It's 6:30 am, your alarm is rings you drowsily stretch out, eyes half-closed, and press the snooze button. Nine minutes later, that same chime is ringing again. You silence it once more. Another nine minutes. Does this sound familiar?

If so, you’re not alone. In fact, you’re part of what sleep researchers are calling a global “snooze epidemic.” According to a landmark study conducted by Mass General Brigham, more than 55% of people worldwide engage in snoozing behavior regularly often multiple times each morning. But while this habit may feel harmless or even comforting it could be quietly wreaking havoc on your mental sharpness, emotional well-being, and even long-term health.

Why We Love to Snooze? The Psychology of 'Just 5 More Minutes'

There's a comfort in the belief that it's possible to delay reality by a few more minutes. That brief space between sleep and the exigencies of the day can feel like a shield. But what our brain reads as comfort is actually confusion.

"That fragmented sleep you’re getting between alarms is not restorative," says Dr. Rebecca Robbins, a sleep scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. "In fact, you’re disrupting one of the most important parts of your sleep cycle REM sleep which helps regulate memory, mood, and learning."

In the Mass General Brigham study, in which it examined data from more than 3 million sleep sessions tracked through wearable devices, heavy sleepers were averaging 2.4 snoozes in the morning for a total of almost 11 minutes. For others, there's more. Roughly 45% of users were snoozing over 80% of the time, adding almost 20 extra minutes in bed after their alarm.

That may not seem like a big thing. But what's going on in your brain during that time is bigger than we realize.

What Happens in Your Brain When You Hit Snooze?

Our sleep consists of cycles—alternating between light sleep, deep sleep (NREM), and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. REM is the most active stage in which the brain is working hardest, processing emotions and locking in memories. This stage usually gets the majority of our sleep cycle going in the last few hours before we wake up.

"When you hit the snooze button and sleep through it, you're fooling your brain into starting a new cycle it can't finish," says Dr. Robbins. "And then, when you wake up to an alarm just minutes later, you're waking up from a sleep cycle your brain wasn't done with yet."

The outcome? Sleep inertia—a lingering feeling of groggy sleepiness, brain fog, and even irritability that can last hours.

Why Snoozing Is More Than Just a Morning Quirk?

Though snoozing appears to be a harmless morning luxury, sleep specialists caution that it might have wider health consequences. Continuously disturbing sleep—even for a short few minutes—is capable of causing cumulative sleep fragmentation that is associated with:

• Decreased cognitive functioning
• More stress and irritability
• Compromised immune function
• Chronic sleep disorder risk
• Greater likelihood of depression and anxiety

What's more, many chronic snoozers end up developing what's called "social jet lag"—a perpetual mismatch between their internal clock and their social schedule, which can influence metabolism, cardiovascular health, and hormone regulation in the long run.

How to End the Snooze Habit?

Experts recommend a change of mindset—and some creative redesigning of your environment to make it simpler:

Rethink Your Alarm Strategy: Employ a waking light or sounds of nature rather than jarring sounds that activate stress.

Place Your Alarm Out of Reach: Make yourself leave the bed to silence it.

Stick to a Sleep Schedule: Retire and rise at the same time every day—even weekends.

Improve Sleep Hygiene: Stay away from screens one hour prior to bedtime, and make the sleeping area dark, cool, quiet.

Wake Yourself Up in the Morning: Create an intention, reward, or morning routine that you anticipate.

Eventually, waking should be a natural step not a fight. Snoozing can provide temporary relief, but consistently good sleep and a better morning begins the night before.

It is conventionally believed that life satisfaction is relatively high when people are younger, it then dips in midlife, only to rise again as people grow older. This is the pattern people have noted for many years, largely from 2005-2010. As surveys from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System also suggest.

However, there has been a new finding that reveals that life satisfaction at a young age may be on the lower side, while it continues to grow as one ages. This has been a trend from 2022. This means that young people are not as happy as they used to be.

The latest evidence comes from a survey that studied over 200,000 people in more than 20 countries. This study was published in the journal Nature on April 20, 2025, called the Global Flourishing Study.

The scientists found that on average, young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 were struggling not just with happiness, but also with their physical and mental health, their perception of their own character, finding meaning in life, the quality of their relationships, and their financial security.

What Does It Mean To Be Flourished?

The researchers combined the survey findings to determine to what extent those surveyed were flourishing.

To Flourish: As per the researchers means to live in a state where all aspects of life are good. The idea that young people are struggling is nothing new, however, this research reveals a global problem. The flattening of the curve, if one looks at the happiness and satisfaction index by age and the levels on a ten-point scale, it is clear that the curve of younger people is flattening. This is happening in many countries, including Brazil, Japan, Australia, and Sweden. However, in the United States, the difference between how the old and the young flourish was the most pronounced.

Why?

A separate 2023 report, under the Making Caring Common Project, found that young adults between the ages of 18 to 25 in the US have been reported to experience roughly twice the rates of anxiety and depression as teens. The report has also cited a number of factors, including:

• Financial worries
• Achievement pressure
• Lacking direction
• Things falling apart
• Lacking in skills or talents
• Family stressors
• School gun violence
• Work stressors
• Choice overload
• Friend or social stressors
• Crime rates

Researchers have also pointed to larger issues like climate change, the rise in the screen time of phone use, economic uncertainty and political polarization. Researchers believe that some of these issues were also exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because young people missed out on crucial moments in their development, particularly when it came to forming relationships and participating in the community. However, there is still a lot more research that needs to be done.

