Yo-Yo Dieting May Actually be Good for You, Suggests New Study

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A new study indicates that yo-yo dieting might actually be good for you.

Also known as weight cycling, repeatedly losing weight through dieting, only to regain it again—and often more pounds over time—has been criticized in previous research showing it could increase the risk of a heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and higher blood pressure.

But a new study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, shows yo-yo dieting confers long-term health benefits by reducing levels of harmful abdominal fat, also known as visceral fat.

Being called “the largest long-term MRI-based repeated weight-loss trial”, the research demonstrates that every weight loss attempt has the potential to improve overall well-being.

Study principal investigator Professor Iris Shai says the research challenges the traditional focus on weight loss as a simple “numbers game”.

“Persistent commitment to a healthy dietary change creates cardio-metabolic memory in the body.

“Repeated participation in a lifestyle program aimed at weight loss, even after an apparent ‘failure’ in which an individual regains all the weight lost in a previous diet, may lead to significant and sustainable health benefits over the years, particularly through the reduction of harmful visceral fat.”

Body weight alone does not capture changes in visceral fat or metabolic biomarkers, explained the lead author, Hadar Klein, a doctoral student at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

“Even when weight is regained, cardio-metabolic health may remain improved, and success should not be defined solely by the number on the scale.”

Credit: ColinRose (via CC license)

“Importantly, even when weight loss is attenuated during a second attempt, the cumulative benefits for abdominal fat and metabolic health are substantial.”

For the study, researchers conducted a follow-up after five and 10 years with participants from two consecutive randomized controlled dietary trials lasting 18 months each, including around 300 participants.

The trials analyzed participants undertaking a Mediterranean diet–based intervention with physical activity, and compared them with control diets, using detailed MRI scans performed before and after each intervention.

Surprisingly, the study found that, although participants entered the second intervention at a body weight similar to that at the start of the first one—indicating full weight regain—their abdominal fat profile and metabolic markers were more favorable.

They showed improvements of around 15% to 25% compared with their initial levels, including enhanced insulin sensitivity and a more favorable lipid profile.

The researchers say their findings point to the existence of a positive “cardiometabolic memory” from prior intervention that persists, even after weight is regained.

The study also showed that, although participants who rejoined the weight-loss program lost less weight during the second intervention, they maintained better long-term health outcomes.

“Five years after completing the second intervention, these participants showed less weight regain and less accumulation of abdominal fat compared with participants who had engaged in a weight-loss program only once,” said Prof. Shai.The team collaborated with researchers from Harvard’s Department of Nutrition, the University Hospital Leipzig in Germany, and the School of Public Health at Tulane University in New Orleans. Yo-Yo Dieting May Actually be Good for You, Suggests New Study

Read More........→March 10, 2026

Yoga aids speedy opioid withdrawal recovery, improves anxiety, sleep: Study

Varanasi: People perform yoga on the occasion of International Yoga Day at Namo Ghat in Varanasi on Saturday, June 21, 2025. (Photo: IANS/X/@mdniy)

New Delhi, (IANS) Yoga can aid in the speedy recovery of people with opioid withdrawal, as well as improve anxiety, sleep, and pain in them, according to a study.

Opioid withdrawal involves physical symptoms like diarrhoea, insomnia, fever, pain, anxiety, and depression, and autonomic signs such as pupil dilation, runny nose, goosebumps, anorexia, yawning, nausea, vomiting, and sweating. These symptoms result from sympathetic nervous system overactivity due to dysregulated noradrenergic outflow.

The study led by researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, and Harvard Medical School, US, calls for integrating yoga into withdrawal protocols as a neurobiologically informed intervention. They noted that yoga will help address core regulatory processes beyond symptom management.

“In this trial, yoga significantly enhanced opioid withdrawal recovery through measurable autonomic and clinical improvements, supporting its integration into withdrawal protocols as a neurobiologically informed intervention,” said Suddala Goutham, from the Department of Integrative Medicine at NIMHANS.

Opioid use disorder (OUD), characterised by recurrent opioid use, leading to significant physical, psychological, and social problems, is a significant global public health challenge.

In 2022, an estimated 60 million people worldwide used opioids nonmedically, yet only 1 in 11 individuals with drug use disorders received treatment. In India, a 2019 national survey indicated a 2.1 per cent prevalence of opioid use.

Opioid withdrawal involves sympathetic hyperactivity and reduced parasympathetic tone, which standard pharmacological treatments may not adequately address, contributing to relapse vulnerability.

To evaluate yoga as an adjuvant therapy to accelerate opioid withdrawal recovery, the team conducted a randomised clinical trial of 59 male participants (30 yoga and 29 control participants) with opioid use disorder.

The participants who received yoga alongside standard buprenorphine treatment achieved withdrawal stabilisation 4.4 times faster than controls. They also showed significant improvements in heart rate variability, anxiety, sleep, and pain measures.

“In this randomised clinical trial, adjuvant yoga therapy significantly accelerated opioid withdrawal recovery while addressing autonomic dysregulation. The concurrent physiological, psychological, and symptomatic improvements suggest that yoga may restore core regulatory processes beyond symptom management,” said the team in the paper, published in the JAMA Psychiatry.“By targeting parasympathetic restoration, yoga may fill a critical therapeutic gap in standard OUD care, supporting integration into withdrawal protocols as a neurobiologically informed intervention with potential economic benefits,” they added. Yoga aids speedy opioid withdrawal recovery, improves anxiety, sleep: Study | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com

Read More........→March 07, 2026

New research shows small lifestyle changes are linked to differences in teen mental health over time

Scarlett Smout, University of Sydney; Katrina Champion, University of Sydney, and Lauren Gardner, University of Sydney

Judging by recent headlines and policy ideas, you might think screen time is the only lifestyle behaviour influencing teen wellbeing.

But with young people struggling to deal with mounting mental health issues, it’s crucial we don’t get tunnel vision and instead remember all the lifestyle levers that can play a role.

Our research, published today, tracked Australian high school students from 71 schools across New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. Over time, improvements in sleep, fruit and vegetable intake, and exercise were associated with small but significant improvements in mental health.

The reverse was also true when it came to unhealthy behaviours like screen time, junk food, alcohol use and tobacco.

