Many people believe that the modern-day skincare trends are a scam made by the big pharma companies who wish to make more money. This is a recent trend of ‘Anti-Aging’ skincare that keeps yourself on toes for the innate need for women to stay ‘young’ if they wish to be desirable. The beauty industry, in a way, feeds on such societal-made insecurities. But the recent rise in the trend has taken a different turn. While before people did it before to look prettier or fairer, now people are looking at this skincare routine as a way of taking care of themselves rather than doing to match someone else's beauty standards. This is why, this trend has resurfaced in the skin care community. This is the blue light routine.

In today's digital age, where we spend countless hours looking at screens, from phones and tablets to laptops. This constant screen time exposes us to blue light, which research suggests can have negative effects on our skin. It also leads to premature aging and dark spots. The screens also leads to stress, which could further cause harm to skin. While ditching our devices isn't realistic, a growing number of skincare products claim to protect against blue light. But do these products actually work?

What is Blue Light Skincare?

You can find many skincare products that say they protect against blue light, like sprays, creams, gels, and sunscreens. Some promise to undo the damage blue light might cause, while others try to prevent it in the first place. Blue light sunscreens are special because they protect against both the sun's UV rays and blue light. This is what regular sunscreens don't do very well. Regular sunscreens, whether they use chemicals or minerals, don't block blue light as effectively.

However, tinted sunscreens are different. Tinted sunscreens with SPF 30 or higher can protect your skin from blue light, as well as UVA and UVB rays from the sun. This is because of the coloring in the tint. Some newer sunscreens also have special ingredients that help protect against visible light, including blue light. While scientists are still learning about how blue light affects skin, many skin doctors have found it to be helpful for skin.

What is Blue Light and Why Might It Be a Problem?

Blue light comes from screens, TVs, and even the sun. While we used to worry mostly about how it affects our eyes and sleep, now we're learning it might also affect our skin. Some studies show that too much blue light can damage skin cells and speed up aging, leading to wrinkles and uneven skin tone. It can also cause dark spots on the skin. This happens because blue light can cause something called "oxidative stress" in the skin, which is linked to aging. It leads to dead skin cells. Blue light goes deeper into the skin than the sun's UV rays and can make skin cells produce more pigment, causing dark spots. It's important to know that not all blue light is bad. There is a difference between the blue light that comes out of the screens and the blue light that is used from a certain blue light wavelength as a therapy. The latter is used by doctors to treat acne and some skin cancers.

In his new autobiography Heartbeats, Björn Borg strips away the icy façade that once defined him on court. The book, set for U.S. release on 23 September by Diversion Books, begins with a raw account of his 1990s hospitalization after overdosing on “alcohol, drugs, pills, my preferred ways of self-medication.” It ends with a prostate cancer diagnosis, which he now faces in remission.

“It’s good,” the 69-year-old told The Associated Press in a recent video interview from his Stockholm home, “to have a good beginning and a good ending.” The 292-page memoir is a departure from the silence he cultivated during and after his playing days, offering stories of love, regret, excess and survival.

Walking away from tennis at 25

Borg retired shockingly early, at just 25, after losing both the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals in 1981 to his rival John McEnroe. While others saw a glittering career still ahead, Borg knew otherwise.

“My head was spinning,” he said. “And I knew I’m going to step away from tennis.”

That decision, he explains, left him unmoored. He returned briefly to the professional circuit in the early 1990s but never again at Grand Slam level. What followed was a long descent into substance abuse.

On court, Borg was famously known as “Ice-Borg”, a man of composure who never flinched. But he reveals that this restraint was a learned skill, born from shame as a 12-year-old banned by his local club for bad behavior.

Off court, that discipline dissolved. By his own account, panic attacks and depression pushed him into cocaine use starting in 1982. “The first time I tried cocaine,” Borg writes, “I got the same kind of rush I used to get from tennis.”

The rush quickly became reliance. “It really destroys you,” Borg said of drugs. “I was happy to get away from tennis, to get away from that life. But I had no plan what to do. I had no people behind me to guide me in the right direction.”