What must compel people to think that countries where young people are satisfied, how are they able to achieve it? Whereas the countries where younger ones are suffering, it is high time we look at the "why".

Cognitive decline is one of the most common diseases that people experience with age. Dementia is an umbrella term used to define symptoms of decline in brain function, whether it is memory, thinking skills or other mental abilities. While the risk factors, causes and treatment options are known, researchers explain that they are still being studied, and every new study brings an interesting perspective about the disease. As there is no proper cure for the disease, people have to rely on medication that slows the disease down.

A new study may have found not just a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease but also a way to lower the potential of developing the cognitive decline.

Risk Factors for the Disease

A new study done by researchers from pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences and the University of Washington in Seattle, suggested that people who get cold sores might be nearly twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. US researchers discovered that individuals carrying the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), which causes cold sores, had an 80% higher chance of developing this brain-wasting condition.

Other risk factors include age, family history, genetics, certain medication or injuries. Whie most of these are irrefutable things, research has shown that that can be tackled with things like learning a new skill, exercising daily, quitting smoking, eating healthy as well as maintaining a healthy weight.

What Are Cold Sores And Causes

Cold sores are small blisters around one’s mouth, also known as fever blisters. They are caused by a virus known as herpes simplex, and the most common strain of it is herpes simplex virus 1. This is a communicable infection that can spread through kissing or sharing utensils or even towels.

John Hopkins Medicine explained that if the virus transfers to you, it will cause a breakout of cold sores. These sores can be triggered by sunlight, cold wind or other illnesses that can weaken your immune system like hormone levels and even stress.

Antiviral Treatment Shows Promise

However, the study also offered a ray of hope: those who received antiviral medicines for HSV-1 had a 17% lower risk of Alzheimer's compared to those who didn't. This finding is significant because the virus has been linked to changes in the brain similar to those seen in dementia patients, such as plaque-like formations and inflammation.

The study, a collaboration between pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences and the University of Washington in Seattle, analyzed data from over 344,000 individuals with Alzheimer's and an equal number without the disease. It found that 1,507 (0.44%) of Alzheimer's patients had a history of HSV-1 diagnosis, compared to just 823 (0.24%) of those without the disease. These findings were published in the journal BMJ Open.

Things To Keep In Mind

Experts emphasized that HSV-1 infection, which is very common, does not guarantee someone will develop Alzheimer's. The exact reason why viral infections might increase dementia risk isn't fully understood, but it's likely due to infections causing more inflammation in the body, contributing to age-related brain inflammation.

They also explained that there isn't enough evidence yet to add infections to the list of 14 established risk factors for dementia. The researchers pointed out that the research relied solely on health records, meaning some HSV-1 infections might not have been recorded since many people don't show symptoms. Additionally, information about infections predating the records wasn't available, and diagnosing Alzheimer's, especially early on, remains a challenge.

One of the most grueling and difficult fitness regime people go through is bodybuilding. The regime was made to enhance the muscles of the human body. As a sport, it is bodybuilders who train their muscles to artistically display the pronounced muscle mass, symmetry as well as overall aesthetics. Building muscles mass includes doing exercises like strength training, resistance training devices as well as cardio. These exercises help bodybuilders keep their body fat at the lowest possible.

Being the epitome of health, many people believe that body builders live healthy and long lives. However, a new study shed light on the concerning link between bodybuilding and sudden deaths.

Major Health Risks Related To Bodybuilding

Bodybuilders may spend endless hours building impressive muscles, but a new study shows their hard work might harm their hearts. Research in the European Heart Journal found that many male bodybuilders die suddenly from heart issues. What's more, professional bodybuilders are five times more likely to have a sudden heart attack than amateurs.

Researchers highlighted that the risk of death for male bodybuilders is notably high. They noted that competing at a professional level seems to increase this risk, with pros having many more sudden heart deaths. This study started because of more and more reports of early deaths and heart attacks in the bodybuilding world.

The study also found that about 15% of bodybuilder deaths were classified as "sudden traumatic deaths," which include car accidents, suicides, murders, and overdoses. Experts stressed that these findings show we need to think about the mental impact of bodybuilding culture, noting that mental health issues can sometimes get worse with drug abuse, leading to risky or self-harming behaviors.

Study Methodology and Findings

Researchers looked at information from 20,300 athletes who competed in International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) events between 2005 and 2020. The IFBB is the main group for bodybuilding contests worldwide. The study followed these athletes' health until July 2023, for over eight years on average. During this time, 121 bodybuilders passed away.

A shocking 38% of these deaths were due to sudden cardiac death, meaning their hearts just stopped. Sadly, 11 of these cases happened to active competitors who were, on average, just under 35 years old. Experts pointed out that sudden heart death can happen even to young, seemingly healthy people without known heart problems, though it's rare.

What Increases The Risk?

Experts pointed to several practices common in bodybuilding that can strain the cardiovascular system:

Extreme strength training: Intense physical exertion can put immense pressure on the heart.

Rapid weight loss strategies: Severe dietary restrictions and dehydration can disrupt the body's delicate balance.

Widespread use of performance-enhancing substances: These can have detrimental effects on heart health.

How Does It Affect Your Heart?

These things can cause irregular heartbeats and changes to the heart's structure over time. Autopsies of five bodybuilders in the study showed that four had enlarged hearts and thicker heart muscles, which make heart failure more likely.

Professionals face a higher risk because they often push these practices harder for longer periods and feel more pressure to get extreme physiques. Experts warned bodybuilders, that aiming for physical perfection is great, but trying for extreme body changes at any cost can be very risky their health and heart.