A comprehensive look at adolescent lifestyles

Our new study of more than 4,400 Australian high school students looks at a suite of lifestyle behaviours: sleep, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, sedentary (inactive) recreational screen time, fruit and vegetable intake, consumption of junk food and sugary drinks, alcohol use and smoking.

Firstly, we asked year 7 (students aged 12–13) to report their levels of these lifestyle behaviours and to rate their psychological distress (a general indicator of mental ill-health) using a well-known measurement scale.

Then we examined how changes in each of the lifestyle behaviours between year 7 and year 10 (age 15–16) were linked to psychological distress levels in year 10. Importantly, we accounted for the level of psychological distress participants reported in year 7, as well as their lifestyle behaviours in year 7. This means we can see the average benefits associated with behaviour change, no matter where people started out.

Our research showed increases over time in healthy behaviours were associated with lower psychological distress. Conversely, increases in health risk behaviours were associated with higher psychological distress.

How much makes a difference?

On average, when looking at the change between year 7 and 10, every one-hour increase in sleep per night was linked to a 9% reduction in psychological distress.

Each added day of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week was linked to a 3% reduction in psychological distress. Each added daily serve of fruit or vegetables was linked to 4% lower psychological distress.

By contrast, each added hour of screen time was linked to a 2% increase in psychological distress, as was each unit increase in junk food or sugary drinks.

Because drinking alcohol and smoking are less common in early adolescence, we only looked at whether they had or hadn’t drank alcohol or smoked in the past six months. We saw that switching from not drinking in year 7 to drinking in year 10 was associated with a 17% increase in psychological distress. Switching from not smoking to smoking was linked to a 36% increase in psychological distress.

It’s important to note our study can’t definitively say lifestyle behaviour change caused the change in distress. The study also can’t account for changes in a student’s circumstances such as in their home life or relationships. With the baseline survey done in 2019 and the year 10 survey done in 2022, there was also the potential impact of COVID.

But our longitudinal design (tracking the same subjects over an extended period) and the way we structured the analysis does help illustrate the relationship over time.

Our study didn’t measure vaping, but evidence shows that, like smoking, it has clear links with adolescent mental health.

What does this mean for teens and parents?

National guidelines for these behaviours set out aspirational targets based on optimum health goals. But movement guidelines and dietary guidelines might seem out of reach for many teens. Indeed, most participants in our study were not meeting guidelines for physical activity, sleep, screen time, and vegetable consumption in year 10.

What our research shows is that a healthy lifestyle change doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

Even relatively small changes – getting an extra hour of sleep each night, eating one extra serve of fruit or vegetables each day, cutting out one hour of screen time, or adding an extra day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week – are linked to improvements in mental health. And stacking changes in multiple areas is likely to stand you in even better stead.

Parents can play a major role in shaping lifestyle behaviours (even into the teenage years!). Expense and time can be barriers, but anything parents can do within their means is a step in the right direction.

For example, modelling healthy social media use, making affordable changes to your grocery shop to improve nutritional content, or even introducing set bedtimes. And parents can gather information so young people can make positive choices around alcohol, tobacco and other substance use including vaping.

The bigger picture

Lifestyle changes can support better adolescent mental health, but they’re only one piece of the puzzle. We can’t place the burden of addressing the youth mental health crisis solely on teen lifestyles. There is plenty to be done at a school, community, and policy level to create a society that supports youth mental health.

Young people who are struggling with their mental health may need professional support, which parents and carers can support them to access. Teenagers or young people can also contact ReachOut or Kids Helpline directly for resources and support.

Scarlett Smout, PhD Candidate (under examination) and Research Associate at The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health & Substance Use and Australia's Mental Health Think Tank, University of Sydney; Katrina Champion, Senior Research Fellow & Sydney Horizon Fellow, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use and School of Public Health, University of Sydney, and Lauren Gardner, Senior Research Fellow & Program Lead of School-Based Health Interventions, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→March 05, 2026

What causes depression? What we know, don’t know and suspect

Antoine Pouligny/Unsplash Caroline Gurvich, Monash University; Eveline Mu, Monash University, and Jayashri Kulkarni, Monash University

Depression is a complex and deeply personal experience. While almost everyone has periods of sadness, low mood or grief, depression is different. Major depressive disorder is persistent, interferes with day-to-day activities, and can affect work, life and relationships.

One in five people will experience depression in their lifetime. Women are nearly twice as likely as men to develop it – a disparity that emerges around puberty and persists into adulthood.

But what causes it? The short answer is: many different things.

While there are various theories, we know brain chemistry, genes, hormones, stress, lifestyle and personality can all play a role. How these interact can vary greatly from one person to another.

An imbalance of brain chemicals?

The traditional “monoamine hypothesis” of depression was proposed more than half a century ago, in the 1950s. This theory suggests the root cause of depression is a deficiency in certain brain chemicals (or neurotransmitters) called monoamines – serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.

Several antidepressants have been developed based on this. They primarily work by increasing levels of monoamines such as serotonin.

However, it has become clear that the “chemical imbalance” explanation is an oversimplification.

Research over the past few decades has not found consistent evidence that individuals with depression always have lower levels of serotonin, or any single neurotransmitter.

And while antidepressants can increase serotonin levels within hours, improvements in mood typically take days or weeks to emerge. This delay suggests depression cannot be explained by neurotransmitter levels alone.

Current understanding recognises depression as a complex condition influenced by multiple interacting factors, including genetics, trauma, medications, diet, sleep patterns and social interactions.

Genetic factors can increase your risk

According to one 2021 review, around 30 to 50% of the risk someone will develop depression may be inherited.

No single “depression gene” has been found. But large studies have identified over 100 genetic risk markers on chromosomes.

The genetic risk of depression is also thought to be “polygenic”. This means multiple genetic variants (each carrying a small effect) interact and collectively contribute to someone’s genetic risk.

One important and longstanding research question has been whether there is a genetic reason women are more likely than men to develop depression.

In 2025, a large study revealed substantial overlap between men and women’s genetic risk. However, on average, women with depression tend to carry more of the genetic variants linked to depression.

This suggests that there may be a greater genetic risk for depression in women and perhaps a stronger environmental influence on depression risk in men.

Still, carrying a genetic risk does not mean someone will necessarily develop depression. The interplay between genetic and non-genetic factors is complex.

Hormones and biological sex

Hormones – the body’s chemical messengers – also play an important role in mood and wellbeing.

