioids with others and keep them away from others in the house who do not need them, as opioids can cause unintended harms if not used under the supervision of a medical professional. This could include accidental ingestion by children. <hr /> For more information, speak to your pharmacist or doctor. Choosing Wisely Australia also has <a href="https://www.choosingwisely.org.au/resources/consumers-and-carers/patient-guide-to-managing-pain-and-opioid-medicines">free online information</a> about managing pain and opioid medicines.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/228615/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katelyn-jauregui-1527878">Katelyn Jauregui</a>, PhD Candidate and Clinical Pharmacist, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/asad-patanwala-1529611">Asad Patanwala</a>, Professor, Sydney School of Pharmacy, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jonathan-penm-404921">Jonathan Penm</a>, Senior lecturer, School of Pharmacy, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/shania-liu-1433659">Shania Liu</a>, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-alberta-1232">University of Alberta</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ive-been-given-opioids-after-surgery-to-take-at-home-what-do-i-need-to-know-228615">original article</a>.

Body

Why you should never take nutrition advice from a centenarian

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/bradley-elliott-1014864">Bradley Elliott</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-westminster-916">University of Westminster</a> It’s a cliche of reporting on people who reach 100 years of age, or even 110, to ask them some variation of the question: “What did you do to live this long?” Inevitably, some interesting and unexpected answer is highlighted. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/05/briton-says-becoming-worlds-oldest-man-at-111-is-pure-luck">Fish and chips</a> every Friday. Drinking a glass of <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/worlds-oldest-man-juan-vicente-perez-dies-aged-114-13107627">strong liquor</a> every day. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/susannah-mushatt-jones-loves-bacon-2015-10">Bacon</a> for breakfast every morning. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-france-nursing-homes-795c8273f66b61669e93103cc9c25cd0">Wine and chocolate</a>. While a popular news story, this is a relatively meaningless question that doesn’t help us understand why certain people have lived so long. Let me try to explain why, via beautiful buildings, fighter pilots and statistics. In the second world war, Allied statisticians were applying their skills to minimising the number of bombers being shot down by enemy fire. By studying the damage patterns of bombers returning from action, maps could be drawn up of the most frequently damaged parts of aeroplanes so that expensive, heavy armour could be added to these areas. Simple enough, right? Then, along comes statistician Abraham Wald who argues for the exact <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2287454?origin=crossref">opposite point</a>. The planes that they’re studying are all those that did return from combat with extensive damage, but what about those that didn’t return? Wald argues that armour should be added to those places that are undamaged on all the returning planes, as any plane hit in these undamaged areas was shot down, never making it back to be surveyed. <h2>Survivorship bias</h2> This phenomenon is known as survivorship bias, or the cognitive and statistical bias introduced by only counting those that are around to count but ignoring those that haven’t “survived”. You can take these examples to the absurd. Imagine a group of 100 people, all of whom have smoked their entire life. As a group, the smokers would die earlier of cancers, lung disease or heart disease, but one or two might defy the odds and live to 100 years of age. Now imagine the intrepid journalist interviewing the lucky soul on their 100th birthday with that classic question: “What do you attribute your successful ageing to?” “Smoking a pack a day,” says the newly minted centenarian. It seems obvious but survivorship bias is everywhere in society. We can all think of that one famous actor or entrepreneur who succeeded despite adversity, who worked hard, believed in themselves and one day made it. But we never read about or hear about the countless examples of people who tried, gave it their all and never quite made it. That’s not a good media story. But this creates a bias, we primarily hear the successes, never the failures. This bias applies to our perceptions of architecture (mostly great buildings from a given period “survive”), to finances (we often hear examples of people who have succeeded in risky investments, those who fail don’t sell books or self-help plans) and to career plans (“If you work hard, and drop out of college now, you can be a successful athlete like me,” say those who have succeeded). I work with a variety of older people and often include extreme outliers who have lived to extreme ages. We’re currently studying over 65-year-olds who have maintained unusually high levels of exercise into older age and have maintained excellent health. They’re phenomenal examples of older humans, many of them are faster, fitter and stronger than me by many of the measures we perform in the lab, despite being almost twice my age. While we know that their lifelong exercise is associated with their unusually good health into older age, we can’t directly say one causes the other yet. It could be that highly active people are protected against chronic diseases such as cancers, diabetes and heart disease. But it also could be that these people are still active into older age as they’ve not been afflicted by cancers, diabetes or heart disease earlier in their lives. Conversely, there could be some unknown third factor that we’ve not yet identified about these people that both keeps them healthy and separately keeps them exercising. For clarity, there are things that scientists like me will say in carefully caveated, scientific language that will probably help you to live longer. Being very physically active, not eating too much and not smoking are all on that list, along with generally having a positive outlook in life, and of course, picking the right parents and grandparents. Correlation does not equal causation. That point is hammered home relentlessly to students in science degrees. It’s how our brain works, we see a pattern between two variables, and assume they’re linked in some way. But often, like in survivorship bias, we’re not looking at all the data, and so finding patterns where there are none.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/229159/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/bradley-elliott-1014864">Bradley Elliott</a>, Senior Lecturer in Physiology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-westminster-916">University of Westminster</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-should-never-take-nutrition-advice-from-a-centenarian-229159">original article</a>.

