In a refreshing departure from traditional workouts, an international team of researchers has identified a joyful and highly effective way to reduce stress, build resilience, and enhance well-being—dancing. According to a recent study published in the Psychology of Sport & Exercise, dancing not only lifts your mood but also triggers a powerful biological response that supports mental health.

“By dancing, we can tap into a natural stress-relief mechanism that enhances our resilience and helps us cope with daily pressures,” said Jonathan Skinner, co-author of the study and a researcher at the University of Surrey in the UK. “It’s fascinating to see how something as enjoyable as dance can have such profound effects on our mental health.”

The study highlights how dancing encourages the release of feel-good hormones such as endorphins and oxytocin. These chemicals are known to reduce anxiety and foster social bonding. Researchers observed a decrease in levels of cortisol—the stress hormone—as well as reductions in heart rate and blood pressure among participants who danced regularly.

Beyond the biological benefits, dancing offers psychological advantages too. It allows for emotional expression, strengthens social connections, and can be a gateway to a sense of community. “Encouraging people to move together can create a sense of belonging and support while enhancing their ability to cope with stress,” Skinner added.

Mental Health Concerns Are On Rise Globally

These findings come at a time when mental health concerns are on the rise globally. Experts are now advocating for dance to be incorporated into community health programs, schools, and wellness initiatives. The accessibility of dance is a key advantage—it can be done solo or in groups, at home or in studios, and requires no special equipment, making it an inclusive form of exercise.

In fact, a 2022 review published in Frontiers in Physiology echoed similar conclusions. It noted that dancing improves both physical and emotional health in children and adolescents, and recommended that policymakers and educators seriously consider dance-based programs to promote long-term physical activity.

For adults, dance can be a fun way to meet the World Health Organisation's recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week, along with muscle-strengthening exercises on two or more days.

The style of dance also plays a role in how many calories you burn. According to Healthline, a 150-pound person can burn around 118 calories in 30 minutes of ballroom dancing and up to 207 calories doing swing. Ballet improves strength and posture, Zumba boosts cardiovascular endurance, and even pole dancing is gaining popularity among older adults for its fitness benefits.

Whether it is salsa, hip-hop, or a kitchen dance party, the rhythm of movement could be just what your body and mind need. In a world that often prioritises high-intensity routines and rigid schedules, dance offers a more joyful, expressive path to health.

More than 200 million smartwatches were sold worldwide alone in 2023, with millions of users counting on these wrist-worn devices not only for convenience—but for lifesaving alerts. As wearable health technology advances, smartwatches have become the daily companion in monitoring heart rate, blood oxygen, and even irregular rhythms. But since cardiovascular disease is still the top killer globally, a pressing question arises: Can your smartwatch really sense and even prevent a heart attack before it's too late?

While these gadgets promise to track pivotal indicators such as atrial fibrillation and fluctuations in blood pressure, their potential to foretell acute cardiac events continues to be an area of research. As technology brands compete to make medical features intelligent, the reality falls where innovation, clinical science, and what your smartwatch can practically do converge.

Smartwatches no longer simply exist as fashionable add-ons or productivity devices they are quickly emerging as frontline contenders in the early diagnosis of health issues, most notably heart-related ailments but how much can you really trust your smartwatch when it comes to life-threatening conditions such as a heart attack?

Smartwatches have developed at breakneck speed from basic step counters to high-tech wearable health trackers. The most widely used brands today have a set of tools that specifically track cardiovascular health. Features now include continuous monitoring of heart rate, heart rhythm monitoring, blood oxygen saturation, and even blood pressure in some versions.

How this is made possible is a technology known as photoplethysmography (PPG) — an optical sensor technique relying on LED light to measure changes in blood volume in the microvascular bed in the skin. As your heart beats, the sensor measures the change in reflection of light, providing information on your heart rhythm, rate, and at times, even your blood oxygenation levels.

Besides, certain smartwatches have single-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) features that give a better heart rhythm analysis and aid in detecting atrial fibrillation (AFib) — a precursor to stroke and heart failure.

Are Smartwatches Effective in Identifying Heart Attacks?

This is the most urgent query and the response isn't quite simple.

The short answer is, not yet. Although smartwatches are capable of detecting some warning signs and arrhythmias in the heart, they are not yet capable of diagnosing a heart attack in real-time with medical-grade accuracy. A heart attack (myocardial infarction) happens when blood supply to a region of the heart is obstructed, typically by a blood clot. Identification of this demands high-resolution and multi-lead ECGs, laboratory tests, and imaging — diagnostics well out of the capabilities of consumer-level wearables.