In women, estrogen and progesterone levels naturally fluctuate across different life stages, including the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, the period after childbirth and menopause.

Our 2025 review found some women are more sensitive to these normal hormonal shifts, and more vulnerable to mood disturbances.

For instance, in the premenstrual phase of their cycle, around 8% of women experience a severe depression, with intense mood swings and irritability, called premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Similarly, the dramatic hormonal changes during pregnancy and after childbirth (combined with sleep loss and stress) can contribute to postnatal depression.

Later in life, fluctuating and falling estrogen levels during the menopause transition years may also increase the risk of developing depressive symptoms or intensify existing ones.

Hormonal contraceptives – which contain synthetic forms of estrogen and progesterone – have also been linked to mood changes and depression symptoms. In fact, these are some of the most common reasons women stop taking them.

These effects appear to depend on the specific type and amount of progesterone used in the formulation.

These findings show how hormones can act as biological triggers, and help explain why women are statistically more likely to experience depression at certain stages of life.

The effect of hormones on depression in men has predominantly focused on the protective role of testosterone, but findings remain inconclusive.

Stress is another important factor

Chronic or repeated stress can have lasting effects on both the brain and body.

When we experience stress, our bodies activate the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, also known as the “stress-response system”. This helps us cope by maintaining balance in our body – what scientists call physiological homeostasis.

But when stress is constant or overwhelming, this system can become dysregulated. Stressful or traumatic experiences in childhood – such as neglect, abuse or severe adversity – can also disrupt the stress-response system.

As a result, we overproduce the stress hormone cortisol. High or persistent cortisol levels can alter the structure and functioning of key brain areas (the hippocampus and pre-frontal cortex) which are important for regulating mood and memory.

Cortisol can also trigger the release of inflammatory chemicals, which then cross into the brain or influence neural signals, leading to mood changes and depressive symptoms.

Importantly though, not everyone who experiences stressful life events becomes depressed.

Some people may be more vulnerable due to genetic factors, early life adversity or differences in brain chemistry. Others might cope with the same stress without developing depression or other conditions.

Does personality play a role?

Personality traits also influence how people respond to stress and may affect their risk of developing depression.

People who tend to experience anxiety, sadness and self-doubt are more likely to develop depressive symptoms, especially after stressful events. In contrast, traits such as resilience, optimism, and emotional stability seem to protect against depression.

This suggests that personality plays an important role in shaping both vulnerability and resilience to depression.

Lifestyle choices can help lower your risk

These include not smoking, limiting alcohol use, eating a balanced diet, staying physically active, getting enough sleep, maintaining a healthy body weight and having social supports.

Research shows these healthy habits and lifestyle factors can have a protective effect on mental health. They may even reduce the impact of genetic risk factors for depression.

There’s no single cause – and no universal treatment

Depression arises from a mix of factors – biological (genes and hormones), psychological (personality and thoughts) and social (stress and life events).

Treatment options are based on all of these factors, as well as considering how severe the depression is and whether a person has responded to previous treatments.

While science has made some progress in understanding depression, what underpins each person’s experience is unique.

Caroline Gurvich, Associate Professor and Clinical Neuropsychologist, Monash University; Eveline Mu, Research Fellow in Women's Mental Health, Monash University, and Jayashri Kulkarni, Professor of Psychiatry, Monash University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→March 02, 2026

What does your musical taste say about your personality and lifestyle?

Adrian North, Curtin University

Abba - Knowing me, knowing you.

I’m quite used to receiving abuse concerning the content of this column, but in contrast my previous post (about why fans of heavy metal shouldn’t have been banned from a pub) seems to have caused some interest in what one can infer from somebody’s musical taste about their personality and lifestyle.

The simple answer is an awful lot! In 2010 I surveyed 36,518 people about their liking for 104 musical styles and their personality. Self-esteem was highest among fans of blues, funk, jazz, classical music, opera, and rap, but lowest among fans of heavy metal, indie, and punk.

The most creative fans were those who liked jazz, classical music, opera, and indie, whereas lower creativity was linked to liking for easy listening and chart pop. The hardest-working fans were those who liked country and pop, whereas those who regarded themselves as relatively lazy tended to like funk and indie.

The most sociable and outgoing fans were those who liked funk, country, rap, and dance music, whereas more reserved people tended to like classical music and heavy metal. The gentlest people in my sample liked opera, easy listening, and heavy metal, whereas the most headstrong tended to prefer dance music, indie, and punk. The most nervous fans were those who liked chart pop, whereas those who were most at ease with themselves preferred blues, funk, jazz, classical music, and heavy metal.

Links between musical taste and people’s more general lifestyles are also manifold and wide-ranging. Factors concerning money, education, employment and health tended to show that those who like high art music are wealthier, better educated, and in higher status jobs. Fans of jazz, opera and classical music in particular seem to lead blessed lives with the highest income, and greater access to financial resources (e.g. several bank accounts, credits cards, and owning shares in companies).

This greater wealth means they also spend more on food than others, and prefer to drink wine. As an academic, I might also add that this wealth is probably because they were more likely to have a Masters degree or PhD; and it is interesting that they are also more likely to give something back to the community by doing voluntary work.

But income and education can’t explain all the differences between the lifestyles of fans of different styles. Fans of opera and jazz were more likely than most to vote for right-wing political parties, but this conservatism was shared with country music fans. Similarly, despite their typically right-wing voting habits, fans of classical music and opera were among the most likely to favour development of green energy sources, whereas fans of hip hop and R&B, despite their radical counter-culture stereotype, were happiest with the fossil fuel status quo.

What is also interesting about these findings is the extent of overlap between those who like musical styles that are, on the surface, very different. Country and classical music fans overlap considerably in everything but their income, in reflection of a shared conservative worldview; and opera and heavy metal fans also united on more than just their love of dramatic music, as they share similarly creative and gentle personalities.

So someone’s musical taste does tell you a lot about them, but as these examples show, many of the stereotypes of the fans are nothing more than that. Moreover, the gross differences between fans that do exist in terms of, for example, income and conservatism, express themselves in some very specific ways in everyday attitudes and behaviour.

Adrian North, Head of School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→March 01, 2026

Can you actually have a ‘slow’ or ‘fast’ metabolism?

Hayley O'Neill, Bond University

Have you ever heard someone claim they have a “fast metabolism”? This typically means they can eat whatever they want without gaining weight.