Retirement Life

5 sneaky beauty tricks that take a decade off your look

What if we told you there were five super simple turn-back-the-clock tricks that could brighten the face, open up the eyes, improve plumpness and give you enviably shiny hair? Well, that’s exactly what we’re telling you. And these tips don’t require and expensive trip to a beauty salon and can be done in your very own bathroom. When it comes to your skin, just one super-charged anti-ager will instantly boost your beauty routine—and deliver the kind of results we’d all be happy to see in the mirror. Here are five tricks you should definitely try today. Try a Sleeping Beauty elixir They don’t call it beauty sleep for no good reason. While you’re head is on the pillow, it’s the perfect time to slather on an overnight face and neck cream that uses skin brightening ingredients such as vitamin C, algae extract and anti-oxidants. You will wake up more supple, radiant and bright – and in some cases, with firmer skin. Go for bold lip A bold yet fresh lip will instantly brighten and lift the face. The trick is to go one or two shades brighter than you usually do – without option for a blast of neon. Diffuse bright edges with a cotton bud to stop hard lines. Shake the magic wand Eyelashes have the ability to really open up your eyes and thus give you a more youthful look instantly. So everyone, get acquainted with the eyelash curler. A must for opening up tired, droopy eyelids before applying mascara – it works every time. Attempt a gravity-defying mini massage As massages stimulate circulation, cells and collagen, everyone should be giving themself a daily morning face massage using small circular motions. Focus on your forehead, cheeks, chin, and gently pat under eyes to help with firmness and reduce bloating. Let your hair shine on Shiny, healthy hair makes everyone look better – and it one of the easiest beauty tricks to master. Try mashed-up avocado mixed with olive oil as a hair mask – it’s cheap, natural and really effective. Image credits: Shutterstock

Beauty & Style

Step up: take the stairs to help your heart

Climbing stairs is associated with a longer life, according to research presented this week at an annual meeting of Europe’s leading cardiologists. <div class="copy"> The systematic review of 9 previous studies covering nearly 500,000 participants investigated whether climbing stairs as a form of physical activity could play a role in reducing the risks of <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/biology/how-organ-on-a-chip-technology-is-revolutionising-the-way-we-study-cardiovascular-disease/">cardiovascular diseases</a> and premature death. Study author Dr Sophie Paddock, of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Foundation Trust, UK, says: “if you have the choice of taking the stairs or the lift, go for the stairs as it will help your heart”. “Even brief bursts of physical activity have beneficial health impacts, and short bouts of stair climbing should be an achievable target to integrate into daily routines.” Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the hearth and blood vessels. They are the leading cause of non-communicable disease death globally, with 17.9m people estimated to have died of one in 2019 alone. Physical inactivity is one of the most important behavioural risk factors for developing CVDs. More than 1 in 4 adults do not meet the global <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recommended levels</a> of physical activity. The <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3049418/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">meta-analysis</a> on the best available science covered 480,479 individuals aged 35-84 years old. 53% of participants were women. Stair climbing was significantly associated with a 24% reduced risk of dying from any cause and a 39% lower likelihood of dying from cardiovascular disease, compared to not climbing stairs. It was also linked to a reduced <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/covid-19-impacts-on-cardiac-health/">risk of CVDs</a> including heart attack, heart failure and stroke. “Based on these results, we would encourage people to incorporate stair climbing into their day-to-day lives,” says Paddock. “Our study suggested that the more stairs climbed, the greater the benefits – but this needs to be confirmed. So, whether at work, home, or elsewhere, take the stairs.” The research was presented to <a href="https://www.escardio.org/Congresses-Events/Preventive-Cardiology" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ESC Preventive Cardiology 2024</a>, an annual congress of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology in Greece this week. Image credits: Shutterstock <div> </div> <img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=302751&title=Step+up%3A+take+the+stairs+to+help+your+heart" width="1" height="1" loading="lazy" aria-label="Syndication Tracker" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /></div> <div id="contributors"> <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/body-and-mind/step-up-take-the-stairs-to-help-your-heart/">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/imma-perfetto/">Imma Perfetto</a>. </div>

