The immune response to a severe lack of sleep equals what happens to the body when it's stressed, says a new study. (Morgan/Flickr Creative Commons)
Here are the latest health headlines folks in South Los Angeles ought to know about:
Chronic pain may depend on emotional reaction to injury: It's all in your head: The way two parts of a person's brain communicate with each other may help determine the way a person experiences chronic pain following an injury. A report found that the regions of the brain that were associated with emotional and motivational behavior communicated more in those who developed chronic pain, suggesting that the brain's emotional reaction to an injury is significant. | U.S. News & World Report
Sleep deprivation as bad as stress for your body: The immune response to a severe lack of sleep equals what happens to the body when it's stressed, says a new study, which found that a person's white blood cells increase as people get less sleep. Sleep deprivation can cause a host of long-term health problems, including an increased risk for diabetes and heart disease. | International Science Times
Use caution when exercising in hot weather: The American Council on Exercise has advice on how to avoid heat injury while exercising outdoors: Stay hydrated (with water), gradually adapt your body to exercising in hot weather, reduce exercise intensity level, don't wear clothes that are impermeable to water and consider skipping exercise in temperatures more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit. | MSN/HealthDay
Keep infants out of the sun, government says: The FDA says babies younger than six months shouldn't have sunscreen applied to their skin, and should generally be kept out of the sun during the period when UV rays are most intense: between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Babies have thinner skin, and as such absorb the chemicals in sunscreen more easily. | Los Angeles Times
Small differences in birth timing tied to test scores: A new study found that kids who left the womb even a few weeks early – despite developing the way a typical child would – score lower on math and reading tests than did those who were born later. | Chicago Tribune
Photo by Morgan via Flickr Creative Commons.