Meanwhile, others blame their inability to lose weight on having a “slow metabolism”.

But can you actually have a fast or slow metabolism? Let’s see what the science says.

Remind me, what’s metabolism?

Metabolism refers to all the chemical processes which allow your body to function. This includes everything from breathing to circulating blood and repairing cells.

When we talk about metabolism in the context of weight, we’re usually referring to metabolic rate. This is a measure of how quickly your body converts food and stored energy into usable fuel.

To understand how your metabolism works, it’s helpful to know these four terms:

• basal metabolic rate, which is the amount of energy your body uses to keep itself running when at rest. It usually accounts for about 60% to 75% of your daily energy use. It is largely determined by body size, but factors such as age, sex, race, and height may also contribute

• diet-induced thermogenesis, which is the amount of energy you use while digesting and processing food. It usually accounts for between 10% and 15% of your daily energy use

• non-exercise activity thermogenesis, which is the amount of energy you use for everyday movements such as fidgeting, standing and walking. It generally accounts for between 20 and 30% of the energy you use each day

• exercise activity thermogenesis, which is the amount of energy you use while doing structured physical activity, such as going for a run or lifting weights at the gym. It usually represents 10 to 50% of your daily energy use, but this varies depending on how active you are.

So, can I have a ‘slow’ or ‘fast’ metabolism?

The answer is: it’s complicated.

If you have a condition called hypermetabolism, you could technically say you have a fast metabolism. Hypermetabolism occurs where your resting energy expenditure, or the amount of energy you use while your body is at rest, is at least 10% higher than average. Hypermetabolism is mainly associated with medical conditions such as hyperthyroidism, diabetes and certain genetic disorders.

In contrast, there are two conditions which may slow your metabolism. These are hypothyroidism (where your thyroid gland releases fewer hormones than normal) and polycystic ovary syndrome (which affects how the ovaries work). Both conditions can cause you to gain weight because they reduce how much energy your body uses while at rest. In this way, they could be said to give you a slow metabolism.

However, these three conditions tend to arise when your metabolism isn’t working as it should. So if you are generally healthy, your metabolic rate should stay within a normal range without significant highs and lows.

What actually does affect your metabolism?

There are many different factors. These include:

Genetics

We can observe the effect of genetics on metabolism in studies examining weight loss in identical twins. One study looked at pairs of identical female twins who were put on a calorie-restricted diet. It found these twins lost a similar amount of weight. In comparison, the researchers recorded significant variation in how much weight non-twins lost under the same conditions.

Eating habits

What and how often we eat shapes how much energy we consume each day. This is why dietary choices can affect your metabolic rate. However, there are some misconceptions to clear up. These include the idea that eating small, frequent meals boosts your metabolism. Shortening your feeding window may help you lose weight. But on the whole, timing matters less than how much food you actually eat. If you do lose weight, your body may respond by burning fewer calories. This process, known as adaptive thermogenesis, can make losing more weight difficult.

Exercise

Let’s compare two people of a similar weight: one who works at a desk and one who has an active job. Even if neither does structured exercise, the latter may use up to 1,000 calories more per day than her sedentary colleague.

And that’s before you add formal exercise, such as going for a run, into the mix. On a biological level, muscle tissue burns more energy compared to fat tissue. This means doing resistance training, which is designed to build muscle, may increase your metabolic rate.

Sleep

Current research suggests sleep deprivation does not reduce metabolic rate. However, it may cause your body to produce more hunger-inducing hormones such as ghrelin, which tells your brain to eat. But we need more research in this space.

But these ‘metabolism myths’ are still around today?

Yes. Here are three reasons why.

1. They’re easy to understand

If you struggle with losing or maintaining a healthy weight, it’s easier to say you have a slow metabolism than to unpack the many interacting factors that influence weight.

2. They’re embedded in diet culture

Many products claim to boost metabolism without providing any scientific evidence. Some weight loss drugs may increase your metabolic rate, but only for a few hours at most.

3. They’re difficult to disprove

It’s difficult to accurately measure how your body uses energy. This is because you generally consume and use a different number of calories each day. Current methods of measuring energy use can be expensive and time-consuming to run.

The bottom line

Many different factors influence your metabolic rate. So to understand how our bodies work, we need to debunk the idea that people are born with either a “fast” or “slow” metabolism. Our bodies are much more nuanced, and fascinating, than that.

Hayley O'Neill, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→February 27, 2026

More education leads to a healthier lifestyle

Jinhu Li, The University of Melbourne

It is recognised that healthy habits account for large differences in health outcomes. Unhealthy behaviour has been cited as the main predictor of premature and preventable disease.

But this raises an important, policy-related question. Why do some people invest more in a healthy lifestyle than others?

Health economists argue that better educated people are more likely to choose healthier lifestyles. This is in part because future returns for healthy behaviour (in terms of both health and lifetime earnings) are higher for the better educated, thus leading them to invest more in a healthy lifestyle.

People of higher educational background are on average less likely to smoke, abuse alcohol, and will exercise more, eat healthier foods, and have more frequent health checks than the average population.

This can be explained by a variety of different reasons. For instance, students with healthier lifestyles may be more efficient in acquiring knowledge so they tend to perform well in their education. One could also imagine that people who value future consumptions more than current consumption will stay in school for longer, work more at younger ages and invest more in positive health-related behaviours.

New research in the area

Most of the existing evidence cannot truly separate the true effect of education itself on health habits from other confounding factors as mentioned above.

My colleague and I have recently conducted research to address this important question. We used an econometric technique to empirically identify the causal effect of education on a range of health behaviours among Australian adults aged 22 to 65. We rely on school reforms in Australia on minimum compulsory school-leaving age as a natural experiment to identify this causal relationship.

This research shows that among Australians, there is a sizable effect of staying an additional year in school on later health habits, including diet, exercise, and the decision to engage in risky health behaviours.

Results also show that the positive effect of staying an additional year in school on health behaviours is larger for Australian women than for Australian men. Interestingly, previous studies from UK and Germany have found the opposite, that is that the health benefits from staying an additional year in school are larger for men than for women in these two countries.

Does context matter?

While we found a positive effect of education on health among Australians, previous studies from other countries indicate this is not necessarily true in different countries.

Studies in Denmark and South Korea found similar evidence as ours, but no such evidence has been found in the US, the UK and Germany. This might be a reflection of the differences in the education and health care systems, or an interaction between these two systems, across different countries.

