LIFESTYLE MEDICINE RESEARCH HUB
 

What Yoga Does to the Body's Stress Chemistry

Across randomised trials, yoga practice was linked to lower cortisol, blood pressure and resting heart rate, and better heart rate variability.

How Yoga Measures Up for Depression

Pooled trials show yoga produces a moderate short-term reduction in the severity of clinical depression.

Yoga for Anxiety, Measured Against Therapy

Yoga beat a control condition for generalised anxiety, but did not match cognitive behavioural therapy, which remained the stronger treatment.

Can Yoga Improve a Woman's Sleep?

Across trials in women with sleep problems, yoga modestly improved overall sleep quality, though it did not resolve clinical insomnia.

Yoga for the Symptoms of Menopause

Pooled trials found yoga effective and safe for reducing menopausal symptoms, including psychological and physical complaints.

What Music Does to a Stressed Body

Across many controlled trials, music interventions reliably lowered both the body's stress arousal and the felt experience of stress.

The Relaxation Hidden in Silence

Two-minute silent pauses between pieces of music produced deeper relaxation, and lower heart rate and blood pressure, than the calming music itself.

An Hour With Singing Bowls, and a Lighter Mood

After a Tibetan singing bowl sound meditation, participants reported significantly less tension, anger, fatigue and low mood.

Do Binaural Beats Actually Calm You Down?

Pooled trials found a medium overall effect of binaural beats on anxiety and cognition, though the evidence remains inconsistent.

How Well Hypnosis Eases Anxiety

Across controlled trials, the average person treated with hypnosis was less anxious afterwards than about four in five untreated people.

Adding Hypnosis to Trauma Therapy

Adding a hypnotic induction to trauma-focused therapy sped up the reduction of intrusive re-experiencing symptoms after a traumatic event.

Guided Imagery for Professional Burnout

Eight weeks of guided imagery hypnotherapy left burned-out medical professionals with less emotional exhaustion and more self-compassion.

Can Hypnosis Sharpen Performance?

A review of the sports research links hypnosis with better performance, faster injury recovery and less competitive distress, though the studies are mostly small.

The Link Between Phone Overuse and Low Mood

Across the research, heavier problematic smartphone use tracks consistently with depression, and more modestly with anxiety and stress.

Why Your Phone Drains Focus Even When You Ignore It

Simply having your own phone within reach reduced available mental capacity, most of all for people who feel dependent on it.

What Happens When You Cap Social Media at Half an Hour

People who limited social media to about thirty minutes a day felt significantly less lonely and less depressed over three weeks.

Three Weeks Under Two Hours a Day

A three-week cap of two hours of daily screen time improved mood, sleep, stress and wellbeing in a randomised trial.

The Sweet Spot Is Less, Not None

Cutting daily smartphone use, rather than giving it up entirely, produced the most lasting gains in wellbeing and healthy habits.

An Hour Less Phone, and a Better Working Life

When employees cut non-work phone use by an hour a day, work satisfaction, work-life balance and mental health all improved.

Bringing Nature Indoors, and Feeling Better for It

Workers gained the most in well-being from a nature-rich workplace when they already felt personally connected to nature.

What Indoor Greenery Does to a Working Brain

Working and taking breaks in a planted office room eased stress and supported cognition, measured on the brain itself by EEG.

The Air in the Room and the Quality of Your Thinking

In cleaner, better-ventilated air, cognitive scores rose sharply, with the largest gains in strategy, using information and responding under pressure.

Working Near a Window, and Sleeping Better for It

Office workers with windows received far more daytime light, slept almost an hour longer at night and reported better vitality than those without.

Better Daylight, Sharper Decisions

A week in optimised daylight left workers sleeping longer and scoring about forty per cent higher on higher-order decision-making.

How the Brain Reads a Room

The brain appraises interiors along three hidden dimensions, coherence, fascination and a sense of home, through the networks that govern emotion.

Mapping the Science of How Space Shapes Us

A field-defining review sets out how design acts on body, mind, emotion and behaviour, and how tools like EEG and virtual reality now measure it.

How Much Depression Shortens Life, Measured Across Millions

Across 268 cohort studies, people with depression had roughly double the risk of dying from any cause during follow-up, an excess that persisted even after accounting for other illnesses.

Why Strong Relationships Rival Giving Up Smoking

Pooling 148 studies, people with stronger social relationships had about a 50 per cent greater likelihood of surviving follow-up, an effect on a par with quitting smoking.

