Tag Archives: health

Bike helmet review throws cold water on sceptics: they’ll likely save your life

From the Sydney Morning Herald…

Cycling HelmetTampere, Finland: The largest review yet of bike helmet use by 64,000 injured cyclists worldwide has found helmets reduce the chances of a serious head injury by nearly 70 per cent.

Claims that bike helmets damaged the neck and caused serious brain injury were also found to be wrong in the study by University of NSW statistician Dr Jake Olivier, who presented on Tuesday to the international injury prevention conference Safety 2016 in Finland.

A fit body leads to a fit brain

Exercise helps your brainFrom the Sydney Morning Herald…..

The most persistent theme in exercise science in 2015 was that to live long, age well and maintain a nimble mind and shapely brain, we must be physically active – but not for as much time as many of us might fear, or in the ways that many of us might guess.

Certainly the most encouraging research this year focused on the links between regular exercise and improvements in our thinking and the structure of our brains. There has been discussion in past years about how exercise increases the number of new neurons in the brain and sharpens thinking skills and mood, especially as we age.

But this year, interest among scientists in exercise and brain health seemed to reach a critical mass. Many new studies are highlighting previously unexplored ways in which exercise changes our brains and minds. A recent brain-scan study in Japan found that the brains of fit older men were almost as efficient as the brains of young people.