Not only the context of the residing country but also the context in terms of early-life family circumstances may moderate the causal effect of education on health behaviours. Our study demonstrates that the magnitude of the education effect is larger for people from a poorer background when they were about 14 years old.

Potential mechanisms

There are many theories to why more education will lead to better health behaviours. We provide evidence that one of the reasons is because more education raises the individual’s conscientiousness levels and the perceived sense of control over one’s life, which in turn contributes to adopting healthier lifestyles.

The intuition is that individual with different education levels may differ in their psychological capacity to make behaviour changes. This echoes some psychological theories which claim that in order to adopt certain behaviour or change certain lifestyles, individuals need to be “ready” to change and feel able to do so.

This new finding may also explain why in previous studies other important individual attributes such as cognition function and knowledge can only explain some, but not all, of the causal effect of education on health behaviours.

Policy implications

The direct implication of these findings is that an increase in spending on education can lead to the overall improvement of the nation’s health. This provides a way of saving money for our health system, given that preventable diseases are often directly related to health habits.

While we have found an important effect of education on later health behaviours for people who were directly affected by changes in the compulsory schooling laws in Australia, we have also demonstrated that there is a considerable difference in the education effect across different groups of individuals.

Future research – especially qualitative research – should come back to investigate how different predetermined characteristics and early home environments can moderate the causal effect of education on health behaviours.

Given that an additional year of schooling also caused a change in psychological traits that are known to govern healthy behaviour, there is scope for later policy interventions to try to improve personality traits that are related to healthy habits.

Jinhu Li, Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→February 19, 2026

Intermittent fasting doesn’t have an edge for weight loss, but might still work for some

Evelyn Parr, Australian Catholic University

Intermittent fasting has become a buzzword in nutrition circles, with many people looking to it as a way to lose weight or improve their health.

But new research from the Cochrane Collaboration shows intermittent fasting is no more effective for weight loss than receiving traditional dietary advice or even doing nothing at all.

In this international review, researchers assessed 22 studies involving 1,995 adults who were classified as overweight (with a body mass index of 25–29.9 kg/m²) or obese (with a BMI of 30 kg/m² or above) to assess the effectiveness of intermittent fasting for up to 12 months.

The authors found, when compared to energy restricted dieting, intermittent fasting doesn’t seem to work for people who are overweight or obese and are trying to lose weight. However they note intermittent fasting may still be a reasonable option for some people.

Remind me, what’s intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is a tool for weight management, which includes three main strategies:

• alternate day fasting, where every second day is reduced to low or no energy intake

• periodic fasting or the 5:2 diet, where one or two days of the week are spent with low or no energy intake

• time-restricted eating or the 16:8 diet, where daily energy intake is reduced to a shorter window, usually between eight and ten waking hours.

What did previous research show?

Previous reviews have found differences between types of intermittent fasting.

Alternate day fasting, for example, resulted in more weight loss when compared to time-restricted eating.

This is because participants who fasted every second day consumed about 20% less energy than those following time-restricted eating.

What did the Cochrane review find?

Cochrane review use gold-standard techniques to give an objective overview of the evidence. This review looked at 22 individual randomised controlled trials published between 2016 and 2024 from North America, Europe, China, Australia and South America.

The trials compared the outcomes of almost 2,000 adults who were classified as being overweight or obese. These participants either:

• received standard dietary advice, such as restricting calories or eating different types of foods

• practised intermittent fasting

• received either regular dietary advice, no intervention or were on a wait list.

The authors found:

1. Intermittent fasting was no better than getting dietary advice

The researchers found intermittent fasting and receiving dietary advice to restrict energy intake led to similar levels of weight loss.

This finding was based on 21 studies involving 1,713 people, with the researchers measuring the change from the participants’ starting weight.

Dietary advice (from registered dietitians or trained researchers) could include an eating plan focused on fruit, vegetables, whole grains and seafood, restricting calories, or any specific dietary advice for weight loss.

The amount of weight the participants lost ranged from a 10% loss to a 1% gain, with either intermittent fasting or dietary advice.

These findings are similar to several recent meta-analyses which found intermittent fasting is no better than dieting.

Previous research has found most of the alternate day fasting and periodic diet studies leads to about 6% to 7% weight loss. This is compared to very low energy “shake” diets (about 10%), GLP-1 medications (15% to 20%) and surgery (above 20%).

The review also found intermittent fasting likely makes little difference to a person’s quality of life, based on only three studies.

2. Intermittent fasting was no better than doing nothing

The researchers found intermittent fasting and no intervention led to similar levels of weight loss. This finding was based on six studies involving 448 people.

In the intermittent fasting studies, participants experienced about 5% weight loss. The “no intervention” or control group lost about 2% of their original weight.

In research, a 3% difference in weight loss is not considered clinically meaningful. That’s why the authors of this review concluded intermittent fasting is no more effective for weight loss than doing nothing at all.

However, the result for the “no intervention” condition could be due to the Hawthorne effect: the tendency for people to behave differently because they know they are being watched, such as in a clinical trial.

What are the review’s limitations?

There were few large, high-quality randomised controlled trials to draw on.

Only six studies were included in the part of the review which compared intermittent fasting and doing nothing. Two of these focused on time-restricted eating, which is arguably the least effective weight-loss strategy. One looked at the effects of fasting for one day per week. The other three were intermittent fasting studies, each with varying control groups, where some received guidance and others did not.

Also, the review only looked at studies where the interventions lasted between six and 12 months. It’s possible intermittent fasting strategies could be a long-term tool for weight maintenance. So we need to do more research, and ideally studies of longer duration.

What about the other health benefits of fasting?

Studies have found intermittent fasting can lower blood pressure, improve fertility, and reduce the incidence of metabolic syndrome which refers to a group of conditions that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

In one 2024 study, researchers found intermittent fasting may lead to changes in metabolism and the gut that restrict how cancer develops. Another study from 2025 found intermittent fasting could improve the metabolic health of shift workers.

So if you’re practising or considering intermittent fasting, the current evidence suggests it can be a safe and effective way to manage your weight.

But for any weight loss strategy to work, it needs to align with your personal preferences. And it’s best to consult a health-care professional before starting any new diet, especially if you have any underlying health conditions.

