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To move or not to move: is it cheaper to find a new place or stay when your rent increases by 10%?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/park-thaichon-175182">Park Thaichon</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southern-queensland-1069">University of Southern Queensland</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sara-quach-175976">Sara Quach</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a> Your landlord has just raised your rent by 10% and your mind starts running the numbers – should you cop it sweet or look to move? It’s a familiar scenario in today’s unpredictable housing market. Understanding the real costs of staying versus moving is essential for making informed choices: renters must consider hidden expenses such as moving costs, deposits and changing rental rates, giving them tools to handle rising rent pressures more effectively. <h2>A grim time for many renters</h2> National median market rents have hit record highs, reaching $627 per week, with an average annual growth rate of 9.1% during the past three years, according to real estate giant <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/Budget/reviews/2024-25/Housing#:%7E:text=Based%20on%20April%202024%20CoreLogic,the%20past%203%20calendar%20years">CoreLogic</a>. <a href="https://www.corelogic.com.au/news-research/news/2024/rent-growth-picked-up-in-the-start-of-2024,-taking-rents-to-new-record-highs">CoreLogic</a> also reported annual rental changes (houses and units) in regional Australia are not far off from the big cities: annual rent changes were 9.4% for combined capital cities, 6.4% for combined regional areas, and 8.5% nationally. So, is it better to stay or move if your rent is raised by 10%? Let’s examine the costs and benefits of each option. <h2>A breakdown of typical moving costs</h2> We’ll start with the most obvious expense: moving costs. Professional moving services aren’t cheap. For example, moving a three-bedroom house in the Gold Coast costs <a href="https://www.muval.com.au/removalists/gold-coast">$1,095.25 on average</a>, with an hourly rate of $158.26. In a bigger city like Melbourne, the cost is slightly higher at <a href="https://www.muval.com.au/removalists/melbourne">about $1,118.46</a>. The moving costs between states or cities will be more expensive if you move further away. You could choose to handle packing yourself and hire some help with a truck – a common option with businesses such as “<a href="https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-removals-storage/gold-coast/2+men+and+a+truck/k0c18643l3006035">Two Men and a Truck</a>”, which typically costs around $100 per hour. Be aware, though, that the hourly rate often starts from the moment the truck leaves the company’s warehouse until it returns. Alternatively, you can rent a van for a lower price, such as $87 for a 24-hour <a href="https://www.bunnings.com.au/for-hire-handivan-24hr-first-100kms-inc-_p5470402">Handivan rental at Bunnings</a>. Don’t forget the cost of moving boxes, too: Bunnings’ 52 litre <a href="https://www.bunnings.com.au/bunnings-52l-light-duty-moving-carton_p0517130?srsltid=AfmBOoqCYAWT0P5apPiJpoOLRAIpUCHNi63ztvIZrG5CxCoNOv45G0TV">moving cartons</a> cost $2.66 each. End-of-lease or <a href="https://firstcallhomeservices.com.au/service-menu/bond-exit-end-lease-cleaning/">bond cleaning</a> is another common expense. For a typical three-bedroom property, internal cleaning can range from $365 to $500. If you have pets, or kids who love drawing on the walls, your cleaning costs might be a bit higher. Now, let’s look at utility connection expenses that can catch people by surprise. Cancelling your internet service can be costly if you don’t meet the exit or cancellation policies. With <a href="https://www.telstra.com.au/internet/5g-home-internet">Telstra Home Internet</a>, for example, if you cancel within the first 24 months, you must return your modem within 21 days to avoid a $400 non-return fee. Most providers charge a cancellation fee or require final device repayments, typically ranging from $100 to $500, depending on the remaining contract period. As a renter, it might be wise to choose a no-lock-in contract plan to avoid these fees if you need flexibility. Electricity and gas connection and disconnection fees are usually minor but can add up, often costing about $40 to $60 for <a href="https://www.energyon.com.au/fees-and-charges/">connection and disconnection fees</a> for electricity alone. If your house uses gas for hot water or cooking, you may have to pay additional fees for setting up service. However, there are also non-financial costs, like the time spent searching for a new home, attending inspections, and putting in applications. Moving takes effort and energy for packing, transporting and unpacking. Some people feel emotionally attached to their current home, which can make leaving harder. Older renters <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1353829218311304">seem to draw strength</a> from their familiarity with, attachment to, and enjoyment of their place and community. This is something to be considered. Plus, moving can take <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41537-023-00349-w">an emotional toll</a>. <h2>The benefits of not moving</h2> The clear benefit of staying is avoiding the hassle of relocating. Staying means saving on moving expenses and avoiding the time spent searching for a new place, packing and unpacking. This may also save some people from needing to take time off work. Changing and updating an address is also another tedious task that can be avoided by staying. Moving can hit the hip pocket with “after moving costs” that people may not initially consider. For instance, a new location might mean a longer commute. If each trip adds just 15 extra minutes, that could amount to an additional 11 hours per month over 22 workdays. For drivers, increased fuel and parking expenses might also come into play. Is the current or new location closer to a supermarket, hospital, and school? This proximity could be beneficial or detrimental, depending on the surrounding environment and available services. <h2>To move or not to move?</h2> One point to note is that overall, moving costs are likely to be similar between big cities and regional areas if you get moving supplies or rent a van from a large company such as Bunnings. In the end, moving costs will be around $2,000 based on the figures above, and it can be around $800 to $1,000 cheaper if you opt to rent a van instead of using a full-service moving company. Therefore, if the current rent is $600 per week and is about to increase by 10% to $660, the additional cost would be $3,120 per year. So is it cheaper to move or stay when your rent increases by 10%? The answer is moving may save about $1,000 to $2,000, but comes with the hassle and emotional toll of relocation. Staying will be more expensive, but with less hassle and emotional strain. The right choice depends on your situation.<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/243155/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/park-thaichon-175182">Park Thaichon</a>, Associate Professor of Marketing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southern-queensland-1069">University of Southern Queensland</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sara-quach-175976">Sara Quach</a>, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith 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/to-move-or-not-to-move-is-it-cheaper-to-find-a-new-place-or-stay-when-your-rent-increases-by-10-243155">original article</a>.

Money & Banking

When a baby is stillborn, grandparents are hit with ‘two lots of grief’. Here’s how we can help

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jane-lockton-811825">Jane Lockton</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clemence-due-100240">Clemence Due</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/melissa-oxlad-811406">Melissa Oxlad</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a> <a href="https://www.stillbirthcre.org.au/resources/stillbirth-facts/">Six babies</a> are stillborn every day in Australia. This significant loss <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1744165X12001023">affects parents</a> for years to come, often the rest of their lives. However, stillbirth also affects many others, including grandparents. But until now, we have not heard the experiences of grandparents whose grandchildren are stillborn. Their grief was rarely acknowledged and there are few supports tailored to them. Our recently published <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31387781">research</a> is the first in the world to specifically look at grandmothers’ experience of stillbirth and the support they need. In Australia, a baby <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0037109">is defined as</a> stillborn when it dies in the womb from 20 weeks’ gestation, or weighs more than 400 grams. Other countries have slightly different definitions. <a href="https://www.stillbirthcre.org.au/resources/stillbirth-facts/">About 2,200</a> babies are stillborn each year here meaning stillbirth may be more common than many people think. And people <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)60107-4/fulltext">don’t tend to talk</a> about this openly despite it leading to significant grief. To explore grandparents’ experience of stillbirth, we interviewed 14 grandmothers for our initial study, and a further 23 grandmothers and grandfathers since then. Many grandparents were not aware stillbirth was a risk today. Most felt unprepared. Like parents, grandparents experienced grief like no other after their grandchild was stillborn. Rose said: "The grief is always there, it never leaves you […] I don’t know why but sometimes it is still very raw." Sally said: "I [would do] anything in my power to take it away, even if it meant, you know, something dreadful happening to me, I would have done it." Grandparents also spoke of anticipating the arrival of their grandchild, and disbelief at their loss. Donna said: "It was as bad as it could be and […] I thought it just couldn’t be real, it couldn’t be real." Where grandparents lived a long way from their child, the loss was even more profound. Distance prevented them from holding their grandchild after birth, attending memorials, or helping their own children. Iris said: "I still miss her now […] When she was born and they had her in the hospital they would text me and say you know she’s got hair like her daddy […] and they would describe her and how beautiful she was, and that’s all they have, you know […] that’s all I have really." Grandparents said they wanted to hide their grief to protect their child from pain. This often made them isolated. Their relationships with family members often changed. Mary said: "It’s like two lots of grief […] but I don’t want it to sound like it’s as bad as my daughter’s loss. It’s different, it’s a different grief, because you’re grieving the loss of a grandchild, and you’re also grieving for your daughter and her loss and it’s like yeah you’ve been kicked in the guts twice instead of once." <h2>What grandparents wanted</h2> Grandparents stressed the importance and ongoing value of being involved in “memory making” and spending time with their stillborn grandchild where possible. Creating mementos, such as taking photos and making footprints and hand prints, were all important ways of expressing their grief. These mementos kept the baby “alive” in the family. They were also a way to ensure their own child knew the baby was loved and remembered. Our research also identified better ways to support grandparents. Grandparents said that if they knew more about stillbirth, they would be more confident in knowing how to help support their children. And if people were more aware of grandparents’ grief, and acknowledged their loss, this would make it easier for them to get support themselves, and reduce feelings of isolation. Our research also found families can recognise that grandparents grieve too, for both their child and grandchild. Grandparents can be encouraged to seek support from other family and friends. Families could also encourage grandparents to seek support from professionals if needed. In hospitals, midwives can adopt some simple, time efficient strategies, with a big impact on grandparents. With parent consent, midwives could include grandparents in memory making activities. By acknowledging the connection grandparents have to the baby, midwives can validate the grief that they experience. In recognising the supportive role of grandparents, midwives can also provide early guidance about how best to support their child. Hospitals can help by including grandparents in the education provided after stillbirth. This might include guidance about support for their child, or simply providing grandparents with written resources and guiding them to appropriate supports. In time, development of peer support programs, where grandparents support others in similar situations, could help. And, as a community, we can support grandparents the same way they support their own children. We can be there, listen and learn. <hr /> All grandparents’ names in this article are pseudonyms. If this article raises issues for you or someone you know, contact <a href="http://www.sands.org.au">Sands</a> (stillbirth and newborn death support) on 1300 072 637. Sands also has <a href="https://www.sands.org.au/images/sands-creative/brochures/127517-For-Grandparents-Brochure.pdf">written information specifically for grandparents</a> of stillborn babies.<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/122313/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jane-lockton-811825">Jane Lockton</a>, PhD Candidate (Psychology, Health), <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clemence-due-100240">Clemence Due</a>, Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/melissa-oxlad-811406">Melissa Oxlad</a>, Lecturer in the School of Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</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/when-a-baby-is-stillborn-grandparents-are-hit-with-two-lots-of-grief-heres-how-we-can-help-122313">original article</a>.

