News & Articles
Color’s February Newsletter, Spectrum – Color
Linda Jiang
Color’s monthly newsletter, Spectrum, helps you stay up to date on living a healthy life with the latest in health and wellness, genetics, and cancer and heart health. If you found this information interesting, sign up for our monthly Health Notes here.
Health & Wellness
The Key to Weight Loss Is Diet Quality, Not Quantity, a New Study Finds
New York Times, by Anahad O’Connor
Anyone who has ever been on a diet knows that the standard prescription for weight loss is to reduce the amount of calories you consume. But a new study, published Tuesday in JAMA, may turn that advice on its head. It found that people who cut back on …
Middle Age Is Not Too Late to Increase Cardiac Fitness, Studies Show
Washington Post, by Ambry Burfoot
Research has shown that nearly half of all resolutions have faded by the end of January, and things only get worse after that. Three new studies might rekindle your motivation. All conclude that midlife adults can sustain an exercise routine and gain a range of health benefits….
How Long Are You Contagious With The Flu?
NPR, by Madeline Sofia
It’s shaping up to be one of the worst flu seasons in years. If you are one of the thousands of Americans who are sick with the flu, this one’s for you. As you start to resemble a human being again, you might feel pressure to head back to work. But when is it really OK to return? …
Genetics
You Are Shaped by the Genes You Inherit. And Maybe by Those You Don’t
New York Times, by Carl Zimmer
Genes may help determine how long children stay in school, the researchers found, but some of those genes operate at a distance — by influencing parents. The study was published in Science. The authors go on coin a new phrase for this effect: “genetic nurture.” …
Doctors In China Lead Race To Treat Cancer By Editing Genes
NPR, by Rob Stein
Shaorong Deng is sitting up in bed at the Hangzhou Cancer Hospital waiting for his doctor. Thin and frail, the 53-year-old construction worker’s coat drapes around his shoulders to protect against the chilly air. Deng has advanced cancer of the esophagus …
What Role Does Genetics Play In Opioid Addiction?
CNN, by Michael Nedelman
Researchers have identified another gene that could influence the risk of opioid dependence, a new study shows, adding to the evidence that genetic factors play a crucial role in determining who develops addiction …
Cancer & Heart Health
Fathers May Pass Ovarian Cancer Risk To Daughters
US scientists believe they have identified a new gene mutation that can raise the risk of ovarian cancer, and is passed from father to daughter. It is inherited through the X-chromosome and is independent of other known susceptibility genes that women can already be tested for ….
This Vaccine Can Prevent Cancer, But Many Teenagers Still Don’t Get It
NPR, by Allison Aubrey
Each year, about 31,000 men and women in the U.S. are diagnosed with a cancer caused by an infection from the human papillomavirus, or HPV. It’s the most common sexually transmitted virus and infection in the U.S. …
Scientists Discover a Bone-Deep Risk for Heart Disease
New York Times, by Gina Kolata
It’s been one of the vexing questions in medicine: Why is it that most people who have heart attacks or strokes have few or no conventional risk factors? These are patients with normal levels of cholesterol and blood pressure, no history of smoking or diabetes …