Body

Vitamins and supplements: what you need to know before taking them

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/neelaveni-padayachee-1018709">Neelaveni Padayachee</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-witwatersrand-894">University of the Witwatersrand</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/varsha-bangalee-1253468">Varsha Bangalee</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-kwazulu-natal-1941">University of KwaZulu-Natal</a> If you were to open your medicine cabinet right now, there’s a fair chance that you’d find at least one bottle of vitamins alongside the painkillers, plasters and cough syrup. After all, people are definitely buying vitamins: in 2020, the global market for complementary and alternative medicines, which includes multivitamin supplements, had an estimated value of <a href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/complementary-alternative-medicine-market">US$82.27 billion</a>. The use of natural health products such as minerals and amino acids has <a href="https://journals.lww.com/nutritiontodayonline/Abstract/2007/03000/Why_People_Use_Vitamin_and_Mineral_Supplements.4.aspx">increased</a> – and continues to rise, partly driven by consumers’ buying habits during the COVID-19 pandemic. People <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/healthcare/2021-02-08-native-sales-of-sas-vitamins-and-nutritional-supplements-boom/">sought out</a> vitamins C and D, as well as zinc supplements, as potential preventive measures against the virus – even though the <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/do-vitamin-d-zinc-and-other-supplements-help-prevent-covid-19-or-hasten-healing-2021040522310">evidence</a> for their efficacy was, and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35888660/#:%7E:text=Concluding%2C%20available%20data%20on%20the,trials%20(RCTs)%20are%20inconsistent">remains</a>, inconclusive. Multivitamins and mineral supplements are easily accessible to consumers. They are often marketed for their health claims and benefits – sometimes unsubstantiated. But their potential adverse effects are not always stated on the packaging. Collectively, vitamins and minerals are known as micronutrients. They are essential elements needed for our bodies to function properly. Our bodies can only produce micronutrients in small amounts or not at all. We get the bulk of these nutrients <a href="https://www.iprjb.org/journals/index.php/IJF/article/view/1024">from our diets</a>. People usually buy micronutrients to protect against disease or as dietary “insurance”, in case they are not getting sufficient quantities from their diets. There’s a common perception that these supplements are harmless. But they can be dangerous at incorrect dosages. They provide a false sense of hope, pose a risk of drug interactions – and can delay more effective treatment. <h2>Benefits</h2> Vitamins are beneficial if taken for the correct reasons and as prescribed by your doctor. For example, folic acid supplementation in pregnant women has been shown to prevent neural tube defects. And individuals who reduce their intake of red meat without increasing legume consumption require a vitamin B6 supplement. But a worrying trend is increasing among consumers: intravenous vitamin therapy, which is often punted by celebrities and social media marketing. Intravenous vitamins, nutrients and fluids are administered at pharmacies as well as beauty spas, and more recently “<a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/drip-bar-should-you-get-an-iv-on-demand-2018092814899">IV bars</a>”. Users believe these treatments can quell a cold, slow the effects of ageing, brighten skin, fix a hangover or just make them feel well. Intravenous vitamin therapy was previously only used in medical settings to help patients who could not swallow, needed fluid replacements or had an electrolyte imbalance. However, the evidence to support other benefits of intravenous vitamin therapy is limited. No matter how you choose to get additional vitamins, there are risks. <h2>Warning bells</h2> Most consumers use multivitamins. But others take large doses of single nutrients, especially vitamin C, iron and calcium. As lecturers in pharmacy practice, we think it’s important to highlight the potential adverse effects of commonly used vitamins and minerals: <ul> <li> <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-a/">Vitamin A/retinol</a> is beneficial in maintaining good eye health. But it can cause toxicity if more