Family & Pets

What does a good death look like when you’re really old and ready to go?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/naomi-richards-182120">Naomi Richards</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-glasgow-1269">University of Glasgow</a> <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/hawaii-legalizes-assisted-suicide_us_5ac6c6f5e4b0337ad1e621fb">Hawaii</a> recently joined the growing number of states and countries where doctor-assisted dying is legal. In these jurisdictions, help to die is rarely extended to those who don’t have a terminal illness. Yet, increasingly, very old people, without a terminal illness, who feel that they have lived too long, are arguing that they also have a right to such assistance. Media coverage of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/05/09/this-104-year-old-plans-to-die-tomorrow-and-hopes-to-change-views-on-assisted-suicide/?utm_term=.b00a9036f9bc">David Goodall</a>, the 104-year-old Australian scientist who travelled to Switzerland for assisted dying, demonstrates the level of public interest in ethical dilemmas at the <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k1891.full">extremities of life</a>. Goodall wanted to die because he no longer enjoyed life. Shortly before his death, he told reporters that he spends most of his day just sitting. “What’s the use of that?” he asked. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953615002889?via%3Dihub">Research</a> shows that life can be a constant struggle for the very old, with social connections hard to sustain and health increasingly fragile. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25982088">Studies</a> looking specifically at the motivation for assisted dying among the very old show that many feel a deep sense of loneliness, tiredness, an inability to express their individuality by taking part in activities that are important to them, and a hatred of dependency. Of the jurisdictions where assisted dying is legal, some make suffering the determinant (Canada, for example). Others require a prognosis of six months (California, for example). Mainly, though, the focus is on people who have a terminal illness because it is seen as less of an ethical problem to hasten the death of someone who is already dying than someone who is simply tired of life. <h2>Why give precedence to physical suffering?</h2> Assisted dying for people with psychological or existential reasons for wanting to end their life is unlikely to be supported by doctors because it is not objectively verifiable and also potentially remediable. In the Netherlands, despite the legal power to offer assistance where there is no life-limiting illness, doctors are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25693947">seldom convinced</a> of the unbearable nature of non-physical suffering, and so will rarely administer a lethal dose in such cases. Although doctors may look to a physical diagnosis to give them confidence in their decision to hasten a patient’s death, physical symptoms are often not mentioned by the people they are assisting. Instead, the most common reason given by those who have received help to die is <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMms1700606">loss of autonomy</a>. Other common reasons are to avoid burdening others and not being able to enjoy one’s life – the exact same reason given by Goodall. This suggests that requests from people with terminal illness, and from those who are just very old and ready to go, are not as different as both the law – and doctors’ interpretation of the law – claim them to be. <h2>Sympathetic coverage</h2> It seems that the general public does not draw a clear distinction either. Most of the media coverage of Goodall’s journey to Switzerland was sympathetic, to the dismay of <a href="http://www.carenotkilling.org.uk/press-releases/centenarians-assisted-suicide/">opponents</a> of assisted dying. Media reports about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/sep/02/mary-berry-great-british-bake-off-centenarian-assisted-dying">ageing celebrities</a> endorsing assisted dying in cases of both terminal illness and very old age, blur the distinction still further. One of the reasons for this categorical confusion is that, at root, this debate is about what a good death looks like, and this doesn’t rely on prognosis; it relies on <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01459740.2016.1255610">personality</a>. And, it’s worth remembering, the personalities of the very old are as diverse as those of the very young. Discussion of assisted suicide often focuses on concerns that some older people may be exposed to coercion by carers or family members. But older people also play another role in this debate. They make up the rank and file <a href="http://www.ep.liu.se/ej/ijal/2012/v7/i1/a01/ijal12v7i1a01.pdf">activists</a> of the global right-to-die movement. In this conflict of rights, protectionist impulses conflict with these older activists’ demands to die on their own terms and at a time of their own choosing. In light of the <a href="https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/worlds-older-population-grows-dramatically">unprecedented ageing</a> of the world’s population and increasing longevity, it is important to think about what a good death looks like in deep old age. In an era when more jurisdictions are passing laws to permit doctor-assisted dying, the choreographed death of a 104-year-old, who died listening to Ode to Joy after enjoying a last fish supper, starts to look like a socially approved good death.<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/96589/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/naomi-richards-182120">Naomi Richards</a>, Lecturer in Social Science (End of Life Studies), <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-glasgow-1269">University of Glasgow</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/what-does-a-good-death-look-like-when-youre-really-old-and-ready-to-go-96589">original article</a>.

Caring

How light tells you when to sleep, focus and poo

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/frederic-gachon-1379094">Frederic Gachon</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/benjamin-weger-1646210">Benjamin Weger</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> Exposure to light is crucial for our physical and mental health, as this and future articles in the series will show. But the timing of that light exposure is also crucial. This tells our body to wake up in the morning, when to poo and the time of day to best focus or be alert. When we’re exposed to light also controls our body temperature, blood pressure and even chemical reactions in our body. But how does our body know when it’s time to do all this? And what’s light got to do with it? <h2>What is the body clock, actually?</h2> One of the key roles of light is to re-set our body clock, also known as the circadian clock. This works like an internal oscillator, similar to an actual clock, ticking away as you read this article. But rather than ticking you can hear, the body clock is a network of genes and proteins that regulate each other. This network sends signals to organs via hormones and the nervous system. These complex loops of interactions and communications have a rhythm of about 24 hours. In fact, we don’t have one clock, we have trillions of body clocks throughout the body. The central clock is in the hypothalamus region of the brain, and each cell in every organ has its own. These clocks work in concert to help us adapt to the daily cycle of light and dark, aligning our body’s functions with the time of day. However, our body clock is not precise and works to a rhythm of about 24 hours (24 hours 30 minutes on average). So every morning, the central clock needs to be reset, signalling the start of a new day. This is why light is so important. The central clock is directly connected to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/07487304231225706">light-sensing cells</a> in our retinas (the back of the eye). This daily re-setting of the body clock with morning light is essential for ensuring our body works well, in sync with our environment. In parallel, <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-it-matter-what-time-of-day-i-eat-and-can-intermittent-fasting-improve-my-health-heres-what-the-science-says-203762">when we eat food</a> also plays a role in re-setting the body clock, but this time the clock in organs other than the brain, such as the liver, kidneys or the gut. So it’s easy to see how our daily routines are closely linked with our body clocks. And in turn, our body clocks shape how our body works at set times of the day. <h2>What time of day?</h2> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/627494/original/file-20241023-14-729bed.gif?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/627494/original/file-20241023-14-729bed.gif?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/627494/original/file-20241023-14-729bed.gif?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/627494/original/file-20241023-14-729bed.gif?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/627494/original/file-20241023-14-729bed.gif?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/627494/original/file-20241023-14-729bed.gif?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/627494/original/file-20241023-14-729bed.gif?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/627494/original/file-20241023-14-729bed.gif?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Matt Garrow/The Conversation. <a class="source" href="https://delos.com/blog/why-natural-light-is-important-for-mental-and-physical-health/">Adapted from Delos</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></figcaption></figure> <h2>Let’s take a closer look at sleep</h2> The naturally occurring brain hormone <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30311830/">melatonin</a> is linked to our central clock and makes us feel sleepy at certain times of day. When it’s light, our body stops making melatonin (its production is inhibited) and we are alert. Closer to bedtime, the hormone is made, then secreted, making us feel drowsy. Our sleep is also <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2019.00944/full">partly controlled</a> by <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-genom-121222-120306">our genes</a>, which are part of our central clock. These genes influence our <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-it-matter-what-time-i-go-to-bed-198146">chronotype</a> – whether we are a “lark” (early riser), “night owl” (late sleeper) or a “dove” (somewhere in between). But exposure to light at night when we are supposed to be sleeping can have harmful effects. Even dim light from light pollution can impair our <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2113290119">heart rate and how we metabolise sugar</a> (glucose), may lead to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-023-00135-8">psychiatric disorders</a> such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder, and increases the overall risk of <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2405924121">premature death</a>. The main reason for these harmful effects is that light “at the wrong time” disturbs the body clock, and these effects are more pronounced for “night owls”. This “misaligned” exposure to light is also connected to the detrimental health effects we often see in people who <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-does-night-shift-increase-the-risk-of-cancer-diabetes-and-heart-disease-heres-what-we-know-so-far-190652">work night shifts</a>, such as an increased risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease. <h2>How about the gut?</h2> Digestion also follows a circadian rhythm. Muscles in the colon that help move waste <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1572-0241.2004.40453.x">are more active</a> during the day and slow down at night. The most significant increase in colon movement starts at 6.30am. This is one of the reasons why most people feel the urge to poo <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-i-poo-in-the-morning-a-gut-expert-explains-229624">in the early morning</a> rather than at night. The gut’s day-night rhythm is a direct result of the action of the gut’s own clock and the central clock (which synchronises the gut with the rest of the body). It’s also influenced by when we eat. <h2>How about focusing?</h2> Our body clock also helps control our attention and alertness levels by changing how our brain functions at certain times of day. Attention and alertness levels improve in the afternoon and evening but dip during the night and early morning. Those fluctuations <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2012.00050/full">impact performance</a> and can lead to decreased productivity and an <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-40914-x">increased risk</a> of errors and accidents during the less-alert hours. So it’s important to perform certain tasks that <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30923475/">require our attention</a> at certain times of day. That includes driving. In fact, disruption of the circadian clock at the start of daylight savings – when our body hasn’t had a chance to adapt to the clocks changing – <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982219316781?via%3Dihub">increases the risk</a> of a car accident, particularly in the morning. <h2>What else does our body clock control?</h2> Our body clock influences many other aspects of our biology, including: <ul> <li>physical performance by controlling the activity of our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-023-00805-8">muscles</a></li> <li>blood pressure by controlling the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-time-of-day-should-i-take-my-medicine-125809">system of hormones</a> involved in regulating our blood volume and blood vessels</li> <li>body temperature by controlling our metabolism and our level of physical activity</li> <li>how our body handles drugs and toxins by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17460441.2023.2224554">controlling enzymes</a> involved in how the liver and kidneys eliminate these substances from the body.</li> </ul> <h2>Morning light is important</h2> But what does this all mean for us? Exposure to light, especially in the morning, is crucial for synchronising our circadian clock and bodily functions. As well as setting us up for a good night’s sleep, increased morning light exposure benefits our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032721008612?via%3Dihub">mental health</a> and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/101/9/3539/2806883">reduces the risk of obesity</a>. So boosting our exposure to morning light – for example, by going for a walk, or having breakfast outside – can directly benefit our mental and metabolic health. However, there are other aspects about which we have less control, including <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168952524001100">the genes</a> that control our body clock.<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/236780/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/frederic-gachon-1379094">Frederic Gachon</a>, Associate Professor, Physiology of Circadian Rhythms, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/benjamin-weger-1646210">Benjamin Weger</a>, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow Institute for Molecular Bioscience, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</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/how-light-tells-you-when-to-sleep-focus-and-poo-236780">original article</a>.

Body

For type 2 diabetes, focusing on when you eat – not what – can help control blood sugar