Evelyn Parr, Research Fellow in Exercise Metabolism and Nutrition, Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→February 18, 2026

Exercise can be as effective as medication for depression and anxiety – new study

Neil Munro, James Cook University; James Dimmock, James Cook University; Klaire Somoray, James Cook University, and Samantha Teague, James Cook University

Depression and anxiety affect millions of people worldwide.

While treatments such as medication and psychotherapy (sometimes called talk therapy) can be very effective, they’re not always an option. Barriers include cost, stigma, long waiting lists for appointments, and potential drug side effects.

So what about exercise? Our new research, published today, confirms physical activity can be just as effective for some people as therapy or medication. This is especially true when it’s social and guided by a professional, such as a gym class or running club.

Let’s take a look at the evidence.

What we already knew

Physical activity has long been promoted as a treatment option for anxiety and depression, largely because it helps release “feel good” chemicals in the brain which help boost mood and reduce stress.

But the evidence can be confusing. Hundreds of studies with diverse results make it unclear how much exercise is beneficial, what type, and who it helps most.

Over the past two decades, researchers have conducted dozens of separate meta-analyses (studies that combine results from multiple trials) examining exercise for depression and anxiety. But these have still left gaps in understanding how effective exercise is for different age groups and whether the type of exercise matters.

Many studies have also included participants with confounding factors (influences that can distort research findings) such as other chronic diseases, for example, diabetes or arthritis. This means it can be hard to apply the findings more broadly.

What we did

Our research aimed to resolve this confusion by conducting a “meta-meta-analysis”. This means we systematically reviewed the results of all the existing meta-analyses – there were 81 – to determine what the evidence really shows.

Together, this meant data from nearly 80,000 participants across more than 1,000 original trials.

We examined multiple factors that might explain why their results varied. These included differences in:

• who they studied (for example, people with diagnosed depression or anxiety versus those just experiencing symptoms, different age groups, and women during pregnancy and after birth)

• what the exercise involved (for example, comparing aerobic fitness to resistance training and mind-body exercises, such as yoga; whether it was supervised by a professional; intensity and duration)

• whether the exercise was individual or in a group.

We also used advanced statistical techniques to accurately isolate and estimate the exact impact of exercise, separate from confounding factors (including other chronic diseases).

Our data looked at the impact of exercise alone on depression and anxiety. But sometimes people will also use antidepressants and/or therapy – so further research would be needed to explore the effect of these when combined.

What did the study find?

Exercise is effective at reducing both depression and anxiety. But there is some nuance.

We found exercising had a high impact on depression symptoms, and a medium impact on anxiety, compared to staying inactive.

The benefits were comparable to, and in some cases better than, more widely prescribed mental health treatments, including therapy and antidepressants.

Importantly, we discovered who exercise helped most. Two groups showed the most improvement: adults aged 18 to 30 and women who had recently given birth.

Many women experience barriers to exercising after giving birth, including lack of time, confidence or access to appropriate and affordable activities.

Our findings suggest making it more accessible could be an important strategy to address new mothers’ mental health in this vulnerable time.

How you exercise matters

We also found aerobic activities – such as walking, running, cycling or swimming – were best at reducing both depression and anxiety symptoms.

However, all forms of exercise reduced symptoms, including resistance training (such as lifting weights) and mind-body practices (such as yoga).

For depression, there were greater improvements when people exercised with others and were guided by a professional, such as a group fitness class.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t available data on group or supervised exercise for anxiety, so we would need more research to find out if the impact is similar.

Exercising once or twice a week had a similar effect on depression as exercising more frequently. And there didn’t seem to be a significant difference between exercising vigorously or at a low intensity – all were beneficial.

But for anxiety, the best improvements in anxiety symptoms were when exercise was done:

• consistently, for up to eight weeks, and

• at a lower intensity, such as walking or swimming laps at a gentle pace.

So, what does all this mean?

Our research shows exercise is a legitimate and evidence-based treatment option for depression and anxiety, particularly for people with diagnosed conditions.

However, simply telling patients to “exercise more” is unlikely to be effective.

The evidence shows structured, supervised exercise with a social component is best for improving depression and anxiety. The social aspect and the accountability may help keep people motivated.

Clinicians should keep this in mind, offering referrals to specific programs – such as aerobic fitness classes or supervised walking and running programs – rather than general advice.

The findings also suggest this kind of exercise can be particularly effective when targeted to depression in younger adults and women who’ve recently given birth.

The takeaway

For people who are hesitant about medication, or facing long waits for therapy, supervised group exercise may be an effective alternative. It’s evidence-based, and you can start any time.

But it’s still best to get advice from a professional. If you have anxiety or depression symptoms, you should talk to your GP or psychologist. They can advise where exercise fits in your treatment plan, potentially alongside therapy and/or medication.

Neil Munro, PhD Candidate in Psychology, James Cook University; James Dimmock, Professor in Psychology, James Cook University; Klaire Somoray, Lecturer in Pyschology, James Cook University, and Samantha Teague, Senior Research Fellow in Psychology, James Cook University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→February 05, 2026

Your sense of self is deeply tied to your memory – here’s how

Shane Rogers, Edith Cowan University

You might say you have a “bad memory” because you don’t remember what cake you had at your last birthday party or the plot of a movie you watched last month. On the other hand, you might precisely recall the surface temperature of the Sun any time when asked.

So, is your memory bad, or just fine? Memory is at the very heart of who we are, but it’s surprisingly complex once we start looking at how it all fits together.

In fact, there’s more than one type of memory, and this determines how we recall certain facts about the world and ourselves.

How do we classify memory?

Cognitive psychologists distinguish between declarative memory and non-declarative memory. Non-declarative memories are expressed without conscious recollection, such as skills and habits like typing on a keyboard or riding a bike.

But memories you’re consciously aware of are declarative – you know your name, you know what year it is, and you know there is mustard in the fridge because you put it there.

However, not all of our memories are stored in the same way, nor in the same place in our brains. Declarative memory can be further broken down into semantic memory and episodic memory.

Semantic memory refers to general knowledge about the world. For example, knowing that cats are mammals.

Episodic memory refers to episodes of your life, typically with elements of “what”, “where” and “when”. For example, I remember cuddling my pet cat (what) in my home office (where) just before sitting down to write this article (when).

A sense of self-awareness is strongly involved in episodic memory. It’s the feeling of personally remembering.