than 300,000IU (units) is ingested. Chronic toxicity (hypervitaminosis) has been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532916/">associated</a> with doses higher than 10,000IU a day. Symptoms include liver impairment, loss of vision and intracranial hypertension. It can cause birth defects in pregnant women. </li> <li> <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/niacin-vitamin-b3/">Vitamin B3</a> is beneficial for nervous and digestive system health. At moderate to high doses it can cause peripheral vasodilation (widening or dilating of the blood vessels at the extremities, such as the legs and arms), resulting in skin flushing, burning sensation, pruritis (itchiness of the skin) and hypotension (low blood pressure). </li> <li> <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-b6/">Vitamin B6</a> is essential for brain development and in ensuring that the immune system remains healthy. But it can result in damage to the peripheral nerves, such as those in the hands and feet (causing a sensation of numbness and often referred to as pins and needles) at doses over 200mg/daily. </li> <li> <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-c/">Vitamin C</a> is an antioxidant and assists in the repair of body tissue. Taken in high doses it can cause kidney stones and interactions with drugs, such as the oncology drugs doxorubicin, methotrexate, cisplatin and vincristine. </li> <li> <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-d/">Vitamin D</a> is essential for bone and teeth development. At high doses it can cause hypercalcaemia (calcium level in the blood is above normal) that results in thirst, excessive urination, seizures, coma and death. </li> <li> <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/calcium/#:%7E:text=Calcium%20is%20a%20mineral%20most,heart%20rhythms%20and%20nerve%20functions">Calcium</a> is essential for bone health, but can cause constipation and gastric reflux. High doses can cause hypercalciuria (increased calcium in the urine), kidney stones and secondary hypoparathyroidism (underactive parathyroid gland). It can have drug interactions with zinc, magnesium and iron. </li> <li> <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/magnesium/">Magnesium</a> is important for muscle and nerve functioning. At high doses it can cause diarrhoea, nausea and abdominal cramping, and can interact with tetracyclines (antibiotics). </li> <li> Zinc <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7781367/">can impair</a> taste and smell, and doses over 80mg daily have been <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-022-00922-0#:%7E:text=Zinc%20supplementation%20of%20more%20than,zinc%20supplements%20among%20adult%20men.">shown</a> to have adverse prostate effects. </li> <li> <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/selenium/">Selenium</a> can cause hair and nail loss or brittleness, lesions of the skin and nervous system, skin rashes, fatigue and mood irritability at high doses. </li> <li> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0098299720300364#:%7E:text=Expert%20guidelines%20for%20oral%20iron%20supplementation&text=Traditionally%2C%20the%20recommended%20daily%20dose,iron%20(Brittenham%2C%202018).">Iron</a> at 100-200mg/day can cause constipation, black faeces, black discoloration of teeth and abdominal pain. </li> </ul> <h2>Recommendations</h2> People need to make <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8377299/">informed decisions</a> based on evidence before consuming health products. Regular exercise and a well-balanced diet are more likely to do us good, as well as being lighter on the pocket. Seeking advice from a healthcare professional before consuming supplements can reduce the risk of adverse effects. Be aware of the potential adverse effects of vitamins and seek a healthcare professional’s guidance if you have symptoms.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198345/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/neelaveni-padayachee-1018709">Neelaveni Padayachee</a>, Senior Lecturer, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-witwatersrand-894">University of the Witwatersrand</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/varsha-bangalee-1253468">Varsha Bangalee</a>, Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-kwazulu-natal-1941">University of KwaZulu-Natal</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/vitamins-and-supplements-what-you-need-to-know-before-taking-them-198345">original article</a>.

