Category: Health

• A recent study found that morning exercise may help lower your cardiometabolic risk.
• Cardiometabolic risk factors include cardiovascular disease and metabolic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity.
• The findings show that exercising in the morning, rather than later in the day, may help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes by 30%.

Exercise has various health benefits, from maintaining a moderate weight to improving heart health.

While all exercise is beneficial, a recent study found that exercising in the morning may yield greater cardiometabolic benefits than later in the day.

It’s unclear whether the relationship between exercise and cardiometabolic health is mediated by other factors or causal. However, the researchers noted that the findings could inform counseling approaches for physical activity based on a more granular view of exercise behaviors.

“Any exercise is going to be better than no exercise, but we tried to identify an additional dimension relating to the timing of exercise,” Prem Patel, a medical student at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and the study’s lead author, said in a press release.

“If you can exercise in the morning, it seems to be linked with better rates of cardiometabolic disease,” he continued

The study’s researchers analyzed data from 14,489 individuals who were participating in the large national study All of Us. The research was based on health records and Fitbit-derived heart data.

Over 1 year, the researchers analyzed minute-level heart rate data from Fitbit devices.

To track bursts of physical activity, the research team identified periods during which participants had an elevated heart rate for 15 consecutive minutes or more. This differs from the methodologies of other studies because it is based on the body’s response to exercise rather than tracking specific activities, such as walking, housework, or gym workouts.

They assessed each participant’s exercise in those 15-minute intervals throughout the day. Then they grouped participants according to the timing of their exercise.

Using health records, the researchers analyzed any connection between the timing of exercise and effects on:

• age
• sex
• total activity level
• sleep duration
• smoking status
• alcohol use

When compared to people who exercised later in the day, those who frequently exercised in the morning were:

• 31% less likely to have coronary artery disease
• 18% less likely to have high blood pressure
• 21% less likely to have hyperlipidemia
• 30% less likely to have type 2 diabetes
• 35% less likely to have obesity

The lowest rates of coronary artery disease were associated with exercise between 7 and 8 a.m.

It’s important to note that these findings show only an association. They do not indicate whether early exercise habits cause improvements in health markers.

“It’s important not to overinterpret these findings. This was an observational study, meaning it shows association, not cause and effect,” said Robert Glatter, MD, attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/ Northwell. Glatter wasn’t involved in this study.

“It’s entirely possible that people who are disciplined enough to work out in the morning are also more likely to engage in other health-promoting behaviors,” Glatter told Healthline.

Regular physical activity can have various immediate and long-term benefits.

Exercise can help reduce feelings of anxiety and depression. It may also help you sleep better.

• managing weight
• strengthening muscles and bones
• reducing the risk of falls in older adults
• managing chronic conditions and disabilities

Getting regular physical activity may also help increase your likelihood of living longer, according to the CDC.

“The bigger takeaway is this: consistency matters far more than timing. Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate activity per week, incorporate strength training, and reduce long periods of inactivity,” said Glatter.

“In the end, the ‘best’ time to exercise isn’t necessarily 6 or 7 a.m. — it’s the time you can commit to, day after day.”

• A new study found that people taking GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy had a lower risk of worsening depression and anxiety.
• The participants also had fewer hospitalizations and required less sick leave from their jobs.
• Experts say the drugs’ effects on dopamine signaling and brain inflammation could account for the benefits.
• It’s too soon to recommend GLP-1s as a primary treatment for mental health disorders. Further clinical trials are still needed.

Researchers say people living with diabetes often face a higher risk of developing mental health conditions.

Now, a large national study from Sweden found that certain medications commonly prescribed for diabetes and weight loss — specifically GLP-1 receptor agonists like Ozempic and Wegovy — may also help reduce the risk of worsening mental illness in people with anxiety or depression.

The findings, published in the April issue of The Lancet Psychiatry, offer hope for dual benefits in treating both metabolic and mental health issues. While promising, the researchers caution that further clinical trials are needed.

The study analyzed health data from 95,490 people in Sweden who were diagnosed with depression, anxiety, or both, and were also prescribed diabetes medications between 2009 and 2022.

The study compared periods when individuals were taking these medications to periods when they were not, using a “within-individual” design. This approach means each person acted as their own control, reducing the influence of factors like age, gender, or overall health that do not change over time.

Data were gathered from national electronic health registers, including hospital admissions, sick leave records, and death registries, allowing researchers to track worsening mental health events.

The primary outcome was a composite measure that included psychiatric hospitalizations, extended sick leave for psychiatric reasons, hospitalization due to self-harm, or death by suicide.

Secondary outcomes examined worsening of depression or anxiety separately, substance use disorders, and self-harm incidents.

The study also compared GLP-1 receptor agonists with other second-line diabetes medications like empagliflozin (Jardiance), dapagliflozin (Farxiga), and sitagliptin (Januvia) to see how these medications stacked up against each other in terms of mental health effects.

Statistical models adjusted for time-varying factors such as the order and duration of medication use and concurrent treatment with other psychiatric or antidiabetic drugs.

The aim was to isolate the effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists on mental health as much as possible within the observational data.

Over an average follow-up of 5.2 years, about 23.5% of the cohort used GLP-1 receptor agonists, with semaglutide and liraglutide being the most common.

The study revealed that use of semaglutide was associated with a 42% lower risk of worsening mental illness compared to periods when the same individuals were not taking GLP-1 receptor agonists.

Liraglutide also showed a beneficial effect, though less pronounced, with an 18% reduced risk. In contrast, exenatide and dulaglutide did not show significant associations with mental health outcomes.

When looking at specific mental health conditions, semaglutide use was linked to significantly lower risks of worsening depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. Liraglutide was associated primarily with reduced risk of worsening depression. Additionally, GLP-1 receptor agonists as a group were associated with a lower risk of self-harm.