For semantic memories, this sense is not as strong – you can have detached knowledge without the context of “how” and “when”. For instance, I know that Canberra is the capital city of Australia (semantic memory), yet I can’t remember specifically when and where I learnt this (episodic memory).

Lessons from amnesia

In the mid-20th century, famous case studies of amnesic patients were the early evidence of this distinction between semantic and episodic memory.

For example, Henry Molaison and Kent Cochrane both experienced brain damage that severely impacted their episodic memory abilities.

They couldn’t recall events from their lives, but knew many things about the world in general. In effect, their personal past had vanished, even though their general knowledge remained intact.

In one interview after the accident that caused his brain damage, Cochrane was able to describe how to change a flat tire in perfect detail – despite not remembering having ever done this task.

There have also been reports of cases of people whose ability to recall semantic memories is largely impaired, while their episodic memory abilities seem mostly fine. This is known as semantic dementia.

Your age affects how your memory works

Young children have both memory systems, but they develop at different rates. The capacity to form strong semantic memories comes first, while episodic memory takes longer.

In fact, true episodic memory ability may not fully develop until around the age of three or four years. This helps explain why you have scant memories of your earliest childhood. We gain greater self-awareness around the same age too.

While episodic memory ability develops more slowly in early life, it also declines more quickly in old age. On average, older adults tend to remember fewer episodic details compared to younger adults in memory recall assessments.

In older adults with more severe cognitive decline, such as dementia, the ability to recall episodic memories is typically much more affected, compared to semantic memories. For example, they might have difficulty remembering they had pasta for lunch the day before (episodic memory), while still having perfect knowledge of what pasta is (semantic memory).

Ultimately, it all works together

Brain imaging studies have actually revealed that overlapping areas of the brain are active when recalling both semantic and episodic types of memories. In a neurological sense, these two types of memory appear to have more similarities than differences.

In fact, some have suggested episodic and semantic memory might be better thought of as a continuum rather than as completely distinct memory systems. These days, researchers acknowledge memory recall in everyday life involves tight interaction between both types.

A major example of how you need both types to work together is autobiographical memory, also called personal semantics. This refers to personally relevant information about yourself.

Let’s say you call yourself “a good swimmer”. At first glance, this may appear to be a semantic memory – a fact without the how, why, or when. However, recall of such a personally relevant fact will likely also produce related recall of episodic experiences when you’ve been swimming.

All this is related to something known as semanticisation – the gradual transformation of episodic memories into semantic memories. As you can imagine, it challenges the distinction between semantic and episodic memory.

How our memories form over time. Shane Rogers/The Conversation

Ultimately, how we remember shapes how we understand ourselves. Episodic memory allows us to mentally return to experiences that feel personally lived, while semantic memory provides the stable knowledge that binds those experiences into a coherent life story.

Over time, the boundary between the two softens as specific events are condensed into broader beliefs about who we are, what we value, and what we can do. Memory is not simply a storehouse of the past. It’s an active system that continually reshapes our sense of identity.

Shane Rogers, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Edith Cowan University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read More........→January 29, 2026

10 Minutes of Intensive Workout Can Trigger Powerful Anti-Cancer Effects: New Study

Credit: Fitsum Admasu

Those brief, intense workouts you’ve heard about that boost fitness might also help fight certain types of cancer by releasing molecules into the bloodstream that can spur DNA repair and inhibit cancer growth signals.

When embarking on an exercise routine for the new year, take heart that new research reveals that just 10 minutes of intense exercise could help fight cancer, too.

Short bursts of energetic activity can trigger rapid molecular changes in the bloodstream, shutting down bowel cancer growth and speeding up DNA damage repair, a new study has shown.

Researchers at Newcastle University have found that exercise increases the concentration of several small molecules in the blood—many linked to reducing inflammation, improving blood vessel function, and metabolism.

When these exercise-induced molecules were applied to bowel cancer cells in the lab, the activity of more than 1,300 genes was altered, including those involved in DNA repair, energy production, and cancer cell growth.

The findings, published in the International Journal of Cancer, help explain one way exercise can protect against bowel cancer: by sending molecular signals in the bloodstream that influence the activity of genes that govern tumor growth and genome instability.

The study is another step forwards in the fight against bowel cancer and further strengthens the importance of staying active.

‘Opens door to new treatments’

“What’s remarkable is that exercise doesn’t just benefit healthy tissues, it sends powerful signals through the bloodstream that can directly influence thousands of genes in cancer cells,” said Dr. Sam Orange, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Exercise Physiology at Newcastle University, who led the study.

“It’s an exciting insight because it opens the door to find ways that mimic or augment the biological effects of exercise, potentially improving cancer treatment and, crucially, patient outcomes.

“In the future, these insights could lead to new therapies that imitate the beneficial effects of exercise on how cells repair damaged DNA and use fuel for energy.”

The Newcastle researchers found that exercise boosted the activity of genes that support mitochondrial energy metabolism, enabling cells to use oxygen more efficiently.

At the same time, genes linked to rapid cell growth were switched off, which could reduce the aggressiveness of cancer cells, and exercise-conditioned blood promoted DNA repair, activating a key repair gene called PNKP.

The study involved 30 volunteers, male and female aged 50–78, all overweight or obese (a risk factor of cancer) but otherwise healthy.

After completing a short, intense cycling test lasting approximately 10 minutes, researchers collected blood samples and analysed 249 proteins. As many as 13 proteins increased after exercise, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), which helps repair the DNA of damaged cells.

“These results suggest that exercise doesn’t just benefit healthy tissues, it may also create a more hostile environment for cancer cells to grow,” said Dr. Orange, a Clinical Exercise Physiologist at The Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

“Even a single workout can make a difference. One bout of exercise, lasting just 10 minutes, sends powerful signals to the body.”

“It’s a reminder that every step, every session, counts when it comes to doing your best to protect your health.”

Bowel cancer is the 4th most common cancer in the UK, after breast, prostate and lung—and it’s estimated that physical activity reduces the risk by approximately 20%.

It can be done by going to the gym, playing sports or through active travel such as walking or biking to work, but also as part of household tasks or work like gardening or cleaning.In the future, researchers plan to test whether repeated exercise sessions produce lasting changes and explore how these effects interact with standard cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy. 10 Minutes of Intensive Workout Can Trigger Powerful Anti-Cancer Effects: New Study

Read More........→January 13, 2026

Experts warn about risks of cosmetic face fillers

People who have cosmetic filler injections in their face should be warned of the risk of a dangerous complication involving blocked arteries that can lead to skin loss and even blindness due to damaged blood flow, say experts.