Body

Don’t give mum chocolates for Mother’s Day. Take on more housework, share the mental load and advocate for equality instead

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/leah-ruppanner-106371">Leah Ruppanner</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> With Mother’s Day right around the corner, many grateful and loving families are thinking about what to give mum to show their appreciation. Should you give her chocolate? Nope. Fancy soaps? Nope. Fuzzy slippers, pyjamas, scented candles? No, no and no. On this Mother’s Day, keep your cash and give your wonderful mother gifts that will actually have a long-term impact on her health and well-being. <h2>1. Do a chore that mum hates and hold onto it … forever</h2> Research <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13545701.2020.1831039">shows</a> men have increased the amount of time spent on housework and childcare and that mothers, over time, are doing less (hooray!). But, women <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00479.x">still do more housework</a> than men, especially when <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gwao.12497?fbclid=IwAR2dp04p2sFqbDqdehXmXgDSfTYwX3GRzP7ScMJhSOrMePTGQVErR2TTX88">kids are in the home</a>. Further, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0891243205285212">men tend to pick up the more desirable tasks</a>, like <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3598304">cooking and playing with the kids</a>, leaving mothers to do the less pleasurable chores (think cleaning toilets and clearing out fridges). The chore divide in same-sex relationships is generally found to be more equal, but some critique suggests equality may suffer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/upshot/same-sex-couples-divide-chores-much-more-evenly-until-they-become-parents.html">once kids are involved</a>. This year give your mum (or mums) the gift of equal housework and childcare sharing – start by taking the most-hated tasks and then hold onto them… forever. <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gwao.12727">Research</a> shows housework inequality is bad for women’s mental health. Undervaluing women’s housework and unequal sharing of the chores deteriorates <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-022-01282-5">relationship quality</a>, and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0038038516674664">leads to divorce</a>. Housework and childcare take up valuable time to keep the family happy, harmonious and thriving, often at the expense of mum’s health and well-being. So, skip the chocolates and show mum love by doing the worst, most drudgerous and constant household chores (hello, cleaning mouldy showers!) and keep doing these… forever. <h2>2. Initiate a mental unload</h2> The <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2017-09-14/the-mental-load-and-what-to-do-about-it/8942032">mental load</a> is all of the planning, organising and management work necessary to keep the family running. The mental load is often perceived as list making or allocating tasks to family members. But, it’s so much more – it is the <a href="https://theconversation.com/planning-stress-and-worry-put-the-mental-load-on-mothers-will-2022-be-the-year-they-share-the-burden-172599">emotional work</a> that goes with this thinking work. The mental load is the worry work that never ends and can be done <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13668803.2021.2002813">anywhere, anytime and with anyone</a> (in, for example, said mouldy shower). Because the mental load is performed inside our heads, it is invisible. That means we don’t know when we or others are performing this labour unless we really tune in. In fact, it is often when we tune in through quiet time, relaxation or meditation that the mental load rears its ugly head. Suddenly you remind yourself to buy oranges for the weekend soccer game, organise a family movie night and don’t forget to check in on nanna. Women in heterosexual relationships are <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0003122419859007">shown to do more</a> of the mental load with serious consequences for their mental health. But we don’t have a comprehensive measurement of how much women do it nor how it is allocated in same-sex couples. So, on this mothers’ day spend some time talking about, cataloguing, and equalising the family’s mental load. This isn’t just making a list about what has to be done but also understanding <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2017-09-14/the-mental-load-and-what-to-do-about-it/8942032">how the mental load</a> connects to the emotional health of the family, and the person carrying this <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/better-life-lab/blog/making-the-mental-load-visible/">invisible labour, worry and stress</a>. <h2>3. Speak up for your mum and all caregivers</h2> Families alone cannot bear the brunt of the caregiving necessary to keep us thriving. Governments, workplaces and local communities also play a critical role. For this mothers’ day, pick an issue impacting mothers (for example, equal pay, affordable childcare or paid family leave) and do one thing to help move the needle. Write a letter to your boss, your local MP, or donate money to an advocacy organisation advancing gender equality. Or, role model these behaviours yourself – normalise caregiving as a critical piece of being an effective worker, create policies and practices that support junior staff to care for themselves, their families and their communities and use these policies. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0891243216649946">Research</a> shows men want to be equal carers and sharers but often fear what taking time off for caregiving will signal to their employer despite evidence that fathers who request flexible work are perceived more <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sf/article-abstract/94/4/1567/2461609?login=false">favourably</a>. Appearing to be singularly devoted to work was shown to be impossible during the pandemic with kids, spouses, partners, and pets home all day long. Learning to create more care-inclusive workplaces and communities is critical. Paid parental leave, affordable and accessible high-quality childcare, flexibility in how, when and where we work and greater investments in paid sick leave, long-term disability support and aged care are just a few policies that would strengthen the care safety net. We will all be called upon to care at some point in our lives – let’s create the environments that support caregiving for all, not just mum.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182330/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/leah-ruppanner-106371">Leah Ruppanner</a>, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-give-mum-chocolates-for-mothers-day-take-on-more-housework-share-the-mental-load-and-advocate-for-equality-instead-182330">original article</a>.