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/evelyn-parr-441878">Evelyn Parr</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brooke-devlin-2237174">Brooke Devlin</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a> Type 2 diabetes affects <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/diabetes/diabetes/contents/how-common-is-diabetes/type-2-diabetes">1.2 million Australians</a> and accounts for <a href="https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/about-diabetes/type-2-diabetes/">85-90%</a> of all diabetes cases. This chronic condition is characterised by high blood glucose (sugar) levels, which carry serious <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)30058-2/abstract">health</a> risks. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nrendo.2017.151">Complications</a> include heart disease, kidney failure and vision problems. Diet is an important way people living with type 2 diabetes manage blood glucose, alongside exercise and medication. But while we know individualised, professional dietary advice improves blood glucose, it can be <a href="https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0168822717317588">complex</a> and is not always <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/py/PY13021">accessible</a>. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168822724008039">Our new study</a> looked at the impact of time-restricted eating – focusing on when you eat, rather than what or how much – on blood glucose levels. We found it had similar results to individualised advice from an accredited practising dietitian. But there were added benefits, because it was simple, achievable, easy to stick to – and motivated people to make other positive changes. <h2>What is time-restricted eating?</h2> Time-restricted eating, also known as <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-nutr-082018-124320">the 16:8 diet</a>, became popular for weight loss around 2015. Studies have since shown it is also an <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2811116">effective way</a> for people with type 2 diabetes to manage blood glucose. Time-restricted eating involves limiting when you eat each day, rather than focusing on what you eat. You restrict eating to a window during daylight hours, for example between 11am and 7pm, and then fast for the remaining hours. This can sometimes naturally lead to also eating less. Giving your body a break from constantly digesting food in this way helps align eating with natural <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jne.12886">circadian rhythms</a>. This <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.15246">can help</a> regulate metabolism and improve overall health. For people with type 2 diabetes, there may be specific benefits. They often have their <a href="https://doi.org/10.2337/dc12-2127">highest blood glucose</a> reading in the morning. Delaying breakfast to mid-morning means there is time for physical activity to occur to help reduce glucose levels and prepare the body for the first meal. <h2>How we got here</h2> We ran an <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/11/3228">initial study</a> in 2018 to see whether following time-restricted eating was achievable for people with type 2 diabetes. We found participants could easily stick to this eating pattern over four weeks, for an average of five days a week. Importantly, they also had improvements in blood glucose, spending less time with high levels. <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/2/505">Our previous research</a> suggests the reduced time between meals may play a role in how the hormone insulin is able to reduce glucose concentrations. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.39337">Other studies</a> have confirmed these findings, which have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12986-021-00613-9">also shown</a> notable improvements in HbA1c. This is a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK304271/">marker</a> in the blood that represents concentrations of blood glucose over an average of three months. It is the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.4137/BMI.S38440">primary clinical tool</a> used for diabetes. However, these studies provided intensive support to participants through weekly or fortnightly meetings with researchers. While we know this level of support <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/0802295">increases</a> how likely people are to stick to the plan and improves outcomes, it is not readily available to everyday Australians living with type 2 diabetes. <h2>What we did</h2> In our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168822724008039">new study</a>, we compared time-restricted eating directly with advice from an <a href="https://dietitiansaustralia.org.au/working-dietetics/standards-and-scope/role-accredited-practising-dietitian">accredited practising dietitian</a>, to test whether results were similar across six months. We recruited 52 people with type 2 diabetes who were currently managing their diabetes with up to two oral medications. There were 22 women and 30 men, aged between 35 and 65. Participants were randomly divided into two groups: diet and time-restricted eating. In both groups, participants received four consultations across the first four months. During the next two months they managed diet alone, without consultation, and we continued to measure the impact on blood glucose. In the diet group, consultations focused on changing their diet to control blood glucose, including improving diet quality (for example, eating more vegetables and limiting alcohol). In the time-restricted eating group, advice focused on how to limit eating to a nine-hour window between 10am and 7pm. Over six months, we measured each participant’s blood glucose levels every two months using the HbA1c test. Each fortnight, we also asked participants about their experience of making dietary changes (to what or when they ate). <h2>What we found</h2> We found time-restricted eating was as effective as the diet intervention. Both groups had reduced blood glucose levels, with the greatest improvements occurring after the first two months. Although it wasn’t an objective of the study, some participants in each group also lost weight (5-10kg). When surveyed, participants in the time-restricted eating group said they had adjusted well and were able to follow the restricted eating window. Many told us they had family support and enjoyed earlier mealtimes together. Some also found they slept better. After two months, people in the time-restricted group were looking for more dietary advice to further improve their health. Those in the diet group were less likely to stick to their plan. Despite similar health outcomes, time-restricted eating seems to be a simpler initial approach than making complex dietary changes. <h2>Is time-restricted eating achievable?</h2> The main barriers to following time-restricted eating are social occasions, caring for others and work schedules. These factors may prevent people eating within the window. However, there are many benefits. The message is simple, focusing on when to eat as the main diet change. This may make time-restricted eating more translatable to people from a wider variety of socio-cultural backgrounds, as the types of foods they eat don’t need to change, just the timing. Many people don’t have access to more individualised support from a dietitian, and receive nutrition advice from their GP. This makes time-restricted eating an alternative – and equally effective – strategy for people with type 2 diabetes. People should still try to stick to <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines/guidelines">dietary guidelines</a> and prioritise vegetables, fruit, wholegrains, lean meat and healthy fats. But our study showed time-restricted eating may also serve as stepping stone for people with type 2 diabetes to take control of their health, as people became more interested in making diet and other positive changes. Time-restricted eating might not be appropriate for everyone, especially people on medications which don’t recommend fasting. Before trying this dietary change, it’s best speak to the healthcare professional who helps you manage diabetes.<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/241472/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/evelyn-parr-441878">Evelyn Parr</a>, Research Fellow in Exercise Metabolism and Nutrition, Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brooke-devlin-2237174">Brooke Devlin</a>, Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</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/for-type-2-diabetes-focusing-on-when-you-eat-not-what-can-help-control-blood-sugar-241472">original article</a>.

Body

Are older adults more vulnerable to scams? What psychologists have learned about who’s most susceptible, and when

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/natalie-c-ebner-1527554">Natalie C. Ebner</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-florida-1392">University of Florida</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/didem-pehlivanoglu-1527551">Didem Pehlivanoglu</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-florida-1392">University of Florida</a> About 1 in 6 Americans <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/05/2020-census-united-states-older-population-grew.html">are age 65 or older</a>, and that percentage <a href="https://www.ncoa.org/article/get-the-facts-on-older-americans">is projected to grow</a>. Older adults often hold positions of power, have retirement savings accumulated over the course of their lifetimes, and make important financial and health-related decisions – all of which makes them attractive targets for financial exploitation. In 2021, there were more than 90,000 older victims of fraud, according to the FBI. These cases resulted in <a href="https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2021_IC3ElderFraudReport.pdf">US$1.7 billion in losses</a>, a 74% increase compared with 2020. Even so, that may be a significant undercount, since embarrassment or lack of awareness <a href="https://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/econ/fraud-victims-11.pdf">keeps some victims from reporting</a>. <a href="https://ncea.acl.gov/elder-abuse#gsc.tab=0">Financial exploitation</a> represents one of the most common forms of elder abuse. Perpetrators are often individuals in the victims’ inner social circles – family members, caregivers or friends – but can also be strangers. When older adults experience financial fraud, they typically <a href="https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/federal.trade.commission/viz/AgeandFraud/Infographic">lose more money</a> than younger victims. Those losses can have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2012.11">devastating consequences</a>, especially since older adults have limited time to recoup – dramatically reducing their independence, health and well-being. But older adults have been largely neglected in research on this burgeoning type of crime. We are <a href="https://ebnerlab.psych.ufl.edu/natalie-c-ebner-phd/">psychologists who study social cognition</a> and <a href="https://ebnerlab.psych.ufl.edu/didem-pehlivanoglu/">decision-making</a>, and <a href="https://ebnerlab.psych.ufl.edu/">our research lab</a> at the University of Florida is aimed at understanding the factors that shape vulnerability to deception in adulthood and aging. <h2>Defining vulnerability</h2> Financial exploitation involves a variety of exploitative tactics, such as coercion, manipulation, undue influence and, frequently, some sort of deception. The majority of current research focuses on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3052">people’s ability to distinguish between truth and lies</a> during interpersonal communication. However, deception occurs in many contexts – increasingly, over the internet. Our lab conducts laboratory experiments and real-world studies to measure susceptibility under various conditions: investment games, lie/truth scenarios, phishing emails, text messages, fake news and deepfakes – fabricated videos or images that are created by artificial intelligence technology. To study how people respond to deception, we use measures like surveys, brain imaging, behavior, eye movement and heart rate. We also collect health-related biomarkers, such as being a carrier of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8346443/">gene variants</a> that increase risk for Alzheimer’s disease, to identify individuals with particular vulnerability. And <a href="https://doi.org/10.20900/agmr20230007">our work</a> shows that an older adult’s ability to detect deception is not just about their individual characteristics. It also depends on how they are being targeted. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/593784/original/file-20240513-16-j9zy1i.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/593784/original/file-20240513-16-j9zy1i.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/593784/original/file-20240513-16-j9zy1i.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/593784/original/file-20240513-16-j9zy1i.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/593784/original/file-20240513-16-j9zy1i.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/593784/original/file-20240513-16-j9zy1i.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/593784/original/file-20240513-16-j9zy1i.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/593784/original/file-20240513-16-j9zy1i.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A figure with two circles and an arrow between them. One circle shows icons that symbolize individual susceptibility to deception -- like a brain, and a walking cane -- while the other has icons of types of deception, like mail or a text message." /></a><figcaption>Vulnerability depends not only on the person, but also the type of fraud being used. Natalie Ebner and Didem Pehlivanoglu</figcaption></figure> <h2>Individual risk factors</h2> Better cognition, social and emotional capacities, and brain health are all associated with less susceptibility to deception. Cognitive functions, such as how quickly our brain processes information and how well we remember it, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619827511">decline with age</a> and impact decision-making. For example, among people around 70 years of age or older, declines in analytical thinking are associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000426">reduced ability to detect false news stories</a>. Additionally, low memory function in aging is associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gby036">greater susceptibility to email phishing</a>. Further, according to recent <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/osf/6f2y9">research</a>, this correlation is specifically pronounced among older adults who carry a gene variant that is a genetic risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life. Indeed, some research suggests that greater financial exploitability may serve as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104773">an early marker</a> of disease-related cognitive decline. Social and emotional influences are also crucial. Negative mood can enhance somebody’s ability to detect lies, while <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000426">positive mood in very old</a> age can impair a person’s ability to detect fake news. Lack of support and loneliness exacerbate susceptibility to deception. Social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glaa077">increased reliance on online platforms</a>, and older adults with lower digital literacy are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnac188">more vulnerable to fraudulent emails and robocalls</a>. Finally, an individual’s brain and body responses play a critical role in susceptibility to deception. One important factor is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2020.10.007">interoceptive awareness</a>: the ability to accurately read our own body’s signals, like a “gut feeling.” This awareness is correlated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igad104.3714">better lie detection</a> in older adults. According to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glx051">a first study</a>, financially exploited older adults had a significantly smaller size of insula – a brain region key to integrating bodily signals with environmental cues – than older adults who had been exposed to the same threat but avoided it. Reduced insula activity is also related to greater difficulty <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1218518109">picking up on cues</a> that make someone appear less trustworthy. <h2>Types of effective fraud</h2> Not all deception is equally effective on everyone. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3336141">Our findings</a> show that email phishing that relies on reciprocation – people’s tendency to repay what another person has provided them – was more effective on older adults. Younger adults, on the other hand, were more likely to fall for phishing emails that employed scarcity: people’s tendency to perceive an opportunity as more valuable if they are told its availability is limited. For example, an email might alert you that a coin collection from the 1950s has become available for a special reduced price if purchased within the next 24 hours. There is also evidence that as we age, we have greater difficulty detecting the “wolf in sheep’s clothing”: someone who appears trustworthy, but is not acting in a trustworthy way. In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-50500-x">a card-based gambling game</a>, we found that compared with their younger counterparts, older adults are more likely to select decks presented with trustworthy-looking faces, even though those decks consistently resulted in negative payouts. Even after learning about untrustworthy behavior, older adults showed greater difficulty overcoming their initial impressions. <h2>Reducing vulnerability</h2> Identifying who is especially at risk for financial exploitation in aging is crucial for preventing victimization. We believe interventions should be tailored, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach. For example, perhaps machine learning algorithms could someday determine the most dangerous types of deceptive messages that certain groups encounter – such as in text messages, emails or social media platforms – and provide on-the-spot warnings. Black and Hispanic consumers are <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/reports/combating-fraud-african-american-latino-communities-ftcs-comprehensive-strategic-plan-federal-trade/160615fraudreport.pdf">more likely to be victimized</a>, so there is also a dire need for interventions that resonate with their communities. Prevention efforts would benefit from taking a holistic approach to help older adults reduce their vulnerability to scams. Training in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-019-01259-7">financial, health</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-08437-0.pdf">digital literacy</a> are important, but so are programs to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10363-1">address loneliness</a>. People of all ages need to keep these lessons in mind when interacting with online content or strangers – but not only then. Unfortunately, financial exploitation often comes from individuals close to the victim.<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/227991/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/natalie-c-ebner-1527554">Natalie C. Ebner</a>, Professor of Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-florida-1392">University of Florida</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/didem-pehlivanoglu-1527551">Didem Pehlivanoglu</a>, Postdoctoral Researcher, Psychology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-florida-1392">University of Florida</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/are-older-adults-more-vulnerable-to-scams-what-psychologists-have-learned-about-whos-most-susceptible-and-when-227991">original article</a>.