Compared directly with other second-line antidiabetic medications, semaglutide was again associated with better mental health outcomes, suggesting its benefits extend beyond glucose control alone. The study also found that these associations held true even when accounting for factors such as sex and the type of mental health diagnosis at study entry.

Additionally, the reduced risk of worsening mental illness was reflected not only in fewer psychiatric hospitalizations but also in reduced sick leave due to mental health reasons, which has implications for work capacity and quality of life.

The researchers took care to rule out potential biases, such as effects due to the sequence of medication use or carryover effects between treatment periods. Their analyses remained consistent when excluding initial days after starting or stopping medication and when focusing on medication use after official approval dates.

Lauren Grawert, MD, clinical advisor at The Garden New Jersey, said it’s believed that GLP-1 medications can provide psychiatric benefits because they can cross the blood-brain barrier and bind to brain regions associated with the reward system. Grawert wasn’t involved in the study.

“These medications may affect the way the brain responds to dopamine signals in these areas, decreasing the overactive reward response that drives impulsivity and cravings for substances,” she told Healthline.

Still, GLP-1s may also exert anti-inflammatory effects on the central nervous system, reducing brain inflammation, which has been linked with depression and anxiety, Grawert said.

“As a result, semaglutide may help stabilize mood and improve emotional regulation by addressing these underlying biological processes in addition to its effects on metabolism,” she explained.

Looking at the implications for treating patients, Jason Kirby, Chief Medical Officer at Recovery Centers of America, said that GLP-1 medications could help people with metabolic and psychiatric disorders, possibly reducing hospitalizations and functional impairment associated with conditions like depression and anxiety. Kirby wasn’t involved in the study.

“However, this was an observational study, so it does not establish causality, and GLP-1 agents should not yet be considered primary treatments for depression or anxiety,” he told Healthline.

According to Kirby, these findings reinforce the importance of integrated care. He said the research represents “a promising avenue for future research at the intersection of psychiatry, addiction medicine, and metabolic health.”

• Eating higher amounts of ultra-processed foods is associated with lower bone mineral density, even in younger adults under 65.
• Researchers also found that high ultra-processed food intake increases the risk of hip fractures.
• Experts say the lack of nutrients needed for bone health in ultra-processed foods could contribute to the association.

Eating more ultra-processed foods is associated with poorer bone health.

The findings were pronounced even among younger adults under 65 and in those who were underweight.

“Our study cohort was followed for over 12 years, and we found that high intakes of ultra-processed foods were linked to a reduction in bone mineral density at several sites including key areas of the upper femur and the lumbar spine region,” Lu Qi, MD, PhD, co-author of the study and HCA Regents Distinguished Chair and professor at the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University said in a press statement.

“While recent studies have shown that ultra-processed food consumption can affect bone health, this is the first time this relationship has been examined directly in humans,” Qi continued.

Data from the CDC suggests that ultra-processed foods account for roughly 55% of total calories consumed by both children and adults.

To explore the impact of ultra-processed foods on bone health, the researchers analyzed data from more than 160,000 participants in the UK Biobank database.

On average, people ate roughly 8 servings of ultra-processed foods per day.

The researchers found that for every 3.7 additional servings of ultra-processed foods consumed each day, the risk of hip fracture increased by 10.5%.

The study authors note that while the serving sizes of ultra-processed foods can vary by food type, 3.7 additional serves equate to a frozen dinner entree, a soda, and a cookie.

Grace Derocha, a registered dietitian nutritionist and national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, said it’s a finding worth paying attention to. Derocha wasn’t involved in the study.

“A 10.5% increase in hip fracture risk is meaningful, especially given how serious hip fractures can be for long-term mobility and independence, particularly in older adults,” she told Healthline. “That said, it is important to interpret this in context. This is an observational finding, meaning it shows an association rather than direct causation.”

“Still, it reinforces a pattern we see across nutrition science: diets higher in ultra-processed foods tend to be linked with poorer health outcomes overall. From a public health standpoint, it’s a signal worth paying attention to — not necessarily a reason for alarm, but certainly a reason to emphasize improving overall diet quality,” Derocha said.

Dana Hunnes, a senior clinical dietitian at UCLA Health, said there could be several mechanisms underlying the association between ultra-processed foods and poorer bone health. Hunnes wasn’t involved in the study.

“Inflammation could potentially be a driver of lower bone density; lower intake of calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D, and other minerals important to bone health may be consumed less often when intake of ultra-processed foods [is] consumed more often. Without sufficient amounts of these healthy nutrients, bone density may weaken,” she told Healthline.

“Perhaps people are also less active, and less activity also can reduce bone density, as you’re not having the same compression or forces on the muscles/bones as you are when you’re more active. All of these factors may also be combining to affect this change,” she explained.

The association between ultra-processed foods and lower bone density was most pronounced among those under age 65 and in those who were underweight with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18.5.

The authors note that these associations could be more pronounced in younger people due to stronger digestive function, which could lead to better absorption of the unhealthy ingredients in ultra-processed foods.

Those with a low BMI are also already at risk for bone health issues, and this may make the impact of ultra-processed foods on bone density worse.

Ultra-processed foods are manufactured on an industrial scale. They are often highly palatable, low in dietary fiber, and high in sweeteners, salt, and unhealthy fats.

They may include foods like frozen meals, breakfast cereal, sweetened beverages, and convenience foods and snacks.

The new study is the latest in a growing body of research that demonstrates important links between a diet high in ultra-processed foods and bone health.

“We have strong evidence that nutrition is foundational to bone health across the lifespan,” Derocha said. “Diets high in ultra-processed foods may contribute to lower nutrient intake and higher levels of inflammation, both of which can negatively impact bone health over time.”

David Cutler, MD, a board certified family medicine physician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, said the findings of the effects of ultra-processed foods on bone health aren’t surprising. Cutler wasn’t involved in the study. However, he noted that many dietary factors can influence bone health.