Optimism and the Odds of Reaching Eighty-Five

In nearly 70,000 women and over 1,400 men, the most optimistic lived around 11 to 15 per cent longer and were markedly more likely to reach age 85.

A Sense of Purpose, and a Lower Risk of Dying

Among nearly 7,000 US adults over 50, those with the strongest sense of life purpose had significantly lower all-cause mortality than those with the weakest.

Loneliness and Isolation as Risks to Life Itself

Across 70 studies and more than three million people, loneliness, social isolation and living alone each raised the risk of early death by around a quarter to a third.

The View From the Window That Sped Up Recovery

Surgical patients whose window looked onto trees left hospital sooner and needed fewer strong painkillers than matched patients facing a brick wall.

Living Among Green, and Living Longer

Pooling over eight million people across seven countries, each modest step up in greenery around the home was linked to a small but consistent drop in death from any cause.

What the Forest Does to Your Immune System

Across the forest-medicine literature, time among trees is linked to raised natural killer cell activity, lower cortisol and a shift toward the body's rest-and-restore state.

When a Doctor Prescribes Time in Nature

Reviewing 92 studies, formal nature prescriptions were linked to lower blood pressure, less depression and anxiety, and more physical activity.

Greener Surroundings, Calmer Bodies

A synthesis of studies found that greater green-space exposure went with lower cortisol, lower blood pressure, healthier heart-rate variability and reduced cardiovascular mortality.

Sleeping a Little Longer, and Eating Less Without Trying

Adults who extended their sleep by around an hour a night ate roughly 270 fewer calories a day, with no change in how much energy they burned.

What a Night of Lost Sleep Does to Judgement

Sleep loss reliably degrades decision-making, and finer analysis shows the deficit is often hidden, appearing as reduced sensitivity to value and noisier choices rather than obvious errors.

Which Kind of Exercise Improves Sleep Most

Across 86 trials and more than 7,000 people, several forms of exercise improved sleep quality, with a clear dose pattern rather than one type winning outright.

Talking Therapy for Sleep and Hot Flushes Together

A CBT programme adapted for menopause roughly halved insomnia severity and reduced hot-flush interference in midlife women, compared with a single education session.

Extending Sleep When You Already Sleep Well

In ten healthy middle-aged and older adults, mostly women, adding two hours in bed a night for three weeks lengthened sleep but brought no clear benefit to mood, thinking or cardiovascular markers.

Why Burnout in Midlife Women Shows Up in the Body

Among women aged 40 to 65, burnout, but not general stress, predicted fewer daily steps and less vigorous movement, and indirectly poorer physical function.

What Gender Expectations Cost Women at Midlife

In 301 women aged 40 to 65, stronger feminine traits were linked to lower work-related burnout, while stronger personal masculine traits were linked to lower stress and lower personal burnout.

Childhood Emotional Neglect and Clinical Exhaustion in Adulthood

Patients in treatment for clinical exhaustion were around twice as likely as controls to report childhood emotional neglect, and neglect scores tracked with how depleted they were.

Four or More Adverse Childhood Experiences, and the Odds of Burnout

Physicians reporting four or more adverse childhood experiences had roughly two and a half times the odds of reporting burnout.

When Early Adversity Does Not Lead Straight to Burnout

Among 320 helping professionals, a history of childhood maltreatment showed no direct link to burnout, but did predict anxious attachment, which in turn partly explained burnout.

What 'Lifestyle Medicine' Actually Means

A foundational overview arguing that everyday habits are powerful enough to prevent and often treat chronic disease.

Does Lavender Really Calm Anxiety?

Across more than 100 trials, lavender reduced anxiety, with the strongest evidence for a standardised oral preparation.

Can Aromatherapy Ease Low Mood?

About half of the trials reviewed found aromatherapy eased depressive symptoms, with massage more effective than inhalation.

Aromatherapy and a Better Night's Sleep

Pooled trials found aromatherapy improved sleep quality, with lavender the most studied oil.

Scent for Menopausal Symptoms

In placebo-controlled trials, inhaled lavender or low-dose neroli reduced overall menopausal symptom scores.

How the Smell of Rosemary or Lavender Shifts the Mind

Rosemary aroma sharpened memory and alertness, while lavender lifted calm but slightly dulled quick thinking.

Spa Therapy, Tested Against Medication for Anxiety

A course of mineral-water spa therapy eased generalised anxiety at least as much as a standard medication.

Do Mineral Baths Help Osteoarthritis?

Mineral baths may ease osteoarthritis pain while treatment continues, though the evidence is weak.

