Think about your heart... and have a weekend lie-in because it will cut your stroke risk

There's no reason to feel guilty if you enjoyed an extra hour in bed this morning – a weekend lie-in is good for your heart.

A study found it can reduce the risk of high blood pressure – a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes – by up to 39 per cent.

But catching up on your sleep only boosts your health if you are deprived of sufficient rest during the week.

Scientists from hospitals and universities in South Korea recruited 2,782 adults and recorded details of their sleeping habits throughout the week, as well as whether they had high blood pressure.

Once they accounted for other factors that might trigger a rise in blood pressure – such as smoking or doing no exercise – the researchers were able to see precisely how sleep affected blood flow.

Those getting less than six hours a night during the week were 70 per cent more likely to have dangerously high readings compared to adults snoozing between seven and nine hours. You can read more at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2322798/Think-heart--weekend-lie-cut-stroke-risk.html

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Taking a daily dose of aspirin could reduce spread of breast cancer

Common painkiller found to suppress two strains of breast cancer

Taking aspirin could slow the spread of breast cancer, a study has found.

Scientists found the painkiller limits the creation of cells which fuel the disease and reduces tumour growth.

Laboratory tests on mice discovered low doses of the drug suppressed the spread of two different strains of the illness.

One of the strains is responsible for 'triple negative' breast cancer, which is resistant to many treatments and affects up to one in five patients.

The researchers at University of Kansas also found that aspirin boosted the effect of tamoxifen, a widely used treatment for the more common form of the disease.

As well as putting preventing the spread of cancer in the lab, the medicine significantly reduced tumour growths in mice. Earlier observations have suggested a protective effect of aspirin against the recurrence of breast cancer, with women who took aspirin to lower their risk of heart attack or stroke less likely to relapse. 

But the reason behind this effect is not yet understood. The researchers found that the drug may interfere with the generation of highly aggressive stem cells by tumours. In the mouse studies, treated cancer cells produced only partial or no stem cells, which are not destroyed by chemotherapy. Continue reading at:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2312555/Taking-daily-dose-aspirin-reduce-spread-breast-cancer-slowing-creation-cells-fuel-disease.html

Walk this way... and lose 10lb in four weeks!

How simply putting one foot in front of the other can beat the bulge 

Next time you are out on a busy street, look around you. There will, no doubt, be people walking and going about their daily business. So far, so ordinary. 

But stop for a moment to really watch. Hunched over, shoulders tense, arms unmoving, heads often bowed – the simple act of movement seems a struggle for many. 

And that is because they are not walking correctly. I admit it sounds ludicrous – starting to walk is a milestone most of us pass shortly after our eighth month of life, usually with the help of our parents. But, typically, bar a little self-taught fine-tuning, there ends the lesson. 

Getting off on the right foot: Sports scientist Joanna Hall, right, and her client Karen Walsh, left, go through their paces

As adults, a life spent sitting at a desk, struggling around with heavy bags and wearing all kinds of lovely-looking but unforgiving footwear takes its toll on our posture. 

Just as we often sit incorrectly, we also walk incorrectly. The knock-on effect? An epidemic of joint pain – in particular bad backs – affecting millions of us. 

About eight in ten of us have one of more bouts of lower-back pain at some time in our lives. One Department of Health survey suggested that 15 per of adults are in continuous pain from a bad back.

With this in mind, I first set about researching efficient and posturally correct ways of practising the everyday activity of walking.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2326637/Walk-way--lose-10lb-weeks-How-simply-putting-foot-beat-bulge.html