“There are many dietary factors aside from UPF which impact bone density,” Cutler told Healthline.

“Certainly, when calcium, vitamin D, or protein are deficient, it will have a major impact on bone density. Other nutrients such as magnesium, potassium, and vitamin K also have a significant, but lesser effect on bone density. So, the extent to which UPFs may be supplemented with these nutrients could mitigate their overall negative impact,” he said.

In the United States, 70% of the food supply consists of ultra-processed foods.

In addition to the impacts on bone health, these foods have been associated with a range of negative health outcomes, such as:

“Adequate intake of calcium, vitamin D, and protein is critical, but emerging research shows that overall dietary patterns matter just as much,” Derocha said.

Theresa Gentile, a registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, said that one of the best ways to make dietary changes aimed at reducing overall intake of ultra-processed foods is to first focus on what can be added to the diet, rather than what can be subtracted. Gentile wasn’t involved in the study.

“Making small changes and lateral shifts is the best way to make long-lasting changes. First, you could add something to an [ultra-processed food] to boost its nutrition,” Gentile told Healthline.

“Add an egg, shredded chicken, and veggies to instant ramen; salad to frozen pizza; fruit, nuts, and chia/flax seeds to instant oatmeal, veggies and ground turkey to jarred pasta and sauce, [or] blended fruit into a nutrition shake,” she said.

“Diet can maintain bone and slow loss, but is best paired with resistance exercise. Through diet, you should make sure to consistently include sources of calcium in your diet, adequate protein to maintain muscle and minimize risk of fractures, and adequate calories to support bone formation and maintenance,” she said.

• Women who go through natural menopause before age 40 face a 40% higher lifetime risk of coronary heart disease.
• Black women are three times as likely to experience premature menopause as white women.
• Untreated menopause symptoms like night sweats and sleep disturbances can undermine the heart-healthy habits that lower cardiovascular risk.
• Experts say women should share their menopause history with their doctors and focus on blood pressure, cholesterol, strength training, and stress management to protect long-term heart health.

Women who go through natural menopause before age 40 face a 40% higher lifetime risk of coronary heart disease, according to a new study published March 18 in JAMA Cardiology.

Premature menopause occurs when the ovaries stop functioning and menstrual periods end before age 40.

Current evidence suggests roughly 3–4% of women may experience some form of menopause before 40, which is higher than the previous 1% estimate for overt premature menopause. Black women are three times as likely to experience premature menopause as white women.

Researchers at Northwestern University analyzed data from more than 10,000 postmenopausal women across six major U.S. population-based studies from 1964 to 2018.

They found the 40% higher lifetime risk of heart attack or fatal coronary heart disease held up regardless of race.

Lead study author Priya Freaney, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said the findings should be viewed as empowering, not alarming.

“We’re talking about an event that happens before the midpoint of someone’s life,” she told Healthline. “That should be viewed as an opportunity…the earlier we can implement prevention, the more impact we can have in the long term.”

Stephanie Faubion, MD, medical director of The Menopause Society, told Healthline that the connection between menopause and heart health stems from hormones. Faubion wasn’t involved in the study.

“The connection has to do with the early loss of estrogen, which helps promote heart, brain, and bone health, especially in these younger women,” Faubion said.

Freaney described a cascade of changes that occur as natural estrogen declines, regardless of age.

“Our muscle mass decreases, our visceral fat increases, fat moves to the belly, our arteries stiffen, our cholesterol goes up, our blood pressure goes up,” she said.

“All of these things taken together in a few years before and after menopause lead to an environment that is less healthy for the heart.”

Most cases of premature menopause have no clear explanation, though conditions like autoimmune diseases, infections, inflammatory conditions, and genetic mutations can trigger it.

The study found that Black women experience premature menopause at more than three times the rate of white women — 15.5% compared with 4.8%.

While the 40% increase in heart disease risk applied regardless of race, the sheer frequency of premature menopause among Black women means the condition carries a far greater population-level impact.

Black women with premature menopause lived an average of 18.2 years free of heart disease after age 55, compared to 19.1 years for Black women who reached menopause at a typical age.

The study’s authors pointed to “weathering” — the theory that chronic racial stress accelerates biological aging — as one possible driver of the higher rates.

Rachel M. Bond, MD, co-chair of the Women and Children Committee at the Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC), said she takes that connection seriously in her practice. Bond wasn’t involved in the study.

“Chronic stress is not ‘just emotional’ — it can affect blood pressure, sleep, inflammation, eating patterns, physical activity, and how consistently someone can care for themselves,” Bond told Healthline.

Bond said she works to get a holistic picture of her patients’ lives, asking about caregiving responsibilities, financial strain, and what she described as “the pressure to keep pushing through.” She treats stress as a real cardiovascular risk factor.

She said weathering is one reason “we treat stress as a real cardiovascular issue.”

Perimenopause, the years before menopause, and postmenopause represent what the study’s authors call a unique “window of opportunity” to measure, monitor, and modify cardiovascular risk.

It’s the period when risk factors like blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar often start to shift, and catching those changes early can make the biggest difference.

“I do not look at that finding and think, ‘It’s only one year.’ I look at it and think, ‘That is our opportunity to intervene sooner,’” Bond said.

She said she takes action the moment she learns a patient is experiencing premature menopause — checking blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, weight, sleep, and smoking status; reviewing pregnancy and family history; talking through exercise and nutrition; and deciding whether to get more aggressive about risk-factor treatment.

A 2022 editorial commenting on a related study by Finnish researchers suggests that the menopausal transition may be an underappreciated opportunity to slow cardiovascular aging overall.

Seizing that window also means treating menopause symptoms. Faubion pointed out that untreated symptoms can undermine the very habits that protect the heart.