Money & Banking

How do I know when it’s time to replace my running shoes?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/john-arnold-178470">John Arnold</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joel-fuller-2210202">Joel Fuller</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174">Macquarie University</a> Any runner will tell you there’s nothing better than slipping on a brand new pair of shoes. But how regularly should runners fork out hundreds of dollars on their next pair? Conventional wisdom tells us the average lifespan of a running shoe is around 500 to 800 kilometres. But where did this advice come from, and is it based on science? Some evidence comes from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546585013004">impact testing</a> with machines designed to simulate the shoe repeatedly contacting the ground during running. Other evidence comes from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19424280.2010.519348">monitoring runners who have used shoes in the real world</a> for long periods. This research is often focused on shoe materials and structure. But we think more compelling markers for the runner are shoe comfort, performance benefit and injury risk. Rather than seeking a “one-size-fits-all” answer to how many kilometres your shoes should be limited to, it’s also better to consider individual signs based on your shoe type and its purpose. <h2>The three signs to watch for</h2> Runners tend to replace their shoes for three main reasons: <ol> <li>they believe their performance is being negatively impacted</li> <li>their shoes are leading to some bodily discomfort which may cause (or has already caused) an injury</li> <li>the shoes are no longer comfortable or “feel” as good as they used to.</li> </ol> So what does the evidence say about these factors? <h2>Performance</h2> Some shoe material properties do contribute to enhanced running efficiency. Degrading these materials by racking up the kilometres may hinder peak performance on race day. This is most clearly seen in carbon fibre plate shoes used by modern elite runners to achieve <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01420-7">rapid road race times</a>. The design features <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-018-1024-z">thought to drive this</a> are the combination of highly compliant and resilient midsole foam and a stiff embedded carbon fibre plate, which support energy storage and return. Runners will typically “save” these shoes for race day and replace them after fewer kilometres, compared to conventional running shoes. The available research does support the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0811-2">performance benefits of these shoes</a>. However, it’s not known how long the benefits last relative to kilometres of wear. To our best knowledge, there’s only one study on running performance and shoe wear, but unfortunately it did not involve carbon fibre plate shoes. A University of Connecticut 2020 <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11134/20002:860659513">master’s thesis</a> investigated eight college-level runners over 400 miles (643km) of Nike Pegasus shoe use. Large reductions in running economy were reported at 240km, and this was statistically significant at 320km. No reduction was observed at 160km. So, if you’re chasing personal best times, the evidence above suggests that for peak performance, shoes should be replaced somewhere between 160 and 240km (although this is not directly based on carbon fibre plate shoe research). It appears that minimising training kilometres for your favourite racing shoes – keeping them “fresh” – could contribute to peak performance on race day, compared to racing in a pair of old shoes. <h2>Injury or discomfort</h2> The link between shoe wear and injury is unclear, and based on <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/37/3/239">minimal and often conflicting evidence</a>. One study did find that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12154">runners who alternate their running shoes</a> have a lower risk of injury than runners who run only in the same pair of shoes over a 22-week period. Runners who alternated shoes throughout the study period would have accumulated less wear in each shoe. This provides some support for the notion that accumulating too many kilometres in your shoes may increase risk of injury. Unfortunately, the exact age of running shoes was not reported in this study. However, based on the running characteristics reported, the single-shoe pair users completed an average of 320km in their shoes (after adjusting for a small fraction who had to replace shoes during the study). This was compared to the multi-shoe pair users who used an average of 3.6 pairs of shoes, ran more total kilometres, but accumulated an average of only 200km per shoe pair. <h2>Comfort</h2> Comfort and fit are the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19424280.2024.2353597#abstract">two most important factors</a> to runners when selecting running shoes. Evidence linking improved shoe comfort to <a href="https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/fulltext/2001/11000/relationship_between_footwear_comfort_of_shoe.21.aspx">reduced injury rates</a> or <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17461391.2019.1640288">improved running economy</a> is mixed, but reducing harms from poorly fitting and uncomfortable shoes is clearly a priority for runners. Most <a href="https://commons.nmu.edu/isbs/vol35/iss1/293/">runners land on their heel</a>. The repeated compression of the midsole causes the material to harden, possibly after as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5534152/pdf/ijspt-12-616.pdf">little as 160km</a>, according to one study from 2017. However, there was virtually no change in the amount of cushioning runners perceived under their heel after 160km. Even after using the shoes for 640km, they felt little difference – about 3%. While at first this might seem like runners are not very good at judging when shoes lose their cushioning, it also tells us changes in perceived shoe cushioning are very gradual and may not be important for runners until they reach a certain threshold. This amount will differ from person to person, and from shoe to shoe, but research suggests it’s not until perceived cushioning reaches about a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2020.1773613?casa_token=P87vatZhOlgAAAAA%3ACu11TZmGjKc1xYsaUlEVfWvZDvcSnx3qgKL1E2DsRYwf6hMvBiyVAm-M_-4Iauq4lwHna0QMu1IRmw">10% change</a> that runners consider it meaningful. We must be careful when applying these findings to the latest running shoes which use newer materials. But you can use it as a rule of thumb – once you notice a drop in comfort, it’s time to get a new pair. <h2>When to choose new shoes</h2> Ultimately, there’s no one simple answer for when you should get new running shoes. You may also not keep close track of how many kilometres your favourite pair has racked up. Overall, we believe the most practical advice is to keep your racing shoes “fresh” (under 240km), alternate a couple of other pairs during regular training, and replace them when you detect a notable drop in comfort.<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/238997/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/john-arnold-178470">John Arnold</a>, Senior lecturer, Sport & Exercise Biomechanics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-australia-1180">University of South Australia</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joel-fuller-2210202">Joel Fuller</a>, Senior Lecturer, Department of Health Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/macquarie-university-1174">Macquarie 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/how-do-i-know-when-its-time-to-replace-my-running-shoes-238997">original article</a>.

Beauty & Style

Readers response: What do you regret not appreciating more when you were younger?

When it comes to ageing, we often learn to appreciate things that we often dismissed when we were younger. We asked our readers what they have only truly started to appreciate with age, and the response was overwhelming. Here's what they said. Ross Forbes - Being brought up on a farm in a family environment where I was taught excellent work ethics and the value of community. Alice McMurdo - The beauty of the scenery in Scotland and not taking the opportunity to see more of the beautiful countryside when I had the chance. Pat Isaacs - My health and energy. Esther Miller - Not having to pay bills. I now understand why my daddy was always telling us cut off the light, shut the door, stop wasting food, do not pour more milk than you are going to drink. I remember him saying "wait till you have to pay for it yourselves". Lesson learned. Marie Chong - My parents. Rosalie Jones - Movement without pain. Michelle Nightingale - My family. Sally O'Neill - Being happy and free, not having any responsibilities to worry about. Chris Gray - My mum. If only I had known what I now know. Margie Buckingham - My ability to always be employed and buy my first house at 21. Also, my upbringing and great start my parents gave me by ensuring I went to a good school and studied hard. Kerri Anderson - Being younger. Linda Kauffman - My mother. Image credits: Shutterstock

Family & Pets

Things to remember when booking a group tour

When it comes to travelling abroad, many people opt to take part in a group tour to get the most out of their holiday. However, there are always a few logistics to iron out before you book your trip, because running into issues on a tour can make or break your vacation. Thankfully, travel expert Dilvin Yasa has shared her go to tips for getting the most out of your group tour. Budget accordingly When planning your group tour, budgeting is one of the most important factors, as these trips are rarely all-inclusive. Dilvin Yasa told <a href="https://travel.nine.com.au/latest/things-first-timers-get-wrong-on-group-tours/61fa10d2-ce80-40bb-ab92-9008b3d9296d">9Travel</a> it’s important to “read the itinerary carefully before you book and add up all the exclusions until you arrive at your 'real figure'.” Extra costs on a group tour could include lunches, dinners, attractions and additional activities, so make sure you factor these potential costs in. Know your geography Yasa advised against skipping between different destinations, as strict time constraints could prevent you from partaking in back to back tours. “If the itinerary doesn't list distances or time between destinations, hit up Google Maps to get an idea of how long you're expected to be in transit during each leg of the tour.” Don’t arrive at the last minute The travel expert said if you’re heading on a group tour, don’t leave it until the day the tour departs to arrive at your destination. “The last thing you want is to miss a connecting flight or hit any other sort of delay that could see you miss the first or two of the tour you've paid for,” Yasa said. “Aim to arrive the day before at the very latest and give yourself a little extra free time at the tail end as well - just in case.” Keep some cash on hand While most of your tour should already be paid for before you depart, you should always be prepared for extra expenses. Especially when travelling to more remote locations, or if you’re visiting smaller food vendors or markets, you shouldn’t assume everywhere will take card payments. Yasa said, “Make sure you have local currency on you at all times and you're good to go.” Image credits: Shutterstock

Travel Tips

How fear of missing out can lead to you paying more when buying a home

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/park-thaichon-175182">Park Thaichon</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southern-queensland-1069">University of Southern Queensland</a> The property market is a competitive space where finding a nice home, in the area you want, at a price you can afford is a hard ask. With buyers outnumbering available properties, the pressure is even greater causing some would-be buyers to develop <a href="https://health.clevelandclinic.org/understanding-fomo">a fear of missing out</a> (FOMO) and to make irrational decisions. FOMO might make you worry others are finding nicer homes and getting better deals, or that prices will rise to the point where you are priced out of the market altogether. This could cause you to pay too much or to buy a property in an area unsuitable for your needs. Then there is <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/counseling-keys/202103/overcoming-fear-of-making-mistakes">fear of making a mistake</a> (FOMM), which can also cause problems if you’re a home hunter. You might be reluctant to bid or to negotiate because you are afraid of choosing the wrong property or paying more than it’s worth. <h2>Problems caused by FOMO and FOMM</h2> The principles of contagion theory, crowd psychology and the scarcity principle we identified in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ijcs.12649?casa_token=271MN72XdP8AAAAA%3AfhYF_2yUJtM7KGv5jvFdXn5UsXQLkMcIM_F6hffYa30QaSdRivjf2mhFX-cr5C7ttCuLl1-e2OFYXBA">our research</a> on panic-buying during the pandemic, can be applied to any purchasing decisions. In this instance we applied them to buying properties in a competitive housing market. <a href="https://www.communicationtheory.org/contagion-theory/">Contagion theory</a> applies when people act irrationally under the influence of a crowd. <a href="https://www.bestvalueschools.com/faq/what-is-crowd-psychology/">Crowd psychology</a> is similar but relates to how a crowd behaves in certain circumstances, while <a href="https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/scarcity-principle">scarcity principle</a> is the idea if there are fewer items available, their value increases. Each of these can increase the likelihood of several behaviours when purchasing a property. These include: <ul> <li>Underbidding and overbidding</li> </ul> Fearing other buyers might get the house, house hunters might get caught up in a bidding war and end up paying more than planned. Conversely, buyers with FOMM might fear spending too much so bid too low to start with and risk losing the house. <ul> <li>Following the crowd and peer pressure influence</li> </ul> Buyers might feel <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11403-021-00324-7">pressured to buy</a> in a certain area because it’s popular, even if it is not best fit for them. This can lead to paying more for a house just because others are doing the same. <ul> <li>Delaying decisions</li> </ul> FOMM can lead to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ijcs.12990?casa_token=ZhJnLBOwVxUAAAAA%3AW5haHZKSA1rFQsRNdvw0liOoyvdxl0OrFR2phkhGfYC6TnWRv9EsnV-N8w52CmcnAVb8X2yU1obpIjKx">taking too long to decide</a>. This delay can mean missing out on good deals or being forced to rush into a decision and end up overpaying. <ul> <li>Avoiding negotiation</li> </ul> Some buyers might avoid negotiating the price or special conditions such as building and pest inspections and finance approval because they fear the seller will reject their offer. This can result in paying more than they need to if there are problems later. <ul> <li>Excessive inspections and appraisals</li> </ul> While inspections and appraisals are important, too many can suggest indecisiveness driven by fear, resulting in wasted money on unnecessary assessments, and more importantly, wasted time and delayed decisions. <h2>Removing fear from the buying process</h2> Start with thorough research and preparation by learning about different neighbourhoods and house prices. The history of properties and suburbs can be found for free on property websites and is a good place to start. Seek professional guidance from real estate agents or financial advisers to help you through the process. Get insights on market trends from an agent from a selling company or bank to help find homes that meet your criteria. Keep in mind these agents will get some form of incentive from your purchase. All the big banks or loan officers can provide free property reports on specific properties or suburbs. Don’t forget to check council mapping and water authority documents to check for potential future road projects and other developments and for an area’s flood rating. Perform due diligence by thoroughly inspecting properties and reviewing contracts to ensure they meet your needs and are a good investment. For example, it is a good idea to hire a home inspector to check for any hidden issues before making an offer. Another common mistake made by most buyers is not asking their <a href="https://www.qld.gov.au/law/housing-and-neighbours/buying-and-selling-a-property/buying-a-home/before-you-start-looking/appointing-a-solicitor">solicitor</a> to check and give suggestions before signing a contract or offer. A solicitor can check the sale contract before you sign, review the disclosure documents, give advice on your mortgage contract, carry out title searches and explain the results and explain how the purchase may affect your liability for land tax. Do some contingency planning by preparing for unexpected price increases and for the presence of other strong bidders to reduce anxiety about making the wrong decision. Setting aside extra funds could help deal with higher than expected prices or unexpected repairs that need doing. In the end, plan well and make decisions without letting emotions take over. Taking your time to find the right home that fits your budget and goals, rather than rushing into a purchase due to fear of missing out or making a mistake.<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/233197/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/park-thaichon-175182">Park Thaichon</a>, Associate Professor of Marketing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-southern-queensland-1069">University of Southern Queensland</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/how-fear-of-missing-out-can-lead-to-you-paying-more-when-buying-a-home-233197">original article</a>.

