Must Reads from the Wellness World (October 23rd, 2024)

Have We Reached Peak Human Life Span?–The New York Times  After decades of rising life expectancy, the increases appear to be slowing. A new study from the University of Illinois Chicago calls into question how long even the healthiest of populations can live. It analyzed data on life expectancy at birth (from 1990 and 2019), from places where people typically live the longest: Australia, France,…

Mindfulness Meditation Offers Real Pain Relief; Not a Placebo

Mindfulness Meditation Offers Real Pain Relief; Not a Placebo Mindfulness meditation, used for pain management in various cultures for centuries, has long been thought to work by activating the placebo response. However, a 2024 study from University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers showed that this appears not to be the case: the practice engages separate neural pathways from the well-documented “placebo effect.”…

Research Suggests We’re Passing “Peak Obesity”; Weight-Loss Drugs Are Likely Reason

Research Suggests We’re Passing “Peak Obesity”; Weight-Loss Drugs Are Likely Reason By Thierry Malleret, economist GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are a remarkable example of health and tech innovation that seems to be leading to a stunning reversal in obesity rates. New data shows an unprecedented decline in obesity levels, which fell about 2 percentage points between 2020 and 2023. The new study used weight and height…

Susie Ellis Scholarship 2024 Recipients

Congratulations to Our 2024 Scholarship  Recipients Resonating with the global movement for equality and inclusion, the third year of the Global Wellness Institute’s (GWI’s) Susie Ellis Scholarship for Equity in Wellness welcomed an astounding 300+ applications from over 60 countries according to the fund’s creator, Executive Director and Chief Creative Officer Nancy Davis. After careful consideration, the Global Wellness Summit (GWS) Advisory Board awarded the 2024 Scholarship to Cida…

Catching Up on Sleep on Weekends Associated With 20% Lower Risk of Heart Disease

Catching Up on Sleep on Weekends Associated With 20% Lower Risk of Heart Disease A study presented at the 2024 European Society of Cardiology meeting examined data from 90,903 adults in the UK Biobank project, a database holding medical and lifestyle records of 500,000 people in the UK. Of these, 19,816 met the criteria for being sleep deprived. Over a follow-up period of 14 years, the…