Author: Arsen Mayer

There have been a number of studies and theories about why a growing number of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) boys and teens suffer from shortsightedness (myopia), and nearly all of them have to wear corrective eyeglasses from a young age. A new study conducted in the optometry department at Hadassah College Jerusalem has found that not being […]

How much money would you need to be happy in your daily life? Is too much bad for you? Researchers from Princeton University, led by Israeli-American psychologist and economist and 2002 Nobel Prize laureate Prof. Daniel Kahneman, found one result while a team from the University of Pennsylvania found the opposite. However, the two teams […]

The sight of hassidic adults giving cigarettes on Purim to children in the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) town of El’ad enraged the Israel Cancer Association (ICA). “Giving a child a cigarette on Purim is like handing out samples of poison,” the ICA said in a statement on Wednesday. Giving smokes to boys on Purim was a common […]

Imagine getting treatment for a perfectly healthy young heart that would allow it to recover from an otherwise devastating injury decades later. This seems very farfetched; after all, cardiovascular diseases that are humanity’s No. 1 or No. 2 cause of death (after cancer), aren’t generally regarded as something one can prepare for with preventive treatment. […]

Ridding two toxic by-products of fat that naturally accumulate over time could be the key to halting aging, and shedding a few pounds too, according to a new study.  The study, conducted at the University of Virginia and published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Current Biology, suggests that a longer life can be gained […]

It doesn’t matter if you’re planning a pregnancy, already pregnant, or postpartum and breastfeeding, some small changes to your diet, sleep quantity and exercise habits can help you get through it all. These eight tips will help you be healthier in general, make pregnancy easier or ensure that the quality of your breast milk is […]

A peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature last month found that genetic variations in the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) gene cluster increased the risk of bipolar disorder. What is bipolar disorder? Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition categorized by a manic swing of emotions, according to the National Health Service. While the exact […]

Differences in medical conditions and health are increasingly being discovered between males and females. There is growing evidence that women of all ethnic backgrounds and ages are more sensitive to salt than men and that this tendency to hold onto more salt – which drives up blood pressure – increases after menopause. Another important emerging […]

Bruce Willis’ heartbreaking situation brought awareness to the complex struggle of many families who see a loved one disappearing before their eyes. Family members of dementia and Alzheimer’s patients face a terrible reality, one in which they find themselves at the center of intensive therapeutic activity 24 hours a day.  Caring for a relative suffering […]

A new study has found that using a smartphone picture of a child’s inside lower eyelid to diagnose anemia is about 72% accurate. The findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, could make anemia screening more widely available, particularly for children in low-income countries (including in Ghana, where the research was conducted in collaboration […]