Money & Banking

How to know when it’s time to start therapy

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/simon-sherry-557487">Simon Sherry</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/dalhousie-university-1329">Dalhousie University</a> People go to therapy for many reasons. A challenging life event, trauma, volatile emotions, relationship problems, poor mental health: all can prompt someone to seek it out. Whatever the reason, it can be difficult to decide when and if therapy is right for you. If you’re reading this, now’s probably the right time. If you’re considering therapy, something is likely bothering you and you want help. Consider this your sign to reach out. If you’re still unsure, keep reading. <h2>Why therapy?</h2> Sometimes, our minds work against us. Therapy can help you understand why you think, feel, or act how you do and give you the skills you need to think, feel, or act in healthier ways. This includes helping you: <ul> <li> identify, understand, and overcome internal obstacles </li> <li> identify and challenge thought patterns and beliefs that are holding you back </li> <li> improve your mental health </li> <li> cope with mental illness </li> <li> and create lasting changes to your thoughts and behaviour that can improve all areas of your life. </li> </ul> <h2>When your mental health is suffering</h2> Everyone experiences negative emotions in difficult situations — like sadness after a breakup or anxiety before a big life event. But when do these feelings become problematic? When you have <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/about-mental-health.html">poor mental health</a>. Mental health and mental illness <a href="https://cmha.ca/news/mental-health-what-is-it-really/">are distinct</a>, but related, concepts. <a href="https://dictionary.apa.org/mental-health">Mental health</a> refers to the inner resources you have to handle life’s ups and downs. You have good mental health if you enjoy life; feel connected to others; cope well with stress; and have a sense of purpose, a sense of self and strong relationships. If you have poor mental health, it can be hard to adapt to changes like a breakup, move, loss or parenthood. Therapy can help you improve your mental health, develop resilience and maintain a state of well-being. <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/about-mental-illness.html">Mental illness</a> refers to distressing disturbances in thoughts, feelings and perceptions that interfere with daily life. There are <a href="https://cmha.ca/brochure/mental-illnesses/">different kinds</a> of mental illness, each characterized by different thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Mental illness may feel like: <ul> <li> Hopelessness — feeling stuck, unmotivated or helpless. </li> <li> Apathy — feeling uninterested in things that used to give you satisfaction or pleasure. </li> <li> Anger — feeling rage or resentment, especially frequently or disproportionately. </li> <li> Stress — feeling overwhelmed, unable to cope, unwilling to rest or like everything is hard (even if you know it shouldn’t be). </li> <li> Guilt — feeling ashamed, undeserving of good things or deserving of bad things. </li> <li> Anxiety — worrying about what has or might happen or having disturbing intrusive thoughts. </li> <li> Exhaustion — sleeping more than usual, having difficulty getting out of bed or lacking energy during the day. </li> <li> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30136-X">Insomnia</a> — having difficulty falling or staying asleep. </li> </ul> Both poor mental health and mental illness are equally good reasons to seek therapy. Ask yourself: Am I having trouble dealing with life challenges? If the answer is yes, therapy might be for you. People often cope with the feelings listed above in different ways. <a href="https://www.nami.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/NAMI-Warning-Signs-FINAL.pdf">Some gain or lose a lot of weight</a>. Others might seek out or do things that are unhealthy for them, like entering a toxic relationship, engaging in dangerous activities, developing an unhealthy habit or procrastinating. Others might isolate themselves from friends and family, or catastrophize and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22468242">ruminate on negative experiences</a>. However it manifests, <a href="https://namica.org/what-is-mental-illness/">mental illness often gets worse if left untreated</a>. It can have very real impacts on your life, potentially leading to unemployment, broken relationships, poor physical health, substance abuse, homelessness, incarceration or even suicide. Ask yourself: Is mental illness negatively affecting my functioning or well-being? If the answer is yes, therapy might be for you. <h2>What if therapy didn’t work before?</h2> Many people put off going to therapy because they don’t think their problems are serious enough, but you don’t need a big, deep reason to start therapy. Some people go to therapy to learn more about themselves. Some, to improve their skills, relationships or productivity. Others go for help reaching their goals or because they aren’t happy and don’t know why. Any of these are good reasons to start therapy, even if they don’t seem like “problems” in a traditional sense. You can go to therapy just because there’s something about yourself or your life you’d like to explore. Therapy is a process. Whether psychotherapy works for you depends on many factors, such as time, effort and your psychologist. There’s no quick fix for mental health. Symptoms can take weeks, months or even years to improve. Although this can be frustrating or disheartening, for therapy to work, you have to give it time. Sometimes people go to therapy, but are skeptical or resistant. Therapy won’t work if you aren’t invested in it. For therapy to work, you have to put in the work. Therapy is a vulnerable process, so finding a psychologist you trust and relate well with is crucial. Psychologists also have different specialities and approaches. For therapy to work, you have to find the right therapist for you. <h2>What if I’m not ready?</h2> There are several reasons why now might not be the right time for you to start therapy. Maybe therapy isn’t in the budget. Maybe you have other priorities. Maybe you’re scared to relive trauma. That’s okay. Therapy can be expensive and difficult, but also rewarding. Just because now isn’t a good time, doesn’t mean there will never be a good time. If you don’t want to start therapy, don’t. However, it can be helpful to determine why you don’t want to. Maybe you don’t want to go to therapy because you’re worried what others might think. If so, remember that people are often <a href="https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real/mental-health-statistics">more understanding</a> than we anticipate, and there is nothing wrong with investing in your health or happiness. If you’re struggling with your mental health, know that you’re not alone. Mental health issues are common. Having them or attending therapy does not mean there is something “wrong” with you. Mental illness affects <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders">970 million people</a> and is the leading cause of disability worldwide. <a href="https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real/mental-health-statistics">One in five</a> <a href="https://www.nami.org/about-mental-illness/mental-health-by-the-numbers/">adults</a> and more than <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.5051">one in 10 children and youths</a> have mental illness. About <a href="https://health-infobase.canada.ca/datalab/mental-illness-blog.html">15 per cent of Canadians</a> use mental health services each year. Don’t let stigma keep you from bettering your life and well-being. Everyone deserves to live a healthy, fulfilling life. Therapy can help you get there.<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/234078/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/simon-sherry-557487">Simon Sherry</a>, Clinical Psychologist and Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/dalhousie-university-1329">Dalhousie 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/how-to-know-when-its-time-to-start-therapy-234078">original article</a>.

Mind

Men have a biological clock too. Here’s what’s more likely when dads are over 50

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/karin-hammarberg-113096">Karin Hammarberg</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a> We hear a lot about women’s biological clock and how age affects the chance of pregnancy. <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2821811#google_vignette">New research shows</a> men’s fertility is also affected by age. When dads are over 50, the risk of pregnancy complications increases. Data from more than 46 million births in the <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2821811#google_vignette">United States</a> between 2011 and 2022 compared fathers in their 30s with fathers in their 50s. While taking into account the age of the mother and other factors known to affect pregnancy outcomes, the researchers found every ten-year increase in paternal age was linked to more complications. The researchers found that compared to couples where the father was aged 30–39, for couples where the dad was in his 50s, there was a: <ul> <li>16% increased risk of preterm birth</li> <li>14% increased risk of low birth weight</li> <li>13% increase in gestational diabetes.</li> </ul> The older fathers were also twice as likely to have used assisted reproductive technology, including IVF, to conceive than their younger counterparts. <h2>Dads are getting older</h2> In this <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2821811#google_vignette">US study</a>, the mean age of all fathers increased from 30.8 years in 2011 to 32.1 years in 2022. In that same period, the proportion of men aged 50 years or older fathering a child increased from 1.1% to 1.3%. We don’t know the proportion of men over 50 years who father children in Australia, but data shows the average age of fathers has increased. In 1975 the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/births-australia/latest-release">median age of Australian dads</a> was 28.6 years. This jumped to 33.7 years in 2022. <h2>How male age affects getting pregnant</h2> As we know from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-dads-first-time-over-age-50#when-he-was-54-simon-cowell-and-girlfriend-lauren-silverman-became-parents-to-their-son-eric-7">media reports</a> of celebrity dads, men produce sperm from puberty throughout life and can father children well into old age. However, there is a noticeable decline in <a href="https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(18)30269-3/fulltext">sperm quality</a> from about age 40. Female partners of older men take longer to achieve pregnancy than those with younger partners. A study of the effect of male age on <a href="https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(03)00366-2/fulltext">time to pregnancy</a> showed women with male partners aged 45 or older were almost five times more likely to take more than a year to conceive compared to those with partners aged 25 or under. More than three quarters (76.8%) of men under the age of 25 years impregnated their female partners within six months, compared with just over half (52.9%) of men over the age of 45. Pooled data from ten studies showed that partners of older men are also more likely to experience miscarriage. Compared to couples where the male was aged 25 to 29 years, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32358607/">paternal age over 45 years</a> increased the risk of miscarriage by 43%. <h2>Older men are more likely to need IVF</h2> Outcomes of assisted reproductive technology, such as IVF, are also influenced by the age of the male partner. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbmo.2022.03.031">review of studies</a> in couples using assisted reproductive technologies found paternal age under 40 years reduced the risk of miscarriage by about 25% compared to couples with men aged over 40. Having a male under 40 years also almost doubled the chance of a live birth per treatment cycle. With a man over 40, 17.6% of treatment rounds resulted in a live birth, compared to 28.4% when the male was under 40. <h2>How does male age affect the health outcomes of children?</h2> As a result of age-related changes in sperm DNA, the children of older fathers have increased risk of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9957550/">a number of conditions</a>. Autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and leukaemia have been linked to the father’s advanced years. A <a href="https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(22)01979-3/fulltext">review of studies</a> assessing the impact of advanced paternal age reported that children of older fathers have increased rates of psychiatric disease and behavioural impairments. But while the increased risk of adverse health outcomes linked to older paternal age is real, the magnitude of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29471389/">the effect is modest</a>. It’s important to remember that an increase in a very small risk is still a small risk and most children of older fathers are born healthy and develop well. <h2>Improving your health can improve your fertility</h2> In addition to the effects of older age, some chronic conditions that affect fertility and reproductive outcomes become more common as men get older. They include <a href="https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(23)01935-0/fulltext">obesity and diabetes</a> which affect sperm quality by lowering testosterone levels. While we can’t change our age, some lifestyle factors that increase the risk of pregnancy complications and reduce fertility, can be tackled. They include: <ul> <li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4639396/">smoking</a></li> <li>recreational <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/tre.414">drug taking</a></li> <li><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/tre.414">anabolic steroid</a> use</li> <li>heavy <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5504800/">alcohol consumption</a>.</li> </ul> <h2>Get the facts about the male biological clock</h2> Research shows <a href="https://academic.oup.com/humupd/article/23/4/458/3065332?login=false">men want children</a> as much as women do. And most men want at least two children. Yet most men <a href="https://academic.oup.com/humupd/article/23/4/458/3065332?login=false">lack knowledge</a> about the limitations of female and male fertility and overestimate the chance of getting pregnant, with and without assisted reproductive technologies. We need better public education, starting at school, to improve awareness of the impact of male and female age on reproductive outcomes and help people have healthy babies. For men wanting to improve their chance of conceiving, the government-funded sites <a href="https://healthymale.org.au/">Healthy Male</a> and <a href="https://www.yourfertility.org.au/">Your Fertility</a> are a good place to start. These offer evidence-based and accessible information about reproductive health, and <a href="https://www.yourfertility.org.au/fertility-week-2022">tips</a> to improve your reproductive health and give your children the best start in life.<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/236892/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/karin-hammarberg-113096">Karin Hammarberg</a>, Senior Research Fellow, Global and Women's Health, School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash 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/men-have-a-biological-clock-too-heres-whats-more-likely-when-dads-are-over-50-236892">original article</a>.

