News and Features Related to Health & Balance
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Happiness Declining Among Twitter Users
Dec. 22, 2011 -- Twitter users may be less happy than they used to be, say University of Vermont scientists. They analyzed billions of tweets over nearly three years and found that happiness is on a downward slide. It's unusual for researchers to use Twitter to sense people's moods, though another r
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Contagious Yawns May Show Social Bonds
Dec. 8, 2011 -- Yawns may be contagious for good reason. A new study suggests that yawning after someone else yawns may be a sign of social empathy and emotional bonds between family and friends. Researchers found that people are more likely to respond to a yawn with another yawn if the other person
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Weight Gain, Need to Be Nice Are Holiday Season Gripes
Dec. 2, 2011 -- Many Americans have a grinch-like attitude toward being nice around the holidays, finds a new survey by Consumer Reports. In the poll, "having to be nice" ranked among the top 10 things people dread this time of year. Worries about weight gain also ranked in the top 10. The seasonal
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Emotional Well-Being: The Benefits of Adversity
It's true: What doesn't kill you will make you stronger. To a point. Beth Elliott nursed her mother through the last stages of cancer. Less than two years later, her husband learned he had only a few months to live. Six months after he died, Elliott herself was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. What wo
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The Secret (and Surprising) Power of Naps
Naps help Constance Kobylarz Wilde, 58, recharge, especially if she takes them right after lunch. Wilde, a marketing manager and health blogger in Mountain View, Calif., is constantly juggling her schedule as a working mom and family caregiver. She's up by 6 a.m. every day and tries to go to bed by
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Meditation May Help Brain Tune Out Distractions
Nov. 21, 2011 -- People who meditate may be able to use their brain in ways others can't to tune out distractions and focus on the task at hand. A new study shows that experienced meditators may have less activity in parts of the brain associated with daydreaming and distraction while meditating and
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How Giving Love Makes You Feel Loved
By Gretchen Rubin When our two daughters were little, they'd greet my husband and me with wild enthusiasm whenever we walked in the door, and they often cried miserably when we left. More recently, however, they had sometimes barely looked up from their games or homework or books when we walked in o
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Body Language Reveals ‘Empathy Gene’
Nov. 14, 2011 -- An empathetic nod or smile may say something about your genes as well as your heart. A new study suggests empathetic body language and behavior are linked to a genetic variation associated with sociability. People with the “prosocial” gene displayed more caring and trusting nonverba
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Why the Sound of Fingernails on a Chalkboard Irks You
Nov. 4, 2011 -- The mere thought of fingernails scratching a chalkboard can be enough to set some people on edge. Now, a new study may help explain why. Researchers say the shape of the human ear may amplify certain aspects of the sound of fingernails or chalk scraping on a chalkboard to make it eve
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Happy People Live Longer?
Oct. 31, 2011 -- Could happiness be the key to a long, or at least longer, life? Maybe, researchers say. In a study from the UK, older people who said they were happy, even for a little while, were less likely to die over a five-year period. And the happier they were, the longer they lived. Overall,
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