Also Read: “Day by day, year by year,” Is How Bjorn Borg Takes Life After His Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Overdoses and shame

Borg details two overdoses that landed him in hospital, one in Holland in the early 1990s, and another in 1989 in Milan, which he insists was an accident rather than a suicide attempt. The darkest moment, he admits, came when he awoke in a hospital bed to see his father looking down at him.

“That was the worst shame of all,” he writes.

These incidents, combined with spiraling personal struggles, forced Borg to confront how far he had fallen from the grace of his early sporting stardom.

Name: drops and surreal encounters

Heartbeats is not a typical sports autobiography. Alongside harrowing stories of addiction and recovery, Borg mixes in extraordinary encounters: a water-skiing shoulder injury before the 1977 U.S. Open, receiving death threats during the 1981 U.S. Open, being robbed at gunpoint after accepting payment in cash, and facing coin-throwing spectators in Rome.

The book name-drops Donald Trump, Nelson Mandela, Tina Turner, Andy Warhol, Yasser Arafat, and even “my old friend Hugh Hefner.” These anecdotes place Borg not only in tennis history but within a swirl of 20th-century celebrity and politics.

“People will be very surprised what really happened,” Borg said. “For me to come out after all these years, all I went through, I went through some difficult times, it’s a relief for me to do this book. I feel so much better. No secrets anymore.”

A candid look at survival

The memoir also traces his strained relationships, with parents, with his children, and with his own sense of identity after leaving professional sport. By his account, retirement robbed him of purpose, and drugs filled the void.

Borg acknowledges that his descent was partly a reaction to the structure of his tennis life: “I was happy to get away from tennis … but I had no plan what to do.” Without the rhythm of tournaments and training, he spiraled.

Yet he insists he has rebuilt his life. Now, after cancer treatment, he says he is proud of where he stands: sober, reflective, and still connected to the sport he once dominated.

Looking ahead, without secrets

For Borg, writing Heartbeats is as much about catharsis as it is about record-keeping. He admits that his privacy once shielded him from scrutiny but also kept him trapped in silence about his struggles. Now, at 69, he frames his story differently: beginning with a near-death overdose, ending with cancer remission, and filling the middle with unvarnished honesty.

“I went through some difficult times,” he said, “but now I feel so much better.”

Björn Borg’s memoir offers not just the tale of a tennis great, but a portrait of a man forced to confront addiction, shame, and mortality, and who, at last, seems at peace.

Could daily cocoa extract supplements help fight aging and heart disease? A new study from the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) suggests they might. Researchers from Mass General Brigham found that a key marker for inflammation decreased in people taking a daily cocoa supplement. This finding may help explain how cocoa extract protects the heart.

You may be familiar with cocoa as it is the key ingredient in making one of the most popular sweet treat, chocolate. The debate regarding chocolate and whether it is actually healthy or not is something that has been happening for years. While experts and studies show that dark chocolate can be considered a heart healthy food, the sugar content in it is counterproductive as well.

So, could its supplements be the real answer? The researchers looked into how cocoa extract supplements could help our heart as well as slow down biological aging.

Can Chocolate Lower Risk of Heart Diseases?

In the new study, researchers looked at blood samples from nearly 600 participants in the COSMOS trial. They wanted to see if the cocoa supplement changed five specific markers of inflammation.

They found that one key marker, called hsCRP, dropped significantly in people who took the cocoa supplement. This marker is important because high levels are linked to a higher risk of heart disease. The levels of hsCRP went down by 8.4% each year compared to people who took a placebo (a fake pill).

This finding helps explain an earlier result from the same trial. In 2022 trial done by COSMOS, the researchers found that cocoa extract supplements reduced deaths from cardiovascular disease by an impressive 27%. The researchers believe that by lowering inflammation, the cocoa extract helped protect the participants' hearts.

How Can You Improve Heart Health With Cocoa?

While these results are very promising, the researchers stressed that taking a cocoa supplement is not a magic bullet and can't replace a healthy lifestyle. They also noted some interesting side effects, like a small increase in another immune-related marker, which they plan to study more closely in the future.