Body

4 ways to cut down on meat when dining out – and still make healthy choices

.<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/laura-marchese-1271636">Laura Marchese</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katherine-livingstone-324808">Katherine Livingstone</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> Many of us are looking for ways to eat a healthier and more <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-sustainable-is-your-weekly-grocery-shop-these-small-changes-can-have-big-benefits-234367">sustainable diet</a>. And one way to do this is by reducing the amount of meat we eat. That doesn’t mean you need to become a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-you-should-eat-a-plant-based-diet-but-that-doesnt-mean-being-a-vegetarian-78470">vegan or vegetarian</a>. Our <a href="https://jn.nutrition.org/article/S0022-3166(24)00333-X/fulltext">recent research</a> shows even small changes to cut down on meat consumption could help improve health and wellbeing. But not all plant-based options are created equal and some are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30744710/">ultra-processed</a>. Navigating what’s available when eating out – including options like tofu and fake meats – can be a challenge. So what are your best options at a cafe or restaurant? Here are some guiding principles to keep in mind when cutting down on meat. <h2>Health benefits to cutting down</h2> Small amounts of lean meat can be part of a healthy, balanced diet. But the majority of Australians <a href="https://cancer.org.au/about-us/policy-and-advocacy/prevention/obesity/related-resources/meat-and-cancer#consumption">still eat more meat</a> than recommended. Only a small percentage of Australians (10%) are vegetarian or vegan. But an <a href="https://www.foodfrontier.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Food-Frontier-Hungry-For-Plant-Based-Australian-Consumer-Insights.pdf">increasing</a> number opt for a <a href="https://theconversation.com/love-meat-too-much-to-be-vegetarian-go-flexitarian-73741">flexitarian</a> diet. <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-difference-between-vegan-and-vegetarian-225275">Flexitarians</a> eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, while still enjoying small amounts of meat, dairy, eggs and fish. Our <a href="https://jn.nutrition.org/article/S0022-3166(24)00333-X/fulltext">recent research</a> looked at whether the average Australian diet would improve if we swapped meat and dairy for plant-based alternatives, and the results were promising. The study found health benefits when people halved the amount of meat and dairy they ate and replaced them with healthy plant-based foods, like tofu or <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/blog/why-you-need-legumes-in-your-life">legumes</a>. On average, their dietary fibre intake – which helps with feeling fuller for longer and digestive health – went up. Saturated fats – which increase our blood cholesterol levels, a risk factor for heart disease – went down. Including more fibre and less saturated fat helps reduce the risk of <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/healthy-living/healthy-eating/healthy-eating-to-protect-your-heart">heart disease</a>. Achieving these health benefits may be as simple as swapping ham for baked beans in a toastie for lunch, or substituting half of the mince in your bolognese for lentils at dinner. <h2>How it’s made matters</h2> For a long time we’ve known processed meats – such as ham, bacon and sausages – are bad for your health. Eating high amounts of these foods is associated with poor <a href="https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/healthy-living/healthy-eating/protein-and-heart-health">heart health</a> and some forms of <a href="https://cancer.org.au/cancer-information/causes-and-prevention/diet-and-exercise/meat-and-cancer-risk">cancer</a>. But the same can be true of many processed meat alternatives. Plant-based alternatives designed to mimic meat, such as sausages and burgers, have become readily available in supermarkets, cafes and restaurants. These products are ultra-processed and can be <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-looked-at-700-plant-based-foods-to-see-how-healthy-they-really-are-heres-what-we-found-222991">high in salt and saturated fat</a>. Our study found when people replaced meat and dairy with ultra-processed meat alternatives – such as plant-based burgers or sausages – they ate more salt and less calcium, compared to eating meat or healthy plant-based options. So if you’re cutting down on meat for health reasons, it’s important to think about what you’re replacing it with. The <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-09/n55g_adult_brochure.pdf">Australian Dietary Guidelines</a> recommend eggs, legumes/beans, tofu, nuts and seeds. Tofu can be a great option. But we recommend flavouring plain tofu with herbs and spices yourself, as pre-marinated products are often ultra-processed and can be high in salt. <h2>What about when dining out?</h2> When you’re making your own food, it’s easier to adapt recipes or reduce the amount of meat. But when faced with a menu, it can be difficult to work out what is the best option. Here are our four ways to make healthy choices when you eat out: 1. Fill half your plate with vegetables When cutting down on meat, aim for half your plate to be vegetables. Try to also eat <a href="https://theconversation.com/were-told-to-eat-a-rainbow-of-fruit-and-vegetables-heres-what-each-colour-does-in-our-body-191337">a variety of colours</a>, such as leafy green spinach, red capsicum and pumpkin. When you’re out, this might look like choosing a vegetable-based entree, a stir-fry or ordering a side salad to have with your meal. 2. Avoid the deep fryer The Australian Dietary Guidelines <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/the_guidelines/n55a_australian_dietary_guidelines_summary_130530.pdf">recommend limiting</a> deep fried foods to once a week or less. When dining out, choose plant-based options that are sautéed, grilled, baked, steamed, boiled or poached – instead of those that are crumbed or battered before deep frying. This could mean choosing vegetarian dumplings that are steamed not fried, or poached eggs at brunch instead of fried. Ordering a side of roast vegetables instead of hot chips is also a great option. 3. Pick wholegrains Scan the menu for wholegrain options such as brown rice, wholemeal pizza or pasta, barley, quinoa or wholemeal burger buns. Not only are they good sources of protein, but they also provide more <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/food-essentials/five-food-groups/grain-cereal-foods-mostly-wholegrain-and-or-high-cereal-fibre">dietary fibre</a> than refined grains, which help keep you fuller for longer. 4. If you do pick meat – choose less processed kinds You may not always want, or be able, to make a vegetarian choice when eating out and with other people. If you do opt for meat, it’s better to steer clear of processed options like bacon or sausages. If sharing dishes with other people, you could try adding unprocessed plant-based options into the mix. For example, a curry with lentils or chickpeas, or a vegetable-based pizza instead of one with ham or salami. If that’s not an option, try choose meat that’s a lean cut, such as chicken breast, or options which are grilled rather than fried.<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/236505/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/laura-marchese-1271636">Laura Marchese</a>, PhD candidate at the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katherine-livingstone-324808">Katherine Livingstone</a>, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin 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/4-ways-to-cut-down-on-meat-when-dining-out-and-still-make-healthy-choices-236505">original article</a>.

Food & Wine

Woman “bullied” on plane over budget seating trick

A young woman has recalled a flight from hell when she was “bullied” by a couple who were trying to utilise a seating hack that went viral on TikTok. The solo traveller took to Reddit to recount the story and ask social media users if she was in the wrong for her action. The woman began by saying she usually pays more to select her plane seat ahead of time, but a medical emergency on another plane had her waiting on standby and left with no option other than to sit in a middle seat. When she was finally able to board, she was greeted by a couple who had purchased both the window and aisle seats in a bid to have more space, utilising a travel “trick” that has been popular on TikTok. The method, which has been dubbed the 'poor man's business class', usually leaves travellers with an empty middle seat and more space, and few travellers opt to pick a middle seat. “When I got to my row the man and woman were chatting and sharing a snack... it was obvious they were together. I mentioned to the man that I'm in the middle, and he got up to let me in,” the unsuspecting traveller wrote on Reddit. “I asked them if they would prefer to sit together, I said I was totally okay with that. The woman reacted rudely to this and said ‘you're not supposed to be sitting here anyway’.” After noticing how the plane was full, she offered to show the pair her new ticket with the correct seat number on it. “She flicked her hand at my ticket and made a disgusted sound. I offered again if they wanted to sit together to which she didn't reply, her partner said it's okay and... made some small talk,” she continued. The man’s girlfriend then interrupted their conversation to ask,”'Did you use one of those third party websites to book your flight? It's so frustrating when people cheap out to inconvenience others.” The American woman explained that she had booked her flight directly and she had been placed on standby like everyone else and didn't choose the middle seat - she was assigned it. She then tried to keep the peace by refusing to engage with the furious woman. “I was so done with her attitude, I put my headphones on and attempted to do my own thing,” she explained. But the “entitled” girlfriend wasn't letting it go, as the woman explained, “This woman kept reaching over me and tapping her partner and trying to talk to him in a way that was super intrusive.” “I could tell even her partner was trying to engage her less so that she would hopefully stop, but she didn't.” “I think they tried to pull that tactic where they don't sit together on purpose...hoping no one will sit between them. But on full flights it doesn't work. And even so - it's not the other person's fault.” The traveller's post was met with hundreds of comments slamming the girlfriend’s behaviour, as one person wrote, “It's like a toddler having a tantrum.” “She was disappointed and a total a**hole. Gross entitled people,” another added. Another person applauded the traveller’s level-headed behaviour, writing, “Wow! You are my hero for keeping it classy - I’m afraid I would not have been as kind as you.” Image credits: Shutterstock

Travel Trouble

I’ve been sick. When can I start exercising again?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ken-nosaka-169021">Ken Nosaka</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan University</a> You’ve had a cold or the flu and your symptoms have begun to subside. Your nose has stopped dripping, your cough is clearing and your head and muscles no longer ache. You’re ready to get off the couch. But is it too early to go for a run? Here’s what to consider when getting back to exercising after illness. <h2>Exercise can boost your immune system – but not always</h2> Exercise <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6523821/">reduces the chance</a> of getting respiratory infections by increasing your immune function and the ability to fight off viruses. However, an acute bout of endurance exercise may temporarily increase your susceptibility to upper respiratory infections, such as colds and the flu, via the short-term suppression of your immune system. This is known as the “open window” theory. A <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20839496/">study</a> from 2010 examined changes in trained cyclists’ immune systems up to eight hours after two-hour high-intensity cycling. It found important immune functions were suppressed, resulting in an increased rate of upper respiratory infections after the intense endurance exercise. So, we have to be more careful after performing harder exercises than normal. <h2>Can you exercise when you’re sick?</h2> This depends on the severity of your symptoms and the intensity of exercise. Mild to moderate exercise (reducing the intensity and length of workout) may be OK if your symptoms are a runny nose, nasal congestion, sneezing and minor sore throat, without a fever. Exercise may help you feel better by opening your nasal passages and temporarily relieving nasal congestion. However, if you try to exercise at your normal intensity when you are sick, you risk injury or more serious illness. So it’s important to listen to your body. If your symptoms include chest congestion, a cough, upset stomach, fever, fatigue or widespread muscle aches, avoid exercising. Exercising when you have these symptoms may worsen the symptoms and prolong the recovery time. If you’ve had the flu or another respiratory illness that caused a high fever, make sure your temperature is back to normal before getting back to exercise. Exercising raises your body temperature, so if you already have a fever, your temperature will become high quicker, which makes you sicker. If you have COVID or other contagious illnesses, stay at home, rest and isolate yourself from others. When you’re sick and feel weak, don’t force yourself to exercise. Focus instead on getting plenty of rest. This may actually shorten the time it takes to recover and resume your normal workout routine. <h2>I’ve been sick for a few weeks. What has happened to my strength and fitness?</h2> You may think taking two weeks off from training is disastrous, and worry you’ll lose the gains you’ve made in your previous workouts. But it could be just what the body needs. It’s true that almost all training benefits are <a href="https://journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/fulltext/2019/04000/sports_training_principles.2.aspx">reversible</a> to some degree. This means the physical fitness that you have built up over time can be lost without regular exercise. To study the effects of de-training on our body functions, researchers have undertaken “bed rest” studies, where healthy volunteers spend up to 70 days in bed. They <a href="https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00415.2017">found</a> that V̇O₂max (the maximum amount of oxygen a person can use during maximal exercise, which is a measure of <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/7050-aerobic-exercise">aerobic</a> fitness) declines 0.3–0.4% a day. And the higher pre-bed-rest V̇O₂max levels, the <a href="https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00415.2017">larger</a> the declines. In terms of skeletal muscles, upper thigh muscles <a href="https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00363.2020">become smaller by</a> 2% after five days of bed rest, 5% at 14 days, and 12% at 35 days of bed rest. <a href="https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00363.2020">Muscle strength declines more</a> than muscle mass: knee extensor muscle strength gets weaker by 8% at five days, 12% at 14 days and more than 20% after around 35 days of bed rest. This is why it feels harder to do the same exercises after resting for even five days. But in <a href="https://iaaspace.org/product/guidelines-for-standardization-of-bed-rest-studies-in-the-spaceflight-context/">bed rest studies</a>, physical activities are strictly limited, and even standing up from a bed is prohibited during the whole length of a study. When we’re sick in bed, we have some physical activities such as sitting on a bed, standing up and walking to the toilet. These activities could reduce the rate of decreases in our physical functions compared with study participants. <h2>How to ease back into exercise</h2> Start with a lower-intensity workout initially, such as going for a walk instead of a run. Your first workout back should be light so you don’t get out of breath. Go low (intensity) and go slow. Gradually increase the volume and intensity to the previous level. It may take the same number of days or weeks you rested to get back to where you were. If you were absent from an exercise routine for two weeks, for example, it may require two weeks for your fitness to return to the same level. If you feel exhausted after exercising, take an extra day off before working out again. A day or two off from exercising shouldn’t affect your performance very much.<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/233130/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ken-nosaka-169021">Ken Nosaka</a>, Professor of Exercise and Sports Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/edith-cowan-university-720">Edith Cowan 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/ive-been-sick-when-can-i-start-exercising-again-233130">original article</a>.