“If women are not sleeping because they are having night sweats or mood issues or menopause-related sleep disturbances, this makes it more difficult to do the things that we all know help with heart health, like exercising regularly and paying attention to diet,” she said.

Freaney said women approaching menopause need to “double down on efforts to maintain strength.” She advised strength training at least twice a week.

“Muscle regulates metabolism,” she said. “That can counter some of these adverse cardiac changes that occur around the time of menopause.”

All women can take charge of their cardiovascular health, even before they experience menopausal symptoms.

Bond recommended three starting points:

• know and control your blood pressure
• get regular screening for cholesterol and diabetes before symptoms arise
• prioritize physical activity, sleep, nourishing food, and stress support

These and the other recommendations from ABC’s ‘7 Steps to a Healthy Heart‘ are “core habits” that meaningfully affect long-term heart health, Bond said.

Women can also take initiative with their doctors by sharing their menopause history during visits. Bond said the responsibility goes both ways.

“We should be asking: At what age did your periods stop? Was menopause natural or surgical? Did you go through menopause before age 40?” she said.

“Menopause is not just a gynecologic milestone; it can be an important cardiovascular signal, especially when it happens early,” Bond said.

“Attention to lifestyle, including diet and exercise, is critically important and can significantly modify cardiovascular risk,” she said.

Freaney said the findings reinforce that reproductive history belongs in every cardiovascular risk assessment.

“A problem that was previously thought to be a gynecologic problem really needs to be considered by all clinicians,” she said.

Providers who routinely ask about the timing of menopause “can flag higher-risk women that traditional risk calculators may underestimate.”

• A recent study found that stopping GLP-1s, such as Ozempic or Wegovy, can reverse the cardiovascular benefits they provide.
• The findings show that stopping the medications for as little as 6 months raises the risk of heart attack and stroke.
• GLP-1s have been proven to offer not only benefits for type 2 diabetes and weight loss, but also cardiovascular health.

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have become popular medications for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity. This class of medications may also offer significant cardiovascular benefits.

A recent study published in BMJ Medicine found that when people stop using GLP-1s, they not only tend to regain weight, but they also may experience an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and even death.

“There is enormous exuberance about starting GLP-1 drugs, but not nearly enough attention to what happens when people stop,” senior study author Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, a Washington University School of Medicine clinical epidemiologist and chief of the Research and Development Service at the VA Saint Louis Health Care System, said in a press release.

The researchers noted that many people who use these medications quit them after a short time, typically due to cost, side effects, or shortages.

They wanted to understand the consequences of discontinuing GLP-1 use, particularly on cardiovascular health.

The study analyzed 333,687 veterans. It compared 132,551 individuals who were prescribed a GLP-1 medication to help manage type 2 diabetes with 201,136 who were prescribed sulfonylureas, another type of medication for diabetes. The researchers followed the participants’ outcomes for 3 years.

Sulfonylureas include the medications:

The researchers checked participants’ GLP-1 treatment status every 6 months.

Over the course of the study, 26% of participants stopped taking the medication, and 23% had an interruption of 6 months or more, followed by resuming treatment.

The research team found a positive relationship between continuous use of GLP-1s and fewer cardiovascular events.

“GLP-1 drugs likely help cardiovascular health through several pathways at once, not just by lowering weight,” said Robert Glatter, MD, attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, and assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/ Northwell, who was not involved in the study.

“They improve blood sugar control, modestly lower blood pressure, may improve lipid and vascular function, and seem to reduce inflammation and atherosclerotic plaque growth and progression,” Glatter told Healthline.

“Some evidence also points to direct protective effects on the heart and blood vessels independent of weight loss. In practical terms, they appear to reduce the underlying process of inflammation that drives heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure over time,” he explained.

At the end of the study, compared with those who took sulfonylureas, participants who continuously used GLP-1s over the 3-year period had the most pronounced risk reduction. This group saw 18% fewer major cardiovascular events.

Participants who had taken GLP-1s for 2 or 2.5 years before discontinuing use for the remainder of the study also saw a significant reduction in risk of 7% and 15%, respectively.

Those who took GLP-1s for 18 months or less before discontinuing did not experience a significant reduction in risk.

The study showed that an interruption of GLP-1 use of just 6 months before resuming treatment was enough to significantly decrease the cardiovascular benefit. It led to a 4% to 8% increase in risk compared with those with continuous use.

Discontinued use of 1 to 2 years without resuming resulted in a 14% to 22% increased risk of a cardiovascular event, compared with continuous use.

This shows that cardiovascular benefits gained while using GLP-1s are quickly lost when a person stops taking the medication.

“The main message is that GLP-1 therapy behaves more like a long-term risk-reduction treatment than a short-term fix. The study reinforces a broader lesson in chronic disease management: benefits that accumulate slowly can be lost surprisingly fast when treatment is interrupted, so persistence and follow-up truly matter,” said Glatter.

If you are taking a GLP-1 medication and are considering discontinuing it, you should first speak with your healthcare professional.

“When patients use GLP-1 medications primarily for weight loss, I caution them that it is very easy to regain the weight when these medications are discontinued and subsequently lose the health benefits gained from achieving a healthy weight,” said Mir Ali, MD, bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, who was not involved in the study.

If you suddenly stop taking a GLP-1, like a semaglutide, you may experience withdrawal symptoms. These may include nausea, increased appetite, weight gain, and cardiovascular changes, like elevated blood pressure.

Tapering off the medication slowly may allow your body to gradually adjust to having less support from the GLP-1 medication.

It is also important to maintain your healthy eating habits and get regular physical activity when stopping these medications. This helps you maintain your weight loss.

“Obesity should be viewed as a chronic, long-term disease that requires long-term treatment,” said Ali.

