It’s been a busy week, from lab leak theories at the COVID-19 origin hearing to the long-awaited Supreme Court ruling on access to the abortion pill mifepristone. But that’s not all that’s happening in healthcare. Here are some exciting updates you might have missed, according to Yahoo News partners.

New study may explain why your hair turns gray with age

A study published on Wednesday perhaps the answer to why our hair turns gray as we age, according to CBS News, a Yahoo News partner.

Researchers at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine studied melanocyte stem cells in mice — a type of cell that also occurs in humans — and found that these cells can eventually get “stuck” with age, eventually losing the ability to move between growth zones. in the hair. particles and produce the pigment that provides hair color.

If this result also applies to humans, the researchers hope it could lead to a way to prevent hair from losing its youthful hue.

“The newly discovered mechanisms raise the possibility that the same fixed position of melanocyte stem cells could exist in humans,” Qi Song, lead investigator of the study, says in a press release. “If this is the case, this represents a potential route to reverse or prevent graying of human hair by helping stuck cells move back between the developing compartments of the hair follicle.”

UNICEF report says 12.7 million children in Africa missed vaccinations

new report published by UNICEF On Thursday, 12.7 million children in Africa were found to have missed one or more vaccinations between 2019 and 2021 due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a “child survival crisis” on the continent, a Yahoo partner said. News Canadian press accused by UNICEF. “heavy demands on health systems, diversion of immunization resources to COVID-19 vaccinations, shortage of healthcare workers and self-isolation measures”, as well as conflict, climate change and vaccine distrust due to declining vaccination rates, which now leaves the continent more vulnerable to serious illnesses. Last year, 34 of Africa’s 54 countries experienced outbreaks of measles, cholera and poliovirus. Africa needs to vaccinate some 33 million children by 2025 to recover from COVID-19’s “destructive trail”, according to the World Health Organization.

The story goes on

Immunization rates have also suffered in other parts of the world. The report says that some 67 million children missed routine immunizations, with vaccination coverage falling in 112 countries. Vaccine skepticism also grew during this period, including in South Korea, Japan, Papua New Guinea and Ghana, where confidence fell by more than a third.

Elite athletes live longer than average people, study finds

A study published The UK’s International Longevity Center (ILC) found on Wednesday that elite athletes can live up to five years longer than the rest of us, a Yahoo News Evening Standard partner reported.

The researchers looked at records of Commonwealth Games participants from 1930 and found significant differences in the life expectancy of medal winners compared to the life expectancy of people in the general population who were born in the same year.

“We have long known that sports are good for health, but our research shows the significant impact that top-level sport can have on the life expectancy of athletes around the world,” said Professor Les Mayhew, Deputy Head of Global Research at the ILC.

Male life expectancy increased by 29% with water sports, 25% with athletics and 24% with indoor sports, which the researchers say is between 4.5 and 5.3 extra years of life. Women’s life expectancy increased by 22%, or 3.9 years, in all sports.

Some other interesting findings noted by the researchers: wrestlers live longer than boxers; the life expectancy of long-distance runners is slightly higher than that of short-distance runners; and cycling was the only sport not associated with increased life expectancy.

New study links sugary drinks to early death in some people

According to research published by the Harvard School of Public Health. T. H. Chana on Wednesday, high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas, fruit punch and lemonade was associated with an increased risk of premature death and cardiovascular disease among people with type 2 diabetes. It is reported by USA Today, partner of Yahoo News.

The study authors say the report, which includes data from 1980 to 2018, is one of the first large-scale studies examining the association between death or illness and alcohol use among people with type 2 diabetes.

“Drinks are an important component of our diet and their quality can vary greatly,” lead author Qi Song said in a press release. “People living with diabetes may benefit particularly from drinking healthy beverages, but data has been sparse. These findings help fill this knowledge gap and may inform patients and caregivers about diet and diabetes management.”

The study found that replacing one sweetened drink per day with an artificially sweetened drink was also associated with an 8% reduction in the risk of “all-cause mortality” and a 15% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular death; replacing a sugary drink with an unsweetened drink such as coffee, tea, water, or low-fat cow’s milk has been linked to even greater health benefits.