Health

How long does it take to lose your fitness

It may well be something you've heard a million times before. But when it comes to your fitness, it's well worth remembering.

If instant gratification is your thing, exercise can be a drag. It's not something you do once, then sit back and reap a lifetime of rewards.

Those rewards only come with hard work, consistency and self-discipline.

"You're only as good as your last training session," said sports scientist Tony Boutagy.

"In other words, you only get health benefits from a session for up to about 48 hours afterwards."

Should you treat your aching back with a crack?

The research, which pooled 26 prior studies, found that spinal manipulation was linked to "modest improvements" in pain and function among people with short-term lower-back pain. Their pain improved an average of one point on a 10-point scale.

Children exposed to CT scans face increased risk of developing cancer

CT scans are used by doctors to get to the core of a problem by creating a 3D image of the most inaccessible nooks of the body.

But the beams of ionising radiation can cause cellular damage.

A fresh analysis of 2013 research is being presented by researchers from the University of Melbourne at the World Congress of Public Health in Melbourne.

They said the radiation risk was much greater than previously acknowledged.

The results indicated that most of the excess cancers occurring more than two years after a CT scan were caused by radiation from the scan.

Study: Obesity during pregnancy increases risk of epilepsy in child

Being overweight during the first trimester of pregnancy has been linked to an increased risk of childhood epilepsy.

The recent Swedish study, published in journal JAMA Neurology, of almost 1.5 million babies found the risk of epilepsy almost doubled from normal-weight women to very severely obese women.

Epilepsy disrupts the normal electrochemical activity of the brain resulting seizures.

Natural sleep aids: Tackling Insomnia without drugs

There are countless others herbal teas promoted as sleep aids however, including valerian, kava, passionflower, hops and lavender.

But do they really help you sleep better?

It's hard to know, because like many natural products, there's little solid evidence behind them, says chair of the Australian Sleep Health Foundation Professor David Hillman.

Are vegetable oils healthy?

But our consumption of vegetable oil has increased considerably since the 1960s, and the health effects of high intakes are a source of scientific debate.

What researchers agree on is that vegetable oils such as safflower, sunflower, corn, cottonseed and soybean oils, are rich in a type of fat known as linoleic acid. That acid can lower LDL or "bad" cholesterol when it replaces saturated fats in the diet (which primarily come from animal sources).

What the changing food habits of Australians tell us

Global market research company Mintel monitors the way new food and drink products perform in the market while surveying consumers to understand their eating habits.

Justin Nell from the company's Australia and New Zealand arm is in Adelaide to speak at the Food South Australia Summit and says these are the biggest trends playing out in 2017.

Kids turn their hands to making 3D-printed prosthetics

Ivanhoe Grammar School has partnered with e-NABLE, a community of online 3D designers, so students can learn how to make and produce prosthetics.

Steve Brophy, the school's director of information and communication technology and eLearning, said the school had used 3D printers for years but was looking for more meaningful projects.

"We wanted to move past the kids just printing knick-knacks and thinking that things like bobble heads and little toy cars were good enough.

Lung probe 'to help cut the unnecessary use of antibiotics'

The fibre-optic tube can show within 60 seconds whether a patient needs to be treated with the drugs.

It is hoped the Proteus technology could tackle the emergence of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.

The project has been developed by scientists at the universities of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and Bath.

Proteus has received £2m of funding from the Wellcome Trust.

How coffee naps can help you power through the day

Both make you feel alert and can enhance your performance, whether that's driving, working or studying.

But some people are convinced that drinking a coffee before a nap gives you an extra zap of energy when you wake up.

How could that be? Is there any evidence to back the power of these so-called coffee naps?

Or are we better off getting a good night's sleep?

Feeling sleepy?