We all love our little furry friends. They make us feel happy. But it is no longer just a feeling, but a scientifically proven fact. A new study published in PLOS One highlighted that playing with a dog just for 15 minutes can significantly reduce a person's stress. This could also help stressed students. It was found that when stressed students interact with a friendly dog, they reported less stress, they also had a reduced heart rate and had lower levels of stress hormone cortisol in their saliva.

The experience is the same with the dog too. So, not just humans benefit from the dogs, the furry friends too feel happier! Based on the fecal test, it was found that canine cortisol levels were lower a week after hanging with a human.

The senior investigator Jaruwan Khonmee of the Chiang Mai University Thailand, said, "Even brief interactions with dogs can significantly reduce stress levels among university undergraduate students."

How Was The Study Conducted?

The researchers recruited six friendly dogs between 3 and 6 years of age. They were to interact with college students. This included chihuahuas raised by veterinarians and a Shetland sheepdog raised by a psychologist.

It is important to note that none of these dogs were certified for therapy work.

Researchers enlisted 122 university students and conducted a series of tests to measure their stress levels before and after a short session with a dog. These tests included self-reported stress assessments, blood pressure and pulse readings, and saliva samples for cortisol testing—a key indicator of stress.

What Happened During the Session?

Each student was introduced to a dog, including its name, personality traits, and preferred interactions. They were then given 15 minutes to engage with the dog in any way they preferred—whether it was petting, playing, hugging, giving treats, or simply observing.

After the session, students underwent the same stress tests to measure any changes. Additionally, the dogs themselves provided saliva and fecal samples before and after their interactions with the students to determine if they, too, experienced any physiological changes.

The Results: A Noticeable Drop in Stress

Findings showed a significant reduction in student stress levels. According to the study:

• Self-reported stress levels dropped by 33.5% after just 15 minutes of interaction with a dog.
• Physiological improvements were noted, including lower pulse rates and decreased cortisol levels in students, indicating reduced stress.

What About the Dogs?

Interestingly, while the dogs’ salivary cortisol levels remained unchanged on the day of the play session, their fecal cortisol levels were lower a week later. This suggests that although the immediate stress response in dogs was not evident, prolonged exposure to human interaction might have a long-term calming effect on them as well.

Why This Matters

This study reinforces the idea that human-animal interactions can have a measurable impact on stress reduction. The findings highlight two key takeaways:

Dogs can be effective stress relievers for students – even those not trained for therapy purposes.

Animal well-being should also be considered in canine-assisted interventions to ensure that the experience is beneficial for both humans and dogs.

The Bigger Picture: Expanding Canine-Assisted Therapy

While therapy dogs and trained handlers are often used in structured mental health interventions, this research suggests that even non-certified dogs can provide mental health benefits. In settings where professional therapy animals are not available, the presence of friendly, well-behaved dogs may still offer stress relief to individuals facing high-pressure situations.

The impact of social media on adolescents’ well-being is significant, said the World Happiness Report 2026 today, warning that the scale of harm is significant enough to affect entire populations.

The annual report, published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, points to overwhelming evidence of both direct and indirect harm.

Direct harms include exposing them to videos of graphic pornography and real-life violence, facilitating cyberbullying and deepfakes, promoting dangerous “challenges”, connecting them with sexual predators, and facilitating the purchase of illegal drugs.

The indirect harms involve rising levels of depression, anxiety, and reduced life satisfaction.

“The harms and risks to individual users are so diverse and vast in scope that they justify the view that social media is causing harm at a population level,” the report said.

The harmful "experiences are so common that they should also count as ordinary use,” it added.

Notably, the report called the major social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and X, "dangerous consumer products that harm adolescents at a massive scale”.

“The evidence of harm – both direct and indirect – is so strong and comes from so many sources in so many countries that we believe policymakers around the world now have enough evidence to justify action to protect children and adolescents,” the report said.

In line with this, countries such as Australia and Indonesia recently introduced legislative restrictions on social media use among young people. In India, states including Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have announced bans, while Bihar is considering similar measures.

The report pointed out that social media is causing direct harms to millions of people globally. This includes:

• Addiction and problematic use
• Sleep deprivation
• Sextortion
• Sexual harassment

Impact on Youth Well-being

Research cited in the report shows a clear link between heavy social media use and lower life satisfaction among adolescents. Youth and teens who spent more time on social platforms reported poorer mental well-being compared to those who used less.

Overall, internet use was linked with negative effects, particularly among girls and in countries such as the UK and Ireland. Yet, among those who used the internet for communication, learning, news consumption, and content creation, higher life satisfaction was reported.

The report noted that negative emotions are becoming more common across all regions. Worry increased among young people, while the frequency of anger declined across both younger and older populations.

Despite these trends, positive emotions still occur about twice as often as negative ones globally.

Global Happiness Rankings

Finland has been ranked the world’s happiest country for the ninth consecutive year, followed by Iceland, Denmark, and Costa Rica. Other countries in the top 10 include Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Israel, Luxembourg, and Switzerland.

In contrast, when measuring changes in happiness among people under 25, countries in the NANZ region -- the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand -- rank much lower, placing between 122 and 133 out of 136 countries.

Hormonal changes during menopause can significantly increase Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk in women, according to Dr Lisa Mosconi, a neuroscientist and women’s brain health specialist.

In a new The Journal of Clinical Investigation review, the renowned AD expert noted that menopause can change brain biology and metabolism and may contribute to amyloid plaques and tau tangles, which are key biological markers of AD.