Family & Pets

As you travel, pause and take a look at airport chapels

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wendy-cadge-343734">Wendy Cadge</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/brandeis-university-1308">Brandeis University</a> Flying home? It is very likely there is a chapel or meditation room tucked away somewhere in one of the airports you’ll pass through. <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/06/most-of-the-busiest-u-s-airports-have-dedicated-chapels/">Sixteen of the country’s 20 largest airports</a> have chapels, as do many more around the world. I am a <a href="http://www.wendycadge.com/">sociologist</a> of contemporary American religion and have written <a href="http://www.wendycadge.com/publications/airport-chapels-and-chaplains/">two recent articles</a> about airport chaplains and chapels. My interest in airport chapels started as simple curiosity – why do airports have chapels and who uses them? After visiting a few – including the chapel at Logan, my home airport here in Boston – I have concluded that they reflect broader changing norms around American religion. <h2>How airports came to have chapels</h2> The country’s first airport chapels were intended for staff rather than passengers and were established by Catholic leaders in the 1950s and 1960s to make sure their parishioners could attend mass. The first one in the U.S., Our Lady of the Airways, was built by Boston Archbishop Richard J. Cushing at Logan airport in 1951 and it was explicitly meant for people working at the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srx025">airport</a>. A neon light pointed to the chapel and souvenir cards handed out at the dedication read, “We fly to thy patronage, O Holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us away from all dangers, O glorious and blessed virgin.” Our Lady of the Airways inspired the building of the country’s second airport chapel, Our Lady of the Skies at what was then Idlewild – and is today John F. Kennedy airport in New York City. Protestant chapels came later. The first was in New York – again at JFK. It was designed in the shape of a Latin cross and was joined by a Jewish synagogue in the 1960s. These chapels were located at a distance from the terminals: Passengers wishing to visit them had to go outside. They were <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Exploring_Interfaith_Space.html?id=on5YNwAACAA">later razed</a> and rebuilt in different area of JFK. In the 1970s and 1980s, Protestant chapels opened in Atlanta, and in several terminals of the Dallas airport in Texas. <h2>Becoming more inclusive</h2> By the 1990s and 2000s, single faith chapels had become a <a href="http://www.tciarchive.org/4534.article">“dying breed.”</a> Most started to welcome people from all religions. And many were transformed into spaces for reflection, or meditation for weary travelers. The chapel at San Francisco International Airport, for example, known as the <a href="https://www.flysfo.com/content/berman-reflection-room-0">Berman Reflection Room</a> for Jewish philanthropist Henry Berman who was a former president of the San Francisco Airport Commission, looks like a quiet waiting room filled with plants and lines of connected chairs. A small enclosed space without any religious symbols or obvious connections to things religious or spiritual is available for services. The scene at the <a href="http://www.atlchapel.org/">Atlanta</a> airport chapel is similar, with only a few chairs and clear glass entrances, to provide space for quiet reflection. Some airports, such as JFK, continue with their “Our Lady” names, indicating their faith-based origins. Others include religious symbols and objects from a range of religious traditions. The chapel in <a href="https://cltairportchapel.org/">Charlotte</a>, North Carolina, for example, has multiple religious texts alongside prayer rugs, rosary beads and artistically rendered quotes from the world’s major religions. Pamphlets on topics ranging from grief to forgiveness are available for visitors to take with them at the Charlotte airport. <h2>Different airports, different rules</h2> As these examples show, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srx025">no two airports</a> have negotiated chapel space in the same way. What is permissible in one city is often not in another. Often, it is local, historical and demographic factors, including the religious composition of the region, that influence decisions. These could even be based on who started the chapel, or how much interreligious cooperation there is in a city. Certain airports such as Chicago’s <a href="http://www.airportchapels.org/">O'Hare</a> have strict rules regarding impromptu religious gatherings whether inside the chapel or out. Some use their public address systems to announce religious services. Others prohibit such announcements and do not even allow airport chaplains to put out any signs that could indicate a religious space. If they are included in airport maps, chapels tend to be designated by the symbol of a person bent in prayer. But even then, they can be difficult to spot. About half of the existing chapels are on the pre-security side of the airport and the other half accessible only after passengers pass through security. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srx025">Only four large American airports</a> – Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York’s LaGuardia – do not have chapel spaces, although opening such a space is under consideration. In the interim, at LaGuardia, a Catholic chaplain holds mass in a conference room. <h2>What’s the future?</h2> The reasons for these spaces and their variations are idiosyncratic and intensely local. These chapels reveal a range of approaches to contemporary American religion and spirituality. So on your travels, keep an eye out for these chapels. Note their similarities and differences and recognize how important local histories are to how church-state issues are resolved – at airports and beyond.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87578/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wendy-cadge-343734">Wendy Cadge</a>, Professor of Sociology and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/brandeis-university-1308">Brandeis University</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-you-travel-pause-and-take-a-look-at-airport-chapels-87578">original article</a>.

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Don’t give mum chocolates for Mother’s Day. Take on more housework, share the mental load and advocate for equality instead

As you travel, pause and take a look at airport chapels