Color’s February Health Notes – Color

Color’s monthly Health Notes help you stay up to date on living a healthy life with the latest in health & wellness, genetics, and cancer. If you found this information interesting, sign up for our monthly Health Notes here.

Health & Wellness

How to Fall Asleep When You’re Too Stressed Out

Time, by Jenna Birch

An uptick in anxiety levels — whether due to the never-ending negative news cycle, long hours at work, family drama, or something else — can have a serious impact on sleep. (Who hasn’t lain awake at night with worries racing through their brain?) …

Got Back Pain? Try Yoga Or Massage Before Reaching For The Pills

NPR, by Patti Neighmond

Most of us suffer back pain at some point in our lives. In fact, it’s one of the most common reasons people go to the doctor. Many of us also probably reach for medication. Now, new guidelines from the American College of Physicians say try exercise, yoga, or massage first …

Lessons on Aging Well, From a 105-Year-Old Cyclist

New York Times, by Gina Kolata

At the age of 105, the French amateur cyclist and world-record holder Robert Marchand is more aerobically fit than most 50-year-olds — and appears to be getting even fitter as he ages, according to a revelatory new study of his physiology …

Genetics

Will I Go Bald? Genetic Study Shows Complex Answer

NBCNews, by Maggie Fox

Researchers searching for the genetic roots of hair loss say they’ve found more than 280 different genes are involved. And they’ve come up with a formula that can predict a man’s risk of losing his hair …

Which Genes Make You Taller? A Whole Bunch Of Them, It Turns Out

NPR, by Richard Harris

When scientists first read out the human genome 15 years ago, there were high hopes that we’d soon understand how traits like height are inherited. It hasn’t been easy. A huge effort to find height-related genes so far only explains a fraction of this trait …

Astronaut Twin Study Hints at Stress of Space Travel

Nature, by Alexandra Witze

Preliminary results are in from NASA’s unprecedented twin study — a detailed probe of the genetic differences between astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent nearly a consecutive year in space, and his identical twin Mark …

Cancer

Exercise is Best for Reducing Breast Cancer Recurrence

Medical News Today, by Ana Sandoiu

Breast cancer survival rates are very high compared with other forms of cancer, but in some cases, the cancer does comes back. New research highlights key recommendations that breast cancer survivors can incorporate into their lifestyle …

Why Is Cancer More Common in Men?

Harvard Magazine, by Erin O’Donnell

Oncologists know that men are more prone to cancer than women; one in two men will develop some form of the disease in a lifetime, compared with one in three women. But until recently, scientists have been unable to pinpoint why …

Colon and Rectal Cancers Rising in Young People

NYTimes, by Roni Caryn Rabin

Cancers of the colon and rectum have been declining in older adults in recent decades and have always been considered rare in young people. But scientists are reporting a sharp rise in colorectal cancers in adults as young as their 20s and 30s, an ominous trend …