Water-Based Therapy for Fibromyalgia Pain

Pooled trials found spa and water-based therapies produced a small but consistent reduction in fibromyalgia pain.

Exercising in the Sea Versus a Pool for Fibromyalgia

Women with fibromyalgia improved from water exercise either way, with a greater lift in mood from exercising in the sea.

Sun and Sea at the Dead Sea for Psoriasis

A course of Dead Sea climatotherapy improved psoriasis severity and quality of life.

Three Days of Sea Therapy for Tired, Overstretched Workers

A short thalassotherapy break with sleep support improved mood, wellbeing, sleep and alertness in healthy working adults.

Where the Science on Sea-Based Therapy Stands

A 2024 review found the strongest evidence for sea-based therapy in psoriasis and fibromyalgia, with much still unproven.

Does a Week at a Spa Actually Lift Your Mood?

Patients reported meaningfully better mood after a week of spa treatment, with less anger and fatigue and more vigour.

Short Sleep in Your Fifties and Later Dementia Risk

Sleeping six hours or less a night in midlife was linked to around a 30 percent higher risk of dementia decades later.

The Talking Therapy That Treats Insomnia at Its Source

A short course of cognitive behavioural therapy improved sleep as a lasting first-line treatment for chronic insomnia.

What Losing Sleep Does to Your Emotions

Across fifty years of experiments, sleep loss reliably lowered positive mood and raised anxiety, even after a single short night.

Mindfulness Training, Measured Against Medication for Anxiety

An eight-week mindfulness course matched a standard anxiety medication, with far fewer side effects.

The Two Hours of Nature a Week That Seem to Matter

People who spent at least 120 minutes a week in nature were markedly more likely to report good health and wellbeing.

Does Mindfulness Work Outside the Clinic?

In most community settings mindfulness courses reduced stress, anxiety and depression, though not for everyone.

The Mediterranean Diet, Tested in a Landmark Heart Trial

A Mediterranean diet with extra virgin olive oil or nuts cut major cardiovascular events by around 30 percent.

Can Changing How You Eat Ease Depression?

In the first trial of its kind, a Mediterranean-style diet meaningfully reduced depression symptoms over twelve weeks.

How Many Years Could a Better Diet Add?

Modelling suggests a sustained shift to a healthier diet could add around eight years of life for a woman starting at 60.

A Whole-of-Life Approach to Protecting the Ageing Brain

A two-year programme combining diet, exercise, brain training and health monitoring protected thinking skills in at-risk older adults.

How Many Daily Steps Actually Move the Needle?

Benefits to lifespan began at under 4,000 steps a day, and every extra 1,000 steps lowered mortality risk by around 15 percent.

What the Evidence Links to Ultra-Processed Foods

Higher intake of ultra-processed foods was linked to greater risk of early death, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and depression.

Can Gratitude Actually Help You Live Longer?

Older women with the highest gratitude scores had around a 9 percent lower risk of dying over three years.

The Kinds of Exercise That Ease Depression Most

Walking or jogging, yoga and strength training showed the largest antidepressant effects across hundreds of trials.

Five Minutes of Slow Breathing, Tested Against Meditation

Five minutes a day of exhale-focused breathing lifted mood and slowed breathing more than mindfulness meditation.

Why a Regular Sleep Schedule May Matter More Than Hours Slept

Consistent sleep timing predicted mortality risk more strongly than sleep duration, with up to 48 percent lower risk.

What the Evidence Says About Fixing Burnout at the Source

Changing how work is organised shows promise for reducing exhaustion, though the evidence base is still thin.

Why the Perimenopause Years Carry a Higher Risk of Depression

Perimenopausal women were around 40 percent more likely to experience depression than premenopausal women.

How Childhood Adversity May Show Up in the Body Decades Later

Pooled studies link early-life adversity to modestly faster biological ageing, though the certainty is still limited.

Feeling That Life Has Meaning, and Living Longer

Each step up in reported meaning in life was associated with a 15 percent lower risk of dying from any cause.

How Your Beliefs About Ageing Shape How Long You Live

Older adults with a more positive view of ageing lived around seven and a half years longer.

What Long-Term Stress Does to the Body at a Cellular Level

Women under the greatest chronic stress showed cellular ageing corresponding to roughly a decade of extra years.

The Four Experiences That Actually Restore Your Energy

Genuine recovery rests on four distinct experiences: switching off, relaxing, mastering something, and having control over your time.

What Eighty Years of Harvard Research Found Keeps People Healthy

The quality of close relationships predicted health and happiness in later life more reliably than wealth, class or IQ.