Body

Why are some people happy when they are dying?

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mattias-tranberg-941050">Mattias Tranberg</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/lund-university-756">Lund University</a> Simon Boas, who wrote a candid account of living with cancer, passed away on July 15 at the age of 47. In a recent <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clmykzrdnljo">BBC interview</a>, the former aid worker told the reporter: “My pain is under control and I’m terribly happy – it sounds weird to say, but I’m as happy as I’ve ever been in my life.” It may seem odd that a person could be happy as the end draws near, but in my experience as a clinical psychologist working with people at the end of their lives, it’s not that uncommon. There is quite a lot of research suggesting that fear of death is at the unconscious centre of being human. William James, an American philosopher, called the knowledge that we must die <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/170217/the-worm-at-the-core-by-sheldon-solomon-jeff-greenberg-and-tom-pyszczynski/">“the worm at the core”</a> of the human condition. But a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44577785">study</a> in Psychological Science shows that people nearing death use more positive language to describe their experience than those who just imagine death. This suggests that the experience of dying is more pleasant – or, at least, less unpleasant – than we might picture it. In the BBC interview, Boas shared some of the insights that helped him come to accept his situation. He mentioned the importance of enjoying life and prioritising meaningful experiences, suggesting that acknowledging death can enhance our appreciation for life. Despite the pain and difficulties, Boas seemed cheerful, hoping his attitude would support his wife and parents during the difficult times ahead. Boas’s words echo the Roman philosopher Seneca who <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_61">advised that</a>: “To have lived long enough depends neither upon our years nor upon our days, but upon our minds.” A more recent thinker expressing similar sentiments is the psychiatrist <a href="https://www.viktorfrankl.org/">Viktor Frankl</a> who, after surviving Auschwitz, wrote <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/347571/mans-search-for-meaning-by-viktor-e-frankl/9781846046384">Man’s Search for Meaning</a> (1946) in which he lay the groundwork for a form of existential psychotherapy, with the focus of discovering meaning in any kind of circumstance. Its most recent adaptation is meaning-centred psychotherapy, which offers people with cancer a way to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4861219/">improve their sense of meaning</a>. <h2>How happiness and meaning relate</h2> In two recent studies, in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951521000262">Palliative and Supportive Care</a> and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1049909120939857">American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care</a>, people approaching death were asked what constitutes happiness for them. Common themes in both studies were social connections, enjoying simple pleasures such as being in nature, having a positive mindset and a general shift in focus from seeking pleasure to finding meaning and fulfilment as their illness progressed. In my work as a clinical psychologist, I sometimes meet people who have – or eventually arrive at – a similar outlook on life as Boas. One person especially comes to mind – let’s call him Johan. The first time I met Johan, he came to the clinic by himself, with a slight limp. We talked about life, about interests, relationships and meaning. Johan appeared to be lucid, clear and articulate. The second time, he came with crutches. One foot had begun to lag and he couldn’t trust his balance. He said it was frustrating to lose control of his foot, but still hoped to cycle around Mont Blanc. When I asked him what his concerns were, he burst into tears. He said: “That I won’t get to celebrate my birthday next month.” We sat quietly for a while and took in the situation. It wasn’t the moment of death itself that weighed on him the most, it was all the things he wouldn’t be able to do again. Johan arrived at our third meeting supported by a friend, no longer able to grip the crutches. He told me that he had been watching films of him cycling with his friends. He had concluded that he could watch YouTube videos of others cycling around Mont Blanc. He had even ordered a new, expensive mountain bike. “I’ve wanted to buy it for a long time, but was tightfisted,” he said. “I may not be able to ride it, but thought it would be cool to have in the living room.” For the fourth visit, he arrived in a wheelchair. It turned out to be the last time we met. The bike had arrived; he had it next to the couch. There was one more thing he wanted to do. “If by some miracle I were to get out of this alive, I would like to volunteer in domestic care services – one or two shifts a week,” Johan said. “They work hard and it gets crazy sometimes, but they make such an incredible contribution. I wouldn’t have been able to get out of the apartment without them.” My experience of patients with life-threatening disease is that it’s possible to feel happiness alongside sadness, and other seemingly conflicting emotions. Over a day, patients can feel gratitude, remorse, longing, anger, guilt and relief – sometimes all at once. Facing the limits of existence can add perspective and help a person appreciate life more than ever.<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/234309/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mattias-tranberg-941050">Mattias Tranberg</a>, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Institute of Palliative Care, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/lund-university-756">Lund 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/why-are-some-people-happy-when-they-are-dying-234309">original article</a>.

Caring

What happens in my brain when I get a migraine? And what medications can I use to treat it?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mark-slee-1343982">Mark Slee</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/anthony-khoo-1525617">Anthony Khoo</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a> Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1029040/">comes from</a> the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly one-sided. Some people experience an “aura” preceding the headache phase – usually a visual or sensory experience that evolves over five to 60 minutes. Auras can also involve other domains such as language, smell and limb function. Migraine is a disease with a <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(18)30322-3/fulltext">huge personal and societal impact</a>. Most people cannot function at their usual level during a migraine, and anticipation of the next attack can affect productivity, relationships and a person’s mental health. <h2>What’s happening in my brain?</h2> The biological basis of migraine is complex, and varies according to the phase of the migraine. Put simply: The earliest phase is called the prodrome. This is associated with activation of a part of the brain called the hypothalamus which is thought to contribute to many symptoms such as nausea, changes in appetite and blurred vision. <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/608985/original/file-20240723-17-rgqc7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption>The hypothalamus is shown here in red. <a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/brain-cross-section-showing-basal-ganglia-329843930">Blamb/Shutterstock</a></figcaption></figure> Next is the aura phase, when a wave of neurochemical changes occur across the surface of the brain (the cortex) at a rate of 3–4 millimetres per minute. This explains how usually a person’s aura progresses over time. People often experience sensory disturbances such as flashes of light or tingling in their face or hands. In the headache phase, the trigeminal nerve system is activated. This gives sensation to one side of the face, head and upper neck, leading to release of proteins such as CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide). This causes inflammation and dilation of blood vessels, which is the basis for the severe throbbing pain associated with the headache. Finally, the postdromal phase occurs after the headache resolves and commonly involves changes in mood and energy. <h2>What can you do about the acute attack?</h2> A useful way to conceive of <a href="https://www.migraine.org.au/factsheets">migraine treatment</a> is to compare putting out campfires with bushfires. Medications are much more successful when applied at the earliest opportunity (the campfire). When the attack is fully evolved (into a bushfire), medications have a much more modest effect. <iframe id="Pj1sC" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: 0;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Pj1sC/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> Aspirin For people with mild migraine, non-specific anti-inflammatory medications such as high-dose aspirin, or standard dose non-steroidal medications (NSAIDS) can be very helpful. Their effectiveness is often enhanced with the use of an anti-nausea medication. Triptans For moderate to severe attacks, the mainstay of treatment is a class of medications called “<a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/migraineaus/pages/595/attachments/original/1678146819/Factsheet_15_2023.pdf?1678146819">triptans</a>”. These act by reducing blood vessel dilation and reducing the release of inflammatory chemicals. Triptans vary by their route of administration (tablets, wafers, injections, nasal sprays) and by their time to onset and duration of action. The choice of a triptan depends on many factors including whether nausea and vomiting is prominent (consider a dissolving wafer or an injection) or patient tolerability (consider choosing one with a slower onset and offset of action). As triptans constrict blood vessels, they should be used with caution (or not used) in patients with known heart disease or previous stroke. Gepants Some medications that block or modulate the release of CGRP, which are used for migraine prevention (which we’ll discuss in more detail below), also have evidence of benefit in treating the acute attack. This class of medication is known as the “gepants”. Gepants come in the form of injectable proteins (monoclonal antibodies, used for migraine prevention) or as oral medication (for example, rimegepant) for the acute attack when a person has not responded adequately to previous trials of several triptans or is intolerant of them. They do not cause blood vessel constriction and can be used in patients with heart disease or previous stroke. Ditans Another class of medication, the “ditans” (for example, lasmiditan) have been approved overseas for the acute treatment of migraine. Ditans work through changing a form of serotonin receptor involved in the brain chemical changes associated with the acute attack. However, neither the gepants nor the ditans are available through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for the acute attack, so users must pay out-of-pocket, at a <a href="https://www.migraine.org.au/cgrp#:%7E:text=While%20the%20price%20of%20Nurtec,%2D%24300%20per%208%20wafers.">cost</a> of approximately A$300 for eight wafers. <h2>What about preventing migraines?</h2> The first step is to see if <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/migraineaus/pages/595/attachments/original/1677043428/Factsheet_5_2023.pdf?1677043428">lifestyle changes</a> can reduce migraine frequency. This can include improving sleep habits, routine meal schedules, regular exercise, limiting caffeine intake and avoiding triggers such as stress or alcohol. Despite these efforts, many people continue to have frequent migraines that can’t be managed by acute therapies alone. The choice of when to start preventive treatment varies for each person and how inclined they are to taking regular medication. Those who suffer disabling symptoms or experience more than a few migraines a month <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1915327">benefit the most</a> from starting preventives. Almost all migraine <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/migraineaus/pages/595/attachments/original/1708566656/Factsheet_16_2024.pdf?1708566656">preventives</a> have existing roles in treating other medical conditions, and the physician would commonly recommend drugs that can also help manage any pre-existing conditions. First-line preventives include: <ul> <li>tablets that lower blood pressure (candesartan, metoprolol, propranolol)</li> <li>antidepressants (amitriptyline, venlafaxine)</li> <li>anticonvulsants (sodium valproate, topiramate).</li> </ul> Some people have none of these other conditions and can safely start medications for migraine prophylaxis alone. For all migraine preventives, a key principle is starting at a low dose and increasing gradually. This approach makes them more tolerable and it’s often several weeks or months until an effective dose (usually 2- to 3-times the starting dose) is reached. It is rare for noticeable benefits to be seen immediately, but with time these drugs <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26252585/">typically reduce</a> migraine frequency by 50% or more. <hr /> <iframe id="jxajY" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: 0;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/jxajY/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <hr /> <h2>‘Nothing works for me!’</h2> In people who didn’t see any effect of (or couldn’t tolerate) first-line preventives, new medications have been available on the PBS since 2020. These medications <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8388188/">block</a> the action of CGRP. The most common PBS-listed <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/migraineaus/pages/595/attachments/original/1708566656/Factsheet_16_2024.pdf?1708566656">anti-CGRP medications</a> are injectable proteins called monoclonal antibodies (for example, galcanezumab and fremanezumab), and are self-administered by monthly injections. These drugs have quickly become a game-changer for those with intractable migraines. The convenience of these injectables contrast with botulinum toxin injections (also <a href="https://www.migraine.org.au/botox">effective</a> and PBS-listed for chronic migraine) which must be administered by a trained specialist. Up to half of adolescents and one-third of young adults are <a href="https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/147205/jan13818.pdf">needle-phobic</a>. If this includes you, tablet-form CGRP antagonists for migraine prevention are hopefully not far away. Data over the past five years <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36718044/">suggest</a> anti-CGRP medications are safe, effective and at least as well tolerated as traditional preventives. Nonetheless, these are used only after a number of cheaper and more readily available <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/migraineaus/pages/595/attachments/original/1677043425/Factsheet_2_2023.pdf?1677043425">first-line treatments</a> (all which have decades of safety data) have failed, and this also a criterion for their use under the PBS.<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/227559/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mark-slee-1343982">Mark Slee</a>, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/anthony-khoo-1525617">Anthony Khoo</a>, Lecturer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/flinders-university-972">Flinders 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/what-happens-in-my-brain-when-i-get-a-migraine-and-what-medications-can-i-use-to-treat-it-227559">original article</a>. </div>