• You don’t need a perfect workout plan to benefit from strength training, according to new recommendations from the American College of Sports Medicine.
• A large new review finds that at-home workouts or body weight exercises can be just as effective as complex resistance training routines.
• Strength training can improve everyday function and long-term health when incorporated into a consistent fitness routine.

When it comes to resistance training, doing some is better than doing none, and consistency is key, according to new recommendations from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

Resistance training, also known as weight or strength training, is linked to numerous health benefits for people of all ages, including improved muscle strength, better metabolic health, and reduced risk of falls in older adults.

“Start now and start simply. You do not need a complicated or perfect programme to benefit. You just need to begin and do it consistently,” said senior author Stuart Phillips, PhD, Distinguished University Professor and Canada Research Chair of the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University.

“Many forms of resistance training can work, which means people have options. That flexibility matters. If someone believes there is only one ‘right’ way to train, the barrier to starting, or continuing, becomes much higher,” he told Healthline.

The recommendations explicitly include home-based routines, body weight training, and the use of resistance bands as forms of resistance training that offer strength and fitness benefits. These approaches may also be more accessible and have a lower barrier to entry for some individuals.

Perhaps surprisingly, some of the key variables people typically associate with resistance training appear to matter far less. Things like training frequency, exercise selection, and equipment type were all found to be less important than overall consistency and effort.

The Position Stand is the first major update from the ACSM on resistance training since 2009.

It’s an “overview of reviews,” meaning researchers pulled together findings from many prior studies to identify the most well-supported evidence. Specifically, they analyzed 137 systematic reviews, including data from more than 30,000 adult participants.

“The message that this delivers is that you don’t need all these complex requirements for resistance training,” said Denice Ichinoe, DO, an assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Ichinoe wasn’t involved in the research.

“This should be broadly applicable to a larger population and should make it more accessible for the general public,” Ichinoe told Healthline.

Participants were healthy adults ages 18 and older, most of whom were beginners or had limited resistance-training experience.

The included studies looked at people who followed a resistance training program for at least 6 weeks, with some programs lasting up to a year. These programs were compared with either no exercise or alternative training approaches.

The researchers also examined how specific training variables — like frequency, weight, and number of sets — affected outcomes such as strength, muscle growth (hypertrophy), and physical function, which refers to aspects of everyday movement such as walking and balance.

Across the board, resistance training delivered clear benefits. Compared with doing no exercise, strength training significantly improved:

• muscle strength
• muscle size
• power
• endurance
• balance
• walking speed
• overall physical function

In other words, strength training supports both fitness and everyday function, like climbing stairs or getting up from a chair.

The study also identified specific training patterns linked to better results.

For building strength, the strongest gains were seen with heavier weights (about 80% or more of a person’s maximum), 2 to 3 sets per exercise, and at least two sessions per week.

For muscle growth, total workload, known as volume, mattered most, while the exact weight used was less important.

When it came to power (the ability to move quickly and forcefully), the best results came from moderate weights (30% to 70% of maximum) lifted explosively, often with lower overall volume.

Notably, many commonly debated factors — such as training to failure, using machines versus free weights, or complex programming strategies — did not consistently change outcomes, suggesting that simple, consistent training can be just as effective as more complicated approaches.

It’s important to note that the findings represent general recommendations for novice and recreational lifters.

Elite athletes and more experienced lifters may still require more specialized or individualized training approaches.

“With any type of elite athlete, their training is going to look different. But the general consensus here is that for the average adult, the best type of resistance training is one that you’ll stay consistent with,” Ichinoe said.

Whether you are new to resistance training or an experienced weightlifter, the new recommendations offer important insight into your training routine.

The message should be clear: what’s more important than optimizing your workout is finding the consistency to get out there and do it week after week.

“Consistency usually starts with lowering friction. For most people, that means starting with a routine that is realistic, convenient, and not too ambitious: a couple of sessions a week, a few core movements, and a plan that fits their schedule and access to equipment,” Phillips said.

Even for older adults or people who’ve never really considered weightlifting before, starting resistance training is important for overall health.

“With any new activity, there’s always going to be a little bit of hesitance, maybe some fear and trepidation,” Ichinoe said. “I usually try to emphasize to older patients that with strength training, not only does it help build and maintain muscle mass and strength, it also helps with making your bones stronger.”

Ichinoe shared some actionable tips on how to get started:

• Think about your health and fitness goals. Are you training for general strength, or do you just want to feel more confident playing a round of pickleball?
• Start slow: a consistent practice may start with just 10 minutes a day or one weightlifting session per week.
• Get friends and family involved. It may be easier to find motivation when you have people to work out with.
• Remember that anything is better than nothing.

• Researchers found that type 2 diabetes risk varies among adults ages 18 to 40.
• Those with high fasting glucose, especially if they qualified for GLP-1 treatment, had higher risk.
• These findings suggest that tailored interventions may be most beneficial.
• Experts say it’s wise to have screening done since prediabetes may have no symptoms.
• Steps like diet, exercise, good sleep, and stress reduction may help prevent type 2 diabetes.

More than 115 million people in the United States have prediabetes, but an estimated 80% of this group may not be aware they have the condition.

Now, a new study has revealed that the risk of developing type 2 diabetes among adults ages 18 to 40 with prediabetes varies widely.

The findings show that young adults with high fasting glucose levels, especially those who meet criteria for treatment with GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) medications, face significantly higher risks of progressing to type 2 diabetes within five years.

According to the researchers, these findings suggest the need for earlier, more tailored interventions to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes and its serious complications, such as heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke. They note that this challenges the current one-size-fits-all approach to prevention.

Diagnosing prediabetes and managing high blood sugar can prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes. Early treatment and lifestyle changes are crucial.

The study analyzed data from 662 young adults ages 18 to 40 with prediabetes, who were followed for an average of 7 years.

These individuals were drawn from three well-established U.S.-based cohorts: the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos, the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, and the Framingham Heart Study Third Generation.