The findings highlight the importance of eating a diet rich in plant-based foods, especially those with flavanols. The research team hopes this study encourages people to focus on a "diverse, colorful, plant-based diet" to support their heart health as they age.

Other Health Benefits of Chocolate

Dark chocolate may be good for your heart. Studies suggest that eating it could lower your risk of high blood pressure and may help prevent blood clots. It's also been linked to a reduced risk of other heart-related problems like heart failure, stroke, and high cholesterol. These benefits come from special plant compounds in chocolate called flavanols, which help improve blood flow and reduce inflammation.

While many people hope chocolate is a miracle food, the evidence is still mixed. A review of several studies found that chocolate only had a clear positive effect on triglycerides, a type of fat in your blood. For other health areas like skin health, blood sugar, and mental function, the studies didn't find a significant difference between people who ate chocolate and those who didn't. These studies were generally short, so more research is needed.

Chocolate has been enjoyed for centuries and is rich in healthy compounds. However, the most promising health benefits appear to be for heart health, particularly when consuming moderate amounts of dark chocolate that is rich in flavanols. For other health benefits, we need more long-term studies to know for sure.

If you have recently had a skin cancer screening, your doctor may have suggested adding a daily vitamin B3 supplement to your routine. A new study highlights that nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3 available over the counter, could help reduce the risk of certain skin cancers. But what exactly is this vitamin, and why is it sometimes recommended for skin health? Let’s take a closer look.

What Is Vitamin B3 or Niacinamide?

Niacinamide, also known as nicotinamide, is a form of vitamin B3. It naturally occurs in foods such as meat, fish, milk, eggs, green vegetables, and cereals. In the body, it supports the normal function of fats and sugars while helping to maintain healthy cells. When niacin (another form of vitamin B3) is consumed in larger amounts than needed, it is converted into niacinamide. Unlike niacin, however, niacinamide does not lower cholesterol, as per Healthline.

It’s important not to confuse niacinamide with other related compounds such as niacin, NADH, nicotinamide riboside, inositol nicotinate, or L-tryptophan, as these differ in function and effect.

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What Does Vitamin B3 Do?

For the skin, niacinamide offers several benefits. It strengthens the skin barrier, boosts hydration, calms inflammation and redness, reduces hyperpigmentation and dark spots, minimises pore size, and provides antioxidant protection against free radicals and UV damage. It also supports the production of ceramides and keratin, both of which are essential for skin health.

Beyond skin benefits, niacinamide is used to prevent vitamin B3 deficiency and conditions like pellagra. It has also been studied in relation to acne, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and skin ageing, though scientific evidence is limited for many of these uses.

Vitamin B3 and Skin Cancer Risk

Nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3, is often recommended by dermatologists for patients who have undergone skin cancer treatment. It has been shown to protect cells against UV-related damage, a major factor in skin cancer development.

A recent study published in JAMA Dermatology followed nearly 34,000 U.S. veterans and found that nicotinamide supplementation was associated with a lower risk of non-melanoma skin cancers in individuals with a prior history of the disease. The greatest benefit was observed among those who began taking the supplement after their first skin cancer diagnosis. Participants who took 500 mg of nicotinamide twice daily for at least a month had a 54% reduced risk of developing another skin cancer compared with those who did not supplement. “I was very surprised at the degree of risk reduction,” said study author Dr. Lee Wheless of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System VA Medical Center.

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Vitamin B3 is also widely used in skincare products such as cleansers, serums, and moisturisers, where it is marketed for improving tone and texture. While these topical applications may offer cosmetic benefits, the study emphasizes that their effect on cancer prevention remains unclear.

Although nicotinamide is available over the counter, experts advise caution. It’s important to inform your doctor and pharmacist before starting supplementation, especially if you already take prescription medicines, herbal remedies, or other vitamins. Because multivitamin products often combine several ingredients, reviewing them with a healthcare provider helps ensure there are no harmful interactions.