Alzheimer disease is the most common cause of dementia, affecting over 55 million individuals worldwide, with projections exceeding 150 million by 2050 . Out of the reported cases, nearly two-third are made up of women, with the majority being postmenopausal women

Estrogen protects the brain by lowering inflammation, increasing neuronal survivals supporting non-amyloidogenic processing, and reducing amyloid-beta-related neurotoxicity, all of which are factors contributing to the development of AD.

However, when estrogen levels drop during menopause and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) rise, the brain becomes more likely to develop AD-related damage.

Previous research has also shown that early menopause, especially before age 45, is linked with increased risk of dementia and the removing the ovaries before natural menopause could increase long-term dementia risk, with the greatest excess risk seen at younger ages, especially before 45.

READ MORE: Simple Blood Test Can Predict Dementia Risk in Women 25 Years Before Symptoms

What Is Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer's disease is one of the most common forms of dementia and mostly affects adults over the age of 65.

About 8.8 million Indians aged 60 and above are estimated to be living with Alzheimer's disease. Over seven million people in the US 65 and older live with the condition and over 100,00 die from it annually.

Alzheimer's disease is believed to be caused by the development of toxic amyloid and beta proteins in the brain, which can accumulate in the brain and damage cells responsible for memory.

Amyloid protein molecules stick together in brain cells, forming clumps called plaques. At the same time, tau proteins twist together in fiber-like strands called tangles. The plaques and tangles block the brain's neurons from sending electrical and chemical signals back and forth.

Over time, this disruption causes permanent damage in the brain that leads to Alzheimer's disease and dementia, causing patients to lose their ability to speak, care for themselves or even respond to the world around them.

While there is no clear cause of Alzheimer's disease, experts believe it can develop due to genetic mutations and lifestyle choices, such as physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and social isolation.

Early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease include forgetting recent events or conversations. Over time, Alzheimer's disease leads to serious memory loss and affects a person's ability to do everyday tasks.

There is no cure for this progressive brain disorder and in advanced stages, loss of brain function can cause dehydration, poor nutrition or infection. These complications can result in death.

Can You Detect Alzheimer's Early On?

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of a blood test which can help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease in adults aged 55 and above.

The blood test, known as Lumipulse, can detect amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease and has proven to be a “less invasive option” that “reduces reliance on PET scans and increases diagnosis accessibility.”

FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary said of the landmark decision, "Alzheimer’s disease impacts too many people, more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.

"Knowing that 10 percent of people aged 65 and older have Alzheimer's, and that by 2050 that number is expected to double, I am hopeful that new medical products such as this one will help patients."

It remains unclear when this test will be available for commercial use across the world.

While GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic are popular for weight loss, a new study published today in The Lancet Psychiatry journal showed that it can also help tackle the burden of depression, anxiety, and self-harm in high-risk diabetic patients.

The GLP-1 drugs, with ingredients such as semaglutide and liraglutide, were found to effectively reduce the risk of these mental health conditions in patients already taking the medications to manage their diabetes or obesity.

Also Read: ACC/AHA Cholesterol Guidelines 2026 Explained: Start Screening For Cardiovascular Diseases Early

The study found that these medications were linked to

• fewer psychiatric hospitalizations,
• taking sick leave due to mental illness,
• death by suicide.

The study comes as people with diabetes are known to have a higher risk of depression (2-3 times), anxiety (20 percent), and suicide than the general population.

“Our findings suggest that GLP-1 drugs, particularly semaglutide, might contribute to better mental health in people with diabetes and obesity,” said Jari Tiihonen, specialist physician and professor at the Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.

Calling the results "observational", Tiihonen urged the need for controlled clinical trials to confirm the findings.

Also read: Ozempic Can Help People With Diabetes Walk Better Despite Poor Blood Flow To Legs

Key Findings

The researchers followed more than 95,000 participants diagnosed with depression or anxiety and were prescribed various antidiabetic medications through Swedish national registers between 2009 and 2022. Of the patients, 22,480 had used GLP-1 drugs.

Semaglutide, the main ingredient in Ozempic, showed the highest benefits against the mental health conditions. Semaglutide led to a:

• 42 percent reduced risk of worsening mental health
• 44 percent lower risk of worsening depression,
• 38 percent lower risk of worsening anxiety,
• 47 percent lower risk of worsening substance use disorder.

On the other hand, liraglutide, sold under the brand names Victoza (for type 2 diabetes) and Saxenda (for chronic weight management), was linked to an 18 percent lower risk of worsening mental health.

Other GLP-1 medications, including exenatide and dulaglutide, did not show the same benefit.

Also read: Oprah Winfrey Sparks Ozempic Buzz at Paris Fashion Week with Slim Figure

How Do GLP-1 Medicines Fight Against Addiction?

A recent study, published by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, reported that Ozempic could prevent substance use disorder and could also treat it.

Not just the lack of will to eat food, but some people have actually reported a lack of interest in alcohol or nicotine consumption.

Previously, observational studies have also shown how it could lower the risk of alcohol and cannabis use disorders, opioid overdose, and alcohol related hospitalization.

The findings published in The BMJ showed that people taking GLP-1 drugs had a 14 percent lower risk of developing any substance use disorder.

Their substance-specific reductions:

• Alcohol use disorder risk fell by 18 percent
• Cannabis use disorder fell by 14 percent
• Cocaine and nicotine use disorders fell by 20 percent
• Opioid use disorder fell by 25 percent