Dr. Peter Libby, a Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital cardiologist, describes in press release, "This technology is more a proof-of-principle rather than something that's clinically useful." His comments came after a small study discovered that ECG recordings from wearables can replicate hospital ECG equipment but with some limitations.

Simply, smartwatches can alert you to warning signs like an excessively high heart rate when you're resting, or symptoms matching AFib but cannot verify a heart attack. Nor can they substitute for immediate medical assessment.

What are the Benefits of Smartwatches?

Smartwatches are worth their price when it comes to real-time tracking and long-term heart care. Their potential to identify silent atrial fibrillation that may cause strokes or heart failure is noteworthy. Models that have been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for detecting AFib are recognized for their use in enabling users to access appropriate medical attention in a timely manner.

Companies such as Apple, Samsung, Fitbit, Google, and Withings have incorporated both PPG and ECG technologies. Some of them also provide tracking for blood oxygen saturation and blood pressure, thus adding to their functionality as personal health assistants.

However, it’s critical to understand that smartwatches operate under limitations — they provide preliminary insights, not definitive diagnoses. The data they collect can be shared with healthcare providers, enabling better-informed consultations, but they should never be used as a sole source of medical judgment.

As smartwatches get increasingly sophisticated, there is an increasing threat of false reassurance. Individuals might take "normal" readings as a go-ahead to put off medical intervention during true cardiac attacks. False alarms, on the other hand, can also cause undue stress and result in overtesting.

A balanced strategy is important. Experts suggest using smartwatches as an ancillary device, not a substitute for professional attention. If you have symptoms such as chest pain, difficulty in breathing, or inexplicable weakness — no matter what your smartwatch shows — get yourself medically checked.

How AI, Predictive Analytics Will Help In Medical Integration

The wearable technology future looks bright. Future developments in machine learning and artificial intelligence will seek to make smartwatches' predictive power stronger. These technologies can review trends over time, identify discrepancies, and even warn users before signs appear.

In addition, partnerships between medical institutions and technology companies might soon lead to equipment that is not only cleared by the FDA but clinically proven for more sophisticated diagnostics. We're close to an era when smartwatches might help prevent cardiovascular events — but that vision comes with aggressive testing, medical supervision, and regulatory clearance.

Smartwatches are precious health devices in this day and age of digitization, allowing users to be connected with their own well-being. In heart health, they provide actionable data and early detection that can lead to quicker medical attention.

In the detection or diagnosis of heart attacks, technology is lagging behind. Though the devices may lead to greater awareness and useful data, they must never be used in place of a doctor's know-how or emergency medical response.

If you've ever tried to lose weight with a partner, you've probably seen the maddening and frustrating difference- he goes without bread for a week and loses 10 pounds, yet you do the same thing and hardly move the needle. It's not in your head — research has shown that men lose weight quicker than women on diet and exercise alone. But in an ironic turn, a new generation of weight-loss medications is turning the tables.

GLP-1 receptor agonists, injectable medications like Wegovy (semaglutide) and Zepbound (tirzepatide) are performing far better for women than for men. New clinical trials at the European Congress on Obesity and in the New England Journal of Medicine have pointed to a recurring pattern: On average, women lose more weight than men with these drugs.

Why this occurs is still unclear, but the implications are large for future personalized weight loss plans.

During the 2024 European Congress on Obesity, scientists revealed results of a landmark clinical trial in The New England Journal of Medicine. The head-to-head trial pitted two of the most discussed GLP-1 injectables- Wegovy (semaglutide) and Zepbound (tirzepatide) against each other. More than 750 adults with excess weight were included, who received maximum tolerated doses of the two medications.

Tirzepatide unequivocally took the lead. Those on Zepbound lost a mean of 20% of their body weight at 72 weeks, in contrast to roughly 14% in those receiving Wegovy. There was an interesting twist, however. Zepbound, which is made by Eli Lilly, acts on two gut hormones (GIP and GLP-1), whereas Wegovy acts on just GLP-1. Double the action probably makes tirzepatide more effective.

But what amazed researchers the most was the gender difference: women always lost significantly more weight than men in both drug groups.

In previous semaglutide studies, women lost 11% of their body weight on average after two years. Men, meanwhile, lost about 8%. In tirzepatide studies, women lost as much as 28% of their initial weight—compared with 19% in men. This difference held even after accounting for lifestyle habits and adherence levels.

Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine and the lead researcher, said, "Why this works better in women, I can't honestly tell you, but it's great. It has been seen again and again."

So, what is the secret behind this unexpected female advantage? Researchers point to a combination of things—biological, hormonal, and behavioral.

Why Women Respond Better To Weight-Loss Injections?