The research team focused on fasting glucose levels to define prediabetes, specifically levels ranging from 100 to 125 mg/dL. However, hemoglobin A1c data, which measure average blood glucose over the past two to three months, were not available for this analysis.

In addition to glucose measurements, investigators collected comprehensive health information, including body mass index (BMI), lipid profiles, and blood pressure readings, taken during study visits from 1985 to 2011, prior to the FDA approval of GLP-1RA medications for weight management.

The researchers applied existing FDA criteria for prescribing GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, which include a BMI of 30 kg/m² or higher (obesity), or a BMI of 27 kg/m² or higher (overweight) combined with at least one weight-related health condition, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure.

Using these criteria, the team estimated the five-year risk of progression from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes. This risk stratification aimed to identify subgroups within the prediabetic population who might benefit from more intensive lifestyle interventions or pharmacologic treatment.

The authors noted that the study’s design, while robust in terms of follow-up length and population diversity, was limited by the absence of hemoglobin A1c measurements and by the lack of GLP-1RA medications during participants’ follow-up period.

Overall, the analysis found that the five-year risk of progressing from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes among young adults was 7.5%.

However, this risk was not uniform across all participants. Those who met the eligibility criteria for GLP-1RA treatment due to obesity or overweight status plus a related condition exhibited a higher risk of 10.9%.

The risk escalated further to 15.1% for individuals with fasting glucose levels at the higher end of the prediabetic range (110-125 mg/dL).

Among those with both elevated fasting glucose and GLP-1RA treatment eligibility, the five-year risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes was nearly one in four (24.8%).

These findings highlight significant variability in diabetes risk among young adults with prediabetes as well as the inadequacy of treating all patients with prediabetes in the same manner.

According to Mary Rooney, PhD, MPH, the study’s lead author and an assistant research professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, identifying those at highest risk through blood tests and clinical risk factors could help guide early interventions, including lifestyle modifications and, where appropriate, drug therapy.

The study also raises important considerations about the potential role of GLP-1RA medications.

This class of diabetes and weight loss medications is not currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for diabetes prevention, even in high risk young adults with prediabetes with overweight or obesity.

However, the researchers say the cost-effectiveness and long-term benefits of such an approach remain uncertain.

Bryan Henry, FNP, PhD, president of PeterMD, who was not involved in the research, said that younger people should know that even if they feel well, it doesn’t mean they don’t have metabolic issues.

“People with prediabetes can go years before they feel like something is wrong with them,” he said. “It’s common to feel good but have your body working poorly.”

However, high fasting glucose levels can damage blood vessels, increase inflammation, and strain your pancreas.

“From this study, we need to recognize that some metabolic changes occur without our signs, which is why it is so very important to regularly screen and become aware of this issue as soon as possible after we reach early adulthood,” explained Henry.

“I often emphasize that metabolic health is dependent upon much more than just what we eat and how we exercise; it also depends on achieving an optimal hormonal balance.”

Henry advised establishing regular sleep routines and practicing good stress-reducing behaviors to keep prediabetes from advancing to type 2 diabetes.

Jamie Bovay, DPT, a physical therapist, strength and longevity coach, and owner of KinetikChain Denver, who wasn’t involved in the study, said that investing in muscle mass and metabolic flexibility can help support a healthy metabolism.

“For young adults with prediabetes, focus on regular heavy resistance work to preserve and build muscle, consistent low intensity cardio (zone 2) to support fat burning, and one to two short higher-intensity sessions per week to maintain cardiovascular capacity,” Bovay told Healthline.

“If you can focus on building strength, cardiovascular capacity, and consistency through lower intensity cardio, you can give your body the tools it needs to not only fight off diabetes, but live a healthy and long life as well,” he said.

• 62-year-old Tommy Bell survived three heart attacks in the span of four days.
• Bell received care at the same hospital where he has worked for 10 years.
• He is sharing his story to help raise awareness about heart attack symptoms and prevention.

On November 26, 2025, 62-year-old Tommy Bell had just finished a shift at AdventHealth DeLand Hospital, where he had worked for over 10 years as the Patient Transport Supervisor.

On his drive home while talking with his wife, Joi, he felt pressure in the center of his chest that persisted on and off. The feeling pushed him to drive back to AdventHealth’s ER department.

After doctors performed tests and imaging, Bell was scheduled for a cardiac procedure two days later, on Friday, November 28. During recovery in the hospital, Bell had a heart attack and received a stent to normalize blood flow.

Once stabilized, he was moved to intensive care to recover and was discharged home two days later.

“Prior to that day, I had never experienced anything like that before. The only symptoms of a heart attack that I knew of were what I had seen on TV—chest pain, pain down the arm, etcetera,” Bell told Healthline.

While recovering at home, he still didn’t feel right, and his wife took him back to the ER, where he went on to have a second and third heart attack on December 2, 2025.

Despite the trauma, Bell said it was reassuring to get care in a familiar place.

“Knowing that I was being cared for by the people that I see and make laugh on a daily basis made me feel at home. Just knowing the level of care and support of my co-workers was comforting in my time of need,” he said.

He knew every person who cared for him by name.

“Although it was strange being on the other side of things, I knew I was in good hands by the very best at what they do,” he said.

After two weeks off for recovery and to regain his strength, Bell returned to work.

“My recovery included being surrounded by my work family and my home family,” he said. “There was not a day that went by that someone from the hospital did not reach out to check in on me. The support was phenomenal!”

Bell hopes that sharing his story will help spread awareness about the different heart attack symptoms and who may be at higher risk of recurrent cardiac events.

“I felt it on my heart to share my story because if I can help save a life by reminding people to listen to their bodies, I have done what God has called me to do,” Bell said.