Body

6 extra items to pack when travelling by yourself

Travelling alone can be a life changing experience, but it also requires a few extra precautions. Pack these six things to keep yourself safe. 1. Doorstop A simple wedge of wood or plastic can give you priceless peace of mind in a hotel room. Even if you lock the door, people might be able to break the lock or use a cloned key. A doorstop quickly and easily wedges it shut so you can sleep easy. If you want to go one step further, you can get special doorstop alarms that will emit a loud siren if anyone tries to force the door. 2. Extra lock There are endless uses for an extra padlock or bike lock-style cable. You can double up on your hotel door, secure your train carriage or ship cabin, double lock your suitcase or chain it to something sturdy. Compact, sturdy locks are relatively cheap and easy to carry with you, and will deter most thieves or intruders looking for an easy mark. 3. First aid kit If you don’t have a travel buddy to send down to the chemist, a simple first aid kit can be a lifesaver. Keep it stocked with band aids, basic bandages, pain killers, antibiotics, antihistamines and gastro meds, along with anything else you think will be useful. If you are really unwell, you’ll obviously need to see a doctor, but having the first line of defence within easy reach is always smart. 4. Whistle or personal alarm If you will be walking through unfamiliar cities at night (or even in the day), a whistle or personal alarm can give you a feeling of security. If anyone unsavoury approaches you, a loud noise will startle them and generally scare them off. It also draws the attention of other people and makes them aware of your predicament. 5. Small torch Never underestimate the power of a little light to make you feel safe. It’s great for finding your way through dark streets, looking for your keys in your bag or seeing the lock on your hotel door. You can get small lights that attach to a keychain or wallet and give out a surprisingly bright light. People are less likely to approach you if they feel they will be seen. 6. Fake wedding ring This one is for the ladies – in some countries an unmarried woman is seen as an easy target. Buying a cheap, fake wedding ring can give you a simple cover. Men may be less likely to approach you and, if they do, you can simply say your husband is in the next shop or waiting for you back at the hotel. Image credits: Shutterstock

Travel Tips

So when should you book that flight? The truth on airline prices

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/yuriy-gorodnichenko-144556">Yuriy Gorodnichenko</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-california-berkeley-754">University of California, Berkeley</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/volodymyr-bilotkach-145437">Volodymyr Bilotkach</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/newcastle-university-906">Newcastle University</a> How airlines price tickets is a source of many <a href="http://airtravel.about.com/od/travelindustrynews/a/mythticket.htm">myths</a> and urban legends. These include tips about the best day of the week to buy a ticket, last-minute discounts offered by the airlines, and the conspiracy theories suggesting that the carriers use cookies to increase prices for their passengers. None of these three statements is entirely true. Studies have suggested that prices can be higher or lower on a given day of the week – yet, there is no clear consensus on which day that is. Offered prices can in fact drop at any time before the flight, yet they are much more likely to increase than decrease over the last several weeks before the flight’s departure. Further, the airlines prefer to wait for the last-minute business traveler who’s likely to pay full fare rather than sell the seat prematurely to a price conscious traveler. And no, the airlines do not use cookies to manipulate fare quotes – adjusting their inventory for specific customers appears to be beyond their technical capabilities. What is true about pricing in the airline industry is that carriers use complex and sophisticated pricing systems. The airline’s per passenger cost is the lowest when the flight is full, so carriers have incentive to sell as many seats as possible. This is a race against time for an airline and, of course, no company wants to discount its product more than it has to. Hence, the airlines face two somewhat contradictory goals: to maximize revenue by flying full planes and to sell as many full-fare seats as possible. This a process known in the industry as yield or revenue management. <h2>Airlines and their bucket lists</h2> Here is how <a href="http://commons.erau.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1522&context=jaaer">yield management</a> works. For each flight or route (if we are talking about multi-segment itineraries), the airline has a set of available price levels – from the most expensive fully refundable fare to the cheapest deeply discounted non-refundable price. The industry jargon for these prices is “buckets.” Then, seats can be interpreted as balls that are allocated among these buckets. Initial allocation of seats between the price buckets is determined by historical data indicating how well a certain flight sells. For example, fewer deeply discounted seats will be offered on a flight on Thanksgiving week than on the same flight during the third week of February. As the seats on a flight sell, yield managers monitor and adjust the seat allocation. If, for instance, the sales are slower than expected, some of the seats might be moved to lower-priced buckets – this shows up as a price drop. As noted above, such price drops can occur at any time before the flight. However, the general trend of price quotes is upward starting from about two to three weeks before the flight departure date. Of course, an average traveler wants to know when he or she should buy the tickets for the next trip. Another important question is where to buy this ticket. Airlines distribute their inventory on their own websites and on several computer distribution systems, meaning that prices can sometimes differ depending on where one looks. We are not entirely sure what precipitates this phenomenon – likely explanations include differences in contracts between the airlines and the distribution systems/travel agents, implying that different travel agents may not have access to the airline’s entire inventory of available prices. <h2>When to book</h2> The airlines’ yield managers start looking at flight bookings about two months before the departure date. This implies that it generally does not pay to book more than two months in advance: studies show that initially the airlines leave the cheapest price buckets empty, and yield managers may move some seats into those buckets if a couple of months before the departure date the flight is emptier than expected. Between two months and about two to three weeks before the flight date, the fare quotes remain mostly flat, with a slight upward trend. However, and perhaps paradoxically, there is a good chance of a price drop during this period. We tend to monitor prices for several days – sometimes up to a week – hoping for a potentially lower quote. It does not always pay off, but sometimes we do manage to save a considerable amount of money. Two to three weeks before the flight date, the price quotes start increasing. This is the time when business travelers start booking. While price drops are still possible, a chance of a price increase is much higher if you wait to book within this time period. This is also the time when one can find significant differences between price quotes, depending on where one looks and what contract they have with the airlines. Thus, if we book a trip earlier than three weeks before the flight date, we tend not to delay the purchase. At the same time, we check quotes from multiple travel agents, or go directly to a site that allows for a quick comparison of prices (such as <a href="https://www.kayak.com">kayak.com</a> or <a href="http://www.skyscanner.net">skyscanner.net</a>). Or check the airline itself. As for answering the original question we posed, here are some simple tips. First, if you have to travel during a peak period, such as Thanksgiving week, it is generally best not to delay buying that ticket. Otherwise, it might pay to monitor the offered prices for some time before committing. The best strategy for booking within the last couple of weeks before the flight, however, is not to delay the purchase, but to try getting quotes from several agents, which is easy to do in the internet age.<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/34033/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/yuriy-gorodnichenko-144556">Yuriy Gorodnichenko</a>, Associate Professor of Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-california-berkeley-754">University of California, Berkeley</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/volodymyr-bilotkach-145437">Volodymyr Bilotkach</a>, Senior Lecturer in Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/newcastle-university-906">Newcastle 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/so-when-should-you-book-that-flight-the-truth-on-airline-prices-34033">original article</a>.

Travel Tips

Bird strike: what happens when a plane collides with a bird?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/doug-drury-1277871">Doug Drury</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</a> Late last night, Virgin Australia flight VA 148 set out from Queenstown in New Zealand bound for Melbourne. Not long after takeoff, the right engine of the Boeing 737-800 jet started <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/virgin-australia-flight-makes-emergency-landing-after-engine-catches-fire/iquv5w1is">emitting loud bangs</a>, followed by flames. The pilot flew on with the remaining engine, bringing the plane’s 73 passengers and crew to a safe emergency landing at nearby Invercargill airport. Virgin Australia says the dramatic turn of events was caused by a “possible bird strike”. Queenstown Airport <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/bird-strike-blamed-for-fiery-virgin-australia-emergency-out-of-queenstown/news-story/9ef5c57829d0535baed223d2caf0b55f">played down</a> the likelihood of bird strike, saying “no birds were detected on the airfield at that time”. While we don’t know exactly what happened, bird strike is a common and real risk for aircraft. It can damage planes, and even lead to deaths. <h2>How common are bird strikes?</h2> A bird strike is a <a href="https://skyaviationholdings.com/bird-strikes-on-planes/">collision between</a> an aircraft and a bird. (Though the definition is sometimes expanded to include <a href="https://aawhg.org/">collisions on the ground</a> with land animals including deer, rabbits, dogs and alligators.) The <a href="https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/icwdm_usdanwrc/1459/">first bird strike</a> was recorded by Orville Wright in 1905, over a cornfield in Ohio. Now they happen every day, with some seasonal variability due to the <a href="https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim_html/chap7_section_5.html">migratory patterns</a> of birds. Perhaps the most famous migratory bird strike occurred in 2009, when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549">US Airways Flight 1549</a> encountered a flock of migrating Canadian geese shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York. Both of the plane’s engines failed, and captain Sully Sullenberger was forced to pilot it to an unpowered landing in the Hudson River. Between 2008 and 2017, the Australian Transport Safety Board recorded <a href="https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/2018/ar-2018-035">16,626 bird strikes</a>. In America, the Federal Aviation Administration reported <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2023/04/25/bird-strike-plane-american-airlines/">17,200 bird strikes</a> in 2022 alone. <h2>Where do bird strikes happen, and what are the effects?</h2> According to the <a href="https://www.icao.int/Pages/default.aspx">International Civil Aviation Organization</a>, 90% of bird strikes happen near airports. In general, this is while aircraft are taking off or landing, or flying at lower altitudes where most bird activity occurs. The effect of bird strike depends on many factors including the type of aircraft. Outcomes may include shutting down an engine, as may have happened with the Virgin Australia flight. This plane was a Boeing 737-800, which has the capability to fly on a single engine to an alternate airport. In smaller aircraft, particularly single-engine aircraft, bird strikes can be fatal. Since 1988, <a href="https://aawhg.org/#:%7E:text=The%20majority%20happen%20at%20low,billion%20in%20aircraft%20damage%20annually.">262 bird strike fatalities</a> have been reported globally, and 250 aircraft destroyed. <h2>How do manufacturers and pilots defend against bird strike?</h2> Most <a href="https://aawhg.org/">bird strikes</a> occur early in the morning or a sunset when birds are most active. Pilots are trained to be vigilant during these times. Radar can be used to <a href="https://detect-inc.com/aircraft-birdstrike-avoidance-radar/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvb-zBhCmARIsAAfUI2ullN-s0MdDfzV2Hu9fLfdr8pKQCuyZWsoJfRN2W5s-tSm6Vo0wHgwaAgBMEALw_wcB">track flocks of birds</a>. However, this technology is ground-based and not available worldwide so it can’t be used everywhere. The two largest manufacturers of passenger jets, Boeing and Airbus, use <a href="https://aerospaceengineeringblog.com/jet-engine-design/">turbofan engines</a>. These use a series of fan blades to compress air before adding fuel and flame to get the thrust needed to take off. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lgspIiTFWIk?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption>Engine manufacturers test how well they are likely to stand up to a bird strike.</figcaption></figure> Bird strike in one of these engines can cause severe damage to the fan blades, causing the engine to fail. Engine manufacturers test the safety of these engines by firing <a href="https://www.aerospacetestinginternational.com/news/engine-testing/faa-proposes-new-engine-test-for-bird-ingestion.html">a high-speed frozen chicken</a> at them while the engine is operating at full thrust. The Australian Government’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority <a href="https://www.casa.gov.au/wildlife-hazard-management">circular on wildlife hazard management</a> outlines what airports should do to keep birds and animals away from the vicinity of the airport. One technique is to use small gas explosions to mimic the sound of a shotgun to deter birds from loitering near the runway. In areas with high bird populations, airports may also use certain grasses and plants that do not attract the birds.<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/232702/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/doug-drury-1277871">Doug Drury</a>, Professor/Head of Aviation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/cquniversity-australia-2140">CQUniversity Australia</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/bird-strike-what-happens-when-a-plane-collides-with-a-bird-232702">original article</a>. </div>

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