Harvard Health Content API

Even ordinary activities, such as housework or gardening, may help to reduce people’s risk of early death, a new study finds. Researchers interviewed more than 3,800 people. All were aged 60 or older. They answered questions about diet, drinking, smoking and physical activity. Besides formal exercise, people were asked about everyday activities. Examples included gardening, housework, home projects and car maintenance. Doctors examined everyone. They also took blood samples. These were used to check for blood sugar and cholesterol levels and other factors that might affect health. Researchers kept track of people for 12 years. In that time, people who had a lot of everyday activity were 27% likely to die of a heart attack or stroke than the least active people. They were 30% less likely to die of any cause.

People are most likely to think about quitting smoking on Mondays, a new study suggests. Researchers looked at Google searches between 2008 and 2012. They looked at searches done in English, Chinese, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Russian. They found that people searched for information about quitting smoking more often early in the week. The peak occurred on Mondays for 4 of the languages. Mondays lagged a bit behind Sundays for Chinese and Russian searches.  For all 6 languages combined, Monday searches totaled 25% higher than those for the average day during the rest of the week. Searches declined steadily after Monday before rising again on Sundays. Researchers said they aren’t sure what the pattern means. But they said it might be helpful in figuring out the best days to target quit-smoking messages.

Children with concussions should rest their brains and return to schoolwork only gradually, a doctors’ group says. The new guidelines come from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The doctors admit there’s limited evidence about the best way to recover from concussions. So each child will be different. But they say it’s important for kids to have “cognitive rest” as they recover. This means restrictions on not just schoolwork but also video games, texting, TV and reading. Such brain activity may increase symptoms such as headaches or vision problems. If symptoms last more than a few weeks, the child may need to see a specialist. Kids can try returning to school when they can handle 30 to 45 minutes of school work or other stimulation without symptoms. The return may be part-time at first.