Janak Bhavsar, MD, an interventional cardiologist at AdventHealth, who was part of Bell’s care team, said that recurrent cardiac events like those Bell experienced can occur more often than some people may think, especially if there are multiple risk factors, such as:

“Controlling the risk factors is important for preventing future events. Lifestyle modifications, including exercise programs, diet control, sleep quality, and weight loss, are important elements,” he told Healthline.

Bhavsar added that the fact that Bell did not ignore his symptoms and went to the ER right away when he developed them allowed doctors to recognize his condition and treat him immediately.

“Heart attack can present with some symptoms that are not classic. There can be pain in the neck, jaw, arms, back, or stomach, which can be a symptom/warning sign,” he said. “Sometimes the symptoms can be nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, and sweating (diaphoresis).”

According to the American Heart Association, approximately 20% to 50% of heart attacks are “silent” or ignored, often misattributed to indigestion, muscle strain, or fatigue.

After people receive a stent, Bhavsar said it’s important that they continue taking medications, especially blood thinners, which can prevent clotting in the stent.

“Monitor for symptoms, including chest pain, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, and seek help if symptoms occur,” he said. “Follow up with cardiology and primary care is important. Patients may also benefit from programs such as cardiac rehabilitation.”

To improve heart health, Bhavsar said controlling risk factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes, as well as quitting smoking, can help. Staying physically active, especially with aerobic exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, following a Mediterranean diet, and getting adequate sleep are also effective lifestyle strategies.

Caring for patients like Bell and seeing them make full recovery and healthy lifestyle adjustments is rewarding for Bhavsar.

“I was able to interact with [Tommy] in several settings, including the ER, procedure room, ICU, medical unit, outpatient office for follow-up, and coming back full circle seeing him in the hallways at the hospital when he returned to work, and providing whole person care for him in these different settings,” he said.

• A federal judge has struck down childhood vaccination recommendations implemented earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
• The judge also blocked HHS Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appointments to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
• Medical professionals praised the judge’s ruling, saying vaccinations are vital in preventing diseases in children.

A federal judge has overturned new childhood vaccination policies implemented earlier this year by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ruled that federal health officials under the leadership of HHS Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had acted unlawfully when they issued new childhood vaccination recommendations in January.

Those guidelines reduce the number of childhood vaccinations, indicating vaccination against 11 diseases instead of the 16 diseases recommended under prior guidelines. The HHS policies also downgraded childhood immunization recommendations for other diseases, including rotavirus, influenza, and hepatitis A.

In his ruling, Murphy said that previous childhood vaccination recommendations had been made through “a method scientific in nature and codified into law through procedural requirements.”

The judge said that HHS officials had “disregarded those methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its actions.”

Murphy also ruled that Health Secretary Kennedy’s appointments to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) were not lawfully constituted, and blocked Kennedy’s 13 appointees to the panel.

The plaintiffs in the case argued that the committee had become dominated by people aligned with Kennedy’s anti-vaccine views and was constituted in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act’s mandates that it be fairly balanced and free of inappropriate influence.

After the ruling was issued on March 16, ACIP meetings scheduled for this week were postponed. The panel was scheduled to discuss potential changes to recommendations regarding COVID-19 vaccines.

In addition, the judge had put a hold on votes taken by ACIP members since June. That includes a December decision by the panel to roll back recommendations that newborns receive a first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth.

The Trump administration is expected to appeal Murphy’s ruling.

The lawsuit challenging the HHS childhood vaccination recommendations was brought by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other major medical groups.

“Today’s ruling is a historic and welcome outcome for children, communities, and pediatricians everywhere,” said Andrew Racine, MD, AAP president, in a statement.

This decision effectively means that a science-based process for developing immunization recommendations is not to be trifled with and represents a critical step to restoring scientific decision-making to federal vaccine policy that has kept children healthy for years,” Racine continued.

Medical professionals said the judge’s ruling was an important action and the correct decision.

“The judge’s ruling brings light and focus to the reality that the changes to the vaccine schedule were made by individuals who are not experts in vaccinations, science, or public health and the changes were not based upon any new data, evidence, or scientific basis,” said Graham Tse, MD, a pediatrician and chief medical officer of MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital in Long Beach, CA.

“The judge’s ruling is everything that pediatricians and family practice physicians and the AAP have been waiting to hear,” said Danelle Fisher, MD, a pediatrician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA.

“There was absolutely no reason to downgrade recommendations on vaccines. The ones who will suffer are the children. Someone needed to stand up to this administration and help our kids,” she told Healthline.

Tse said the judge’s ruling, if upheld on appeal, will send a clear message to parents and other community members.

“I would hope this brings back a single recommended vaccination schedule, supported by all states and the federal government, for the United States,” he told Healthline. “When there are vaccine schedule disagreements and variability across agencies, groups, and states, it leads to confusion, fear, anxiety, and ultimately decreased vaccine acceptance.”

The AAP recommends that children receive vaccinations for 18 different diseases from birth through age 18.

These inoculations include protection against:

Medical professionals point to recent measles outbreaks as an example of what can happen if children aren’t vaccinated. There are now more than 1,300 confirmed measles cases in the United States in 2026. There were only 285 in all of 2024.

“Vaccines prevent many diseases that used to be the scourge of childhood, causing vast amounts of illness, deaths, and suffering,” said William Schaffner, MD, a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.

“Vaccines have made infancy, childhood, and adolescence much safer than when I grew up, so maintaining a comprehensive infancy and childhood vaccination program across the country is critical, lest we turn back the clock to the bad old days,” he told Healthline.

Schaffner said that widespread vaccination is needed to protect immunocompromised children who can’t be inoculated.

“By all participating in vaccination, we create healthier communities as well as protected individuals,” he said.

“Vaccines are one of the easiest ways to ensure the health of children and the community,” noted Tse. “Vaccines are one of the simplest, safest, and easiest ways to protect your children and others from infections and diseases that have significant and severe consequences.”

