But sleep is as important for good health as diet and exercise. Good sleep improves your brain performance, mood, and health.
David J. Earnest, Texas A&M University
Foods high in fat, especially saturated fat, are bad for you. A high-fat diet is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease as well as metabolic disorders like obesity and type 2 diabetes. So why does saturated fat have these effects on the body? What’s going on in your body when you eat a fatty meal?
Trekking out to my research sites near North Carolina’s Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, I slog through knee-deep water on a section of trail that is completely submerged. Permanent flooding has become commonplace on this low-lying peninsula, nestled behind North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The trees growing in the water are small and stunted. Many are dead.
James D. McCalley, Iowa State University
Many kinds of extreme events can disrupt electricity service, including hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, extreme heat, extreme cold and extended droughts. Major disasters can leave thousands of people in the dark. The Texas deep freeze in February knocked out 40% of the state’s electric generating capacity.
Lina Begdache, Binghamton University, State University of New York
If you have experienced unwanted weight gain or weight loss during the pandemic, you are not alone. According to a poll by the American Psychological Association, 61% of U.S. adults reported undesired weight change since the pandemic began.
Alexander Sundermann, University of Pittsburgh; Lee Harrison, University of Pittsburgh, and Vaughn Cooper, University of Pittsburgh
“You can’t fix what you don’t measure” is a maxim in the business world. And it holds true in the world of public health as well.
Early in the pandemic, the United States struggled to meet the demand to test people for SARS-CoV-2. That failure meant officials didn’t know the true number of people who had COVID-19. They were left to respond to the pandemic without knowing how quickly it was spreading and what interventions minimized risks.
Jennifer T. Grier, University of South Carolina
A few weeks ago, a message popped up in the corner of my screen. “What do you think about people who have recently had COVID–19 getting the vaccine?” A friend of mine was eligible for a COVID–19 vaccine, but she had recently gotten over an infection with SARS–CoV–2. More people are becoming eligible for vaccines each week – including millions of people who have already recovered from a coronavirus infection. Many are wondering whether they need the vaccine, especially people who have already been infected.
National Institutes of Health
About 100,000 people in the U.S. are living with sickle cell disease. People with the condition are born with an abnormal type of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying molecule in red blood cells. The abnormal hemoglobin can cause cells to bend into a fragile, crescent—or “sickle”—shape. Sickled cells can stick to blood vessel walls, causing inflammation and slowing or stopping the flow of blood.
Kevin Doxzen, Arizona State University
As the world fights the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic, another group of dangerous pathogens looms in the background. The threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been growing for years and appears to be getting worse. If COVID-19 taught us one thing, it’s that governments should be prepared for more global public health crises, and that includes finding new ways to combat rogue bacteria that are becoming resistant to commonly used drugs.
Roshanak (Roshi) Nateghi, Purdue University
Pundits and politicians have been quick to point fingers over the debacle in Texas that left millions without power or clean water during February’s deep freeze. Many have blamed the state’s deregulated electricity market, arguing that Texas prioritized cheap power over reliability.