One hypothesis is based on dosage. These drugs are usually dispensed in standard doses, without consideration of the patient's body size. Because women are generally lighter than men, the same dose will be proportionally more intense in relation to their body weight. That may account for the more extreme outcomes in women.

In addition, women tend to possess more subcutaneous (or cutaneous) fat—fat that is held immediately below the skin—while men have more visceral fat, which is held deeper around internal organs. Perhaps these drugs act more effectively against subcutaneous fat, placing an advantage for women in terms of visible, quantifiable fat loss.

Behavioral influences may also be at work. Women are under more intense social pressure to remain thin, and this might make them more motivated to stick religiously to these treatment protocols. The injections take self-discipline—weekly injections, usually with side effects like nausea and fatigue—and an engaged patient is more likely to notice improvement.

The most convincing theory is perhaps one involving hormones—more precisely, estrogen. In animal studies, researchers have found that the combination of estrogen and GLP-1 has heightened effects on hunger and eating behavior. In humans, this could manifest as an increased response in premenopausal women, who have naturally elevated levels of estrogen.

If estrogen increases the effectiveness of GLP-1, this could help explain not only why women fare better, but also why responses might vary between young and older women. It also raises suspicions for women on hormone-suppressing treatments (like following breast cancer) or who are experiencing menopause, when estrogen levels fall naturally.

Mood, Metabolism, and the Future of Weight Loss

Interestingly, while GLP-1 medications are generally considered safe, some data suggest sex-based differences in mood responses. Some women report increased feelings of depression while on the medication—a side effect less common in men. Although not universal, these differences further highlight the need for more personalized, sex-aware treatment plans.

As scientists look further, the aim is to make the most of how such drugs are applied. Knowing why females gain more could lead to improved dosing regimens, enhanced non-responders' outcomes, and inform sex-, age-, and hormone-specific treatments.

GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound are revolutionizing the face of weight management—and women can be at the forefront of that revolution. Although the specific reasons for the gender divide remain under study, this promising data is bringing new hope for women who've been frustrated by conventional methods of shedding pounds.

We still have much to learn, but this may be a turning point in the way we treat weight loss, particularly for women. As the science continues to develop, one thing is certain: The future of weight loss is no longer one-size-fits-all. It's personal, precision-driven, and—at last even more promising for women.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally, affecting nearly 17.9 million people each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

‘Heart diseases’ or ‘cardiovascular diseases’ are umbrella terms that encompass a wide variety of diseases like angina, heart attacks, strokes, arrhythmia etc. These problems are often caused by fatty deposits building up inside the arteries. The reason why these clogs cause as issues is because they stop the blood from flowing to and from necessary body parts, depriving them of air as well as nutrients. This can also lead to damage in other vital organs like the brain, the heart itself, the kidneys, and even the eyes.

There are many different types of heart diseases, as well as many symptoms. The most common ones that many people know of are chest pain, sudden shortness of breath, irregular heartbeats, extreme fatigue, etc. However, there are also many subtle signs of heart diseases that you may not know of.

How Many People Know of This Subtle Symptom

It's important to know that the symptoms of heart disease can be different for each person. Because of this variability, some individuals might not even realize that the warning signs they are experiencing could be related to a serious heart condition.

A recent survey conducted by LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor, involving 500 adults in the UK, found a concerning lack of awareness about certain heart disease symptoms. Specifically, only 46 percent of those surveyed knew that swelling in the legs could be a sign of heart problems.

This lack of knowledge is concerning because if people don't know that leg swelling can be related to their heart, they might not take it seriously or go to the doctor to get it checked out, potentially missing an important early sign of heart trouble.

When the survey asked about well-known signs of heart disease, most people got some of them right. A large majority knew that chest pain, especially if it feels like pressure or squeezing, could be a sign of a heart problem needing immediate attention. Many people also knew that feeling very out of breath and having an irregular heartbeat could be linked to heart issues. These are important symptoms for everyone to be aware of, as they are often key indicators that something might be wrong with the heart.

Lesser Known Symptoms

While many people knew about chest pain and shortness of breath, the survey showed that other important symptoms of heart disease were not as widely recognized. Feeling extremely tired all the time, even when you haven't done much, can be a sign. Also, as mentioned before, swelling in the legs, which happens when fluid builds up, is another symptom that many people don't realize could be related to their heart. Being aware of these less common signs is crucial for early detection.

The fact that many people don't know about all the different ways heart disease can show itself highlights why it's so important to learn about a wide range of potential warning signs. Relying only on the most commonly known symptoms like chest pain might cause people to ignore other important signals their body could be sending them. Recognizing less obvious signs, such as unusual fatigue or swelling in the legs, could lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment, which can make a big difference in managing heart conditions and improving health outcomes.