“These diseases can cause illness and death. If we can prevent needless suffering, why wouldn’t we?,” said Fisher.

• Researchers say extra abdominal fat is strongly associated with an increased risk of heart failure.
• Excess belly fat contributes to systemic inflammation, which endangers cardiovascular health.
• The researchers recommend that medical professionals measure waist circumference and inflammation to identify people at risk for heart-related conditions.

A new study reports that excess belly fat is more strongly associated with an increased risk of heart failure than a person’s overall body weight or their body mass index (BMI) measurement.

The researchers say that systemic inflammation is a key factor in the link between abdominal fat and heart disease risk. They estimate that one-quarter to one-third of the association is explained by inflammation.

These findings suggest that reducing inflammation is a potential treatment strategy to reduce the risk of heart failure in people with excess abdominal fat.

The researchers said they hope their analysis will encourage new approaches to heart health monitoring.

“This research helps us understand why some people develop heart failure despite having a body weight that seems healthy,” said Szu-Han Chen, the lead author of the study and a medical student at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, in a statement.

“By monitoring waist size and inflammation, clinicians may be able to identify people with higher risk earlier and focus on prevention strategies that could reduce the chance of heart failure before symptoms begin,” Chen continued.

This new research follows a scientific statement published by the American Heart Association (AHA) in May 2025.

In that statement, medical professionals explained that inflammation in the body can disrupt a person’s immune system, damage blood vessels, and lead to the buildup of scar tissue in the heart.

Experts not involved in the study told Healthline that this new research is important.

“This study reinforces an important concept in cardiology: where fat is stored in the body may matter more than total body weight alone,” said Kevin Shah, MD, a cardiologist and program director of Heart Failure Outreach at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at the Long Beach Medical Center in California.

“One practical takeaway from this study is that clinicians and patients may want to pay more attention to waist circumference and central obesity, since those measures may reveal cardiovascular risk even in individuals whose BMI appears normal,” Shah said.

Mir Ali, MD, a bariatric surgeon and medical director of the MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in California, agreed.

For their study, the researchers analyzed data from nearly 2,000 African American adults enrolled in the Jackson Heart Study who lived in three counties, both urban and rural, near Jackson, MS.

The participants did not have a diagnosis of heart failure at the time they entered the study between 2000 and 2004.

Participants’ ages ranged from 35 to 84, with an average age of 58. About 36% were female. The subjects were studied for a median of nearly 7 years through December 2016.

Researchers assessed the participants’ body fat by using measures such as overall weight, BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio. Blood samples were used to measure high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, a commonly used marker of inflammation.

The researchers reported that 112 participants developed heart failure during the follow-up period. They noted that elevated waist circumference was associated with increased heart failure risk, whereas high BMI was not.

They also found that higher waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio were associated with an increased risk of heart failure. They further reported that participants with higher inflammation levels were more likely to experience heart failure.

The researchers noted that they did not have access to participants’ heart failure subtypes, so their study reported on overall heart failure risk.

Experts said that, even though this study was limited to African American participants in one part of the country, the findings are pertinent to the nation’s population as a whole.

“I believe these results can be extrapolated to other populations as previous research has demonstrated similar findings across different groups,” Ali said.

“We should be cautious about over-generalizing the findings,” said Shah. “However, the biological mechanisms linking visceral fat, inflammation, and cardiovascular disease are well established across many populations, so the results are likely relevant more broadly, even if additional studies in diverse groups are needed.”

Experts say that excess belly fat contributes to heart health risks in several ways.

“Visceral fat is metabolically active and releases inflammatory molecules that can contribute to insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and vascular dysfunction,” Shah said. “Over time, chronic inflammation can damage blood vessels and place stress on the heart muscle, eventually increasing the likelihood of developing heart failure.”

“Belly fat envelops and impairs the function of internal organs,” said Ali. “Furthermore, obesity increases the body’s inflammatory response, which is theorized to stiffen the heart muscle and impair its pumping mechanism.”

Shah and Ali agreed that tracking abdominal fat is important. However, they said BMI measurements shouldn’t be totally disregarded either.

“BMI remains a reasonable tool for assessing obesity levels and associated health risks,” said Ali. “While it is not perfect — as it does not account for body composition or fat distribution — it is simple to calculate and remains the standard used by practitioners and insurance companies to classify obesity.”

“BMI is still a useful screening tool because it is easy to measure and helps identify people at risk for obesity-related disease,” said Shah. “However, BMI does not capture fat distribution, which is why measures like waist circumference or waist-to-height ratio can sometimes provide additional insight into cardiovascular risk.”

It’s estimated that more than 900,000 people die from cardiovascular disease every year in the United States. That accounts for almost one-third of all deaths annually in the country.

Heart disease is listed as the number one cause of death for males, females, and people of most racial and ethnic groups.

A number of factors are considered to be contributors to increased disease risk. Among them:

It’s estimated that 40% of U.S. adults have obesity. The percentages are similar for males and females. Among age groups, the obesity prevalence is highest for people ages 40 to 59.

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of a number of diseases and conditions, including cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Healthline’s 7-day heart health reset offers tips for adopting simple lifestyle behaviors that can support long-term heart health.

Experts say there are daily habits that can help people lose weight and reduce abdominal fat.

“General weight loss is the most effective way to reduce abdominal fat and the resulting inflammation,” said Ali. “It is important to note that you cannot ‘spot-reduce’ fat. While abdominal exercises strengthen muscles, the body burns fat from across the entire body. Significant changes to diet and lifestyle are necessary for meaningful weight loss,” he continued.

Shah recommended implementing several daily routines. These include:

• regular exercise
• a diet rich in whole foods, fiber, nuts, fruits, and vegetables
• avoiding sugar and ultra-processed foods
• quality sleep

“The most effective strategies focus on improving overall metabolic health,” he said.