health

It will come as no surprise to anybody that there are more fat people in the US than in any other developed country. It's not a new phenomenon, but it keeps getting worse year after year. 20 years ago I was already shocked that one third of Americans were obese. Now the latest data points to...

I have made maps showing the death rate from various types of cancer in and around Europe. Some types of cancer are clearly linked to the lifestyle. Lung cancer rates do not only depend on the percentage of smokers, but also on air quality. As you can see here, the Balkans have the worst...

Vaccination is a topic that is as likely to divide people and families as politics and religion. It has been exacerbated by the Coronavirus pandemic, but the rift was already present long before in some countries. According to Our World in Data, 33% of French people don't believe that vaccines...

Here is the study. Nature Genetics: Identification of LZTFL1 as a candidate effector gene at a COVID-19 risk locus Abstract The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) disease (COVID-19) pandemic has caused millions of deaths worldwide. Genome-wide association studies...

The Economist has been monitoring since last year the gap between official Covid deaths and excess deaths in various countries. They have now compiled statistics for almost every country in the world and a map to show which countries are really more impacted. In Africa the excess deaths are...

Basically title. Has anyone used any of these services. I mainly wanted to get back in a Ketogenic diet, however being vegetarian in my country, trying to accommodate both is going to be really challenging. So before I do anything that drastic, I wanted to use my Autosomal file for...

The abundance and malleability of lead has made it a prime material to use as pipes since ancient times. The word plumbing itself comes from the Latin word for lead (plumbum, hence Pb for the chemical symbol). Yet it has been known for decades that lead was toxic, especially for the brain, and...

The French like to do things differently from everyone else. In the last few months they have made the headlines around the world for the dogged refusal to get vaccinated against Covid-19. The reasons are varied. Some people believe in the wildest conspiracy theories, claiming that the...

As I mentioned at the beginning of the pandemic, one of the few supplements that work in warding off Covid is vitamin D. The Guardian just published an article mentioning several studies (in the UK, Spain and South Korea) that confirm that vitamin D deficiency is linked to a higher mortality...

Over the years I have created dozens of maps of Europe to help visualise the cultural, political, socio-economic, legal or lifestyle differences between countries. I thought it would be interesting to make similar maps for the United States, using the same scales and colours to facilitate...

Using data from Wikipedia for 2018, I have created maps of life expectancy by US State. I first compared overall male vs female life expectancy, as it did for Europe (also for 2018). I used the same colour scale for all maps so that the differences are immediately apparent. Let's first compare...

In 2015, 3 million tonnes of cocoa beans were harvested to produce chocolate, and demand has been increasing by 2 to 5% each year. The global consumption of chocolate in 2019 reached 7.7 million metric tonnes (i.e. 7.7 billion kg - approximately 1 kg for each person in the world). Cocoa is...

The World Health Organization says that insufficient physical activity is one of the leading risk factors for death and recommends that adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. They go even further, claiming that for additional health benefits...

The Guardian: Microplastic particles now discoverable in human organs "Microplastic and nanoplastic particles are now discoverable in human organs thanks to a new technique. Microplastics have polluted the entire planet, from Arctic snow and Alpine soils to the deepest oceans. People are also...

Over the last few weeks I have been working on 20 new maps (more coming soon) showing indicators of health, activity, food and drink consumptions in and around Europe. Please visit the link. I will just post three of them here to illustrate. I was inspired in part by the discussion about the...

It's increasingly common to keep track of one's physical activity to keep fit. Walking enough everyday can help reduce your risk of these common health problems: Heart disease Obesity Diabetes High blood pressure According to Healthline, to lose weight one should aim for at least 10,000 steps...

In the USA, fundamentalist Christians and most people who consider themselves very religious tend to reject many biological facts (evolution of species, existence of genetic predispositions, genetics playing a major role in intelligence or temperament, etc.). I was wondering if this ignorance...

I long wondered about which of these three caffeine-rich substances conferred the most health benefits, so I did a little research. Coffee Coffee is rich in antioxidants, notably: - chlorogenic acid : known to slightly reduce blood pressure - cafestol : found especially in unfiltered coffee...

Have you ever felt annoyed by the fact that national holidays in your country are often religious holidays? In many European countries Epiphany, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day, Whit Monday, Assumption, All Saints' Day, Christmas and/or St Stephens' Day (aka Boxing Day in the UK) are...

It's not just interesting from a biological point of view, but that discovery could increase the supply of usable blood available for transfusions. LiveScience: Gut Bacteria Enzyme Can Transform a Blood Cell's Type "The key to changing blood types may be in the gut. Enzymes made by bacteria...