July 2012 News

One of the most common health complaints in Australia is headaches, with one in three people suffering their effects at least once a month.

Results of the survey from the National Prescribing Service (NPS) show that as many as ten per cent of Australians could feel the effects of headaches every week - but pinpointing the causes is not an easy process.

Half of those who reported having more than one headache a week said they had sought advice from their doctor, but only a third had kept a record of their symptoms and other information about this problem.

One of the greatest risks to human health is over-eating, not a lack of exercise as some studies suggest, scientists have found.

A team from Hunter College in New York assessed members of the Hadza tribe to find that their levels of physical activity were much higher than they were for Westerners.

However, when their metabolic rate was taken into consideration, it was not shown to be any different.

It had been assumed that the hunter gatherers would burn more calories a day than adults in the US and Europe, but this was simply not the case.

Yoga is often used by people as a relaxation method and now scientists in the US believe they have found out why.

Experts from UCLA discovered that yoga can reduce the biological processes that lead to the immune system's inflammation response - a reflex that can lead to all sorts of chronic health problems.

Helen Lavretsky, senior author and a professor of psychiatry at UCLA, explained that yoga can be especially useful for lowering stress among dementia caregivers.

With the 2012 Olympic Games just around the corner, sports fanatics are being advised to keep their health in mind as they sit back and watch the sporting action.

Hours of sports coverage will be on television over the coming weeks, so the Dietitians Association of Australia is recommending that people find time for some physical activity of their own.

The problem with vegetating in front of the TV is that it can be tempting to indulge in unhealthy snacks, which over time will put people's wellbeing under threat.