Researchers used ultrasound to study 100 cases of filler injections that had gone wrong, BBC News reported.

Clinics are now being advised to carry out ultrasounds before giving dermal fillers in the face, to avoid harming any nearby arteries.

Lead researcher Dr Rosa Sigrist says that, although uncommon, such "vascular occlusion" events - where the filler is injected into or too close to blood vessels - can be devastating because they can cause tissue death and facial deformity if not treated.

Dermal fillers are injectable substances, commonly used to target wrinkles and smooth or "rejuvenate" the skin.

Sometimes they are used to contour or shape the nose or lips.

Areas around the nose are particularly risky injection sites, says Dr Sigrist, because nasal blood vessels communicate with some very important parts of the head.

Damage to these vessels can cause severe complications including skin damage, blindness and stroke, she explains.

Dr Sigrist's team, from the University of São Paulo in Brazil, studied filler-related vascular complications in 100 patients across four radiology centers (two in Brazil, one in Colombia and one in Chile), one dermatology centre in the Netherlands and one plastic surgery centre in the US between May 2022 and April 2025.

Her work will be presented at a medical conference - the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America - this week.

In just under half the cases, ultrasound scans showed absent blood flow to small blood vessels that connect superficial arteries to deep ones in the face.

And in a third of cases, blood flow was absent in major blood vessels.

To avoid complications in the first place, she advises clinics to use ultrasound to plan where to inject.

If complications do arise, ultrasound can guide where to treat.

"If injectors are not guided by ultrasound, they treat based on where the clinical findings are and inject blindly," Dr. Sigrist says.

"But if we can see the ultrasound finding, we can target the exact place where the occlusion occurs."

Rather than flooding the area with a drug called hyaluronidase to dissolve the filler, clinicians can do guided injections that use less hyaluronidase and provide better treatment results, she says. Source: https://www.panorama.am/

Read More........→January 05, 2026

Diets Rich in Tea, Coffee, Berries and Nuts Linked to Better Long-term Heart Health in New Study

Credit: Julian Hochgesang

People who regularly consume polyphenol-rich foods and drinks, such as tea, coffee, berries, cocoa, nuts, whole grains, and olive oil, may have better long-term heart health, according to a new study.

The research, led by King’s College London, found that those with higher adherence to polyphenol-rich dietary patterns had lower predicted cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.

Polyphenols, natural compounds found in plants, are linked to a variety of health benefits, including improved heart, brain, and gut health.

Researchers followed 3,100 adults from the TwinsUK cohort for over a decade and, for the first time, the researchers also analyzed a large number of metabolites in the urine that are produced when the body breaks down polyphenols.

They found that diets rich in specific groups of polyphenols were linked to healthier blood pressure and cholesterol profiles, contributing to lower CVD risk scores.

These biomarkers confirmed that higher levels of polyphenol metabolites—especially those derived from specific groups of polyphenols, flavonoids, and phenolic acids—had lower cardiovascular risk scores. They also had increased HDL cholesterol, also know as ‘good cholesterol’.

The study, published recently in BMC Medicine, used a newly developed polyphenol dietary score (PPS) to capture intake of 20 key polyphenol-rich foods commonly consumed, ranging from tea and coffee to berries, olive oil, nuts, and whole grains.

This score showed stronger associations with cardiovascular health than estimates of total polyphenol intake, likely because it captures overall dietary patterns rather than individual compounds.

This finding suggests that considering the whole diet provides a more accurate picture of how polyphenol-rich foods work together to support long-term heart health.

“Our findings show that long-term adherence to polyphenol-rich diets can substantially slow the rise in cardiovascular risk as people age,” said Professor Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, Professor of Human Nutrition at King’s College London.

“Even small, sustained shifts towards foods like berries, tea, coffee, nuts, and whole grains may help protect the heart over time.”

Dr. Yong Li, first author of the study, said the research provides “strong evidence that regularly including polyphenol-rich foods in your diet is a simple and effective way to support heart health.”

Additionally, while cardiovascular risk naturally increases with age, higher polyphenol intake was associated with a slower progression of risk over the 11-year follow-up period. Diets Rich in Tea, Coffee, Berries and Nuts Linked to Better Long-term Heart Health in New Study

Read More........→December 18, 2025

Study decodes how females and males experience depression

(Photo: AI generated image/IANS)

New Delhi, (IANS) A team of Australian researchers has decoded important genetic differences in how females and males experience depression for the first time, an advance that could pave the way for more targeted intervention and treatments.

In the study, published in Nature Communications, scientists found that genetic factors contribute more to depression risk in females than in males.

The team from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute discovered about twice as many genetic "flags" for depression in the DNA of females as they did in that of males.

"We already know that females are twice as likely to suffer from depression in their lifetime than males," said Dr. Brittany Mitchell, Senior Researcher at QIMR Berghofer's Genetic Epidemiology Lab.

"And we also know that depression looks very different from one person to another. Until now, there hasn't been much consistent research to explain why depression affects females and males differently, including the possible role of genetics," Mitchell added.

The team identified about 7,000 changes in the DNA that could cause depression in both sexes, and about a further 6,000 DNA changes (a total of 13,000) that could cause depression in females only.

Researcher Dr. Jodi Thomas said the study also pinpointed how depression could show up differently for females and males.

The team found that the genetic factors linked to depression overlap more with those associated with metabolic traits in females.

"We found some genetic differences that may help explain why females with depression more often experience metabolic symptoms, such as weight changes or altered energy levels."

For the largest global study of its kind, the scientists analysed DNA from hundreds of thousands of people with and without depression, including around 130,000 females and 65,000 males with depression.

The changes in DNA that the scientists have identified are genetic differences people are born with, not changes that happen because of life experiences.

Traditionally, most drug trials and therapies are tested on males, but Drs Mitchell and Thomas hope their work will also translate to a greater clinical understanding of female depression.

"Unpacking the shared and unique genetic factors in males and females gives us a clearer picture of what causes depression -- and opens the door to more personalized treatments," Dr. Thomas said.The findings highlight the importance of considering sex-specific genetic influences in studying depression and other health conditions. Study decodes how females and males experience depression | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com

Read More........→December 10, 2025