Get off your butt…for science

Plus: How to talk to your folks about end-of-life planning

View this email online October 8, 2023 by Andrea Muraskin This week: Are desk workers in an existential struggle between sitting and long-term health, or can we save our bodies without upending our careers? As part of NPR’s new series The Body Electric, you can help Columbia University researchers answer this question. Plus: Women's bodies have historically been left out of medical research – an author wants to level the playing field. And: A pragmatic guide to talking to parents about end-of-life planning.  'Eve' author says medicine often ignores female bodies. 'We've been guinea pigs' lupashchenkoiryna/DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images Female bodies have been historically left out of medical research. The reasons why, as laid out by Cat Bohannon in the new book Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution are astoundingly simple – one could even say, stupid. Female mice, like all mammals, have an estrus cycle – their sex hormones fluctuate over time. Researchers considered this a complicating factor.   “A decision was essentially made by many different people in biology a long time ago that, well, maybe we just won't study the females, because the guys don't have that," Bohannon told Tonya Mosely on Fresh Air.  Many clinical drug trials involving human subjects omitted female patients who were of child-bearing age, out of concern that the subject might be pregnant, or become pregnant during the course of the study. As Bohannon points out, a woman’s reproductive years can span four decades – the majority of our lives.  This research gap has many implications, Bohannon says. For instance, opioids are processed differently in female bodies, making women more vulnerable to becoming addicted. Women come out of anesthesia faster, and are more likely to wake up on the surgery table [Aaaahhh!]. And there’s been growing awareness in recent years that the symptoms of a heart attack often present differently for women from the chest pain and pressure that was thought of as “standard.”  The book reads like a user's manual for the female mammal. In her dynamic interview with Mosley, Bohannon explains why it’s “actually kind of crazy not to lay eggs,” how breastfeeding and the microbiome evolved hand in hand, and why humans are one of only a few mammals that menstruate. Also: why the differences we perceive between male and female thinking and behavior may be overblown. Skim the highlights or listen to the full interview here. Also: The surprising science of how pregnancy begins Newsletter continues after sponsor message Yes, end-of-life planning is a tough subject. Here’s how to talk to your parents about it RichLegg/Getty Images Talk to my parents about end-of-life planning? I’d much rather chase a butterfly down a forest path, Winnie the Pooh-style. Of course, checking in with your parents before serious cognitive decline sets in can save you heartache, headache, and even financial ruin down the line. But how to broach the subject? “I would encourage people not to sit your parents down and grill them for hours,” financial journalist Cameron Huddleston tells NPR’s Life Kit. “This doesn't happen in one conversation.” Huddleston covers the thorny subject in her 2019 book Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk: How to Have Essential Conversations with Your Parents About Their Finances. She recommends starting early, with something of a stealth approach: Test the waters by asking your parent(s) for financial advice -- whether you need it or not. Start with a question like: Should I set up a will? Or, should I be taking advantage of my workplace retirement plan? Judging by their answers, Huddleston says you may get a glimpse of what financial guardrails they do or don’t have in place.  A will, Huddleston says, is paramount. Without it, the state government gets to decide how a person’s assets are distributed after they die. Other documents are important for managing your parents’ aging process, like a living will, which outlines a person’s wishes in terms of medical treatment in the event that they're not able to make those decisions themselves. And then there’s long-term care, which includes home health aides, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and memory care. Long-term care is often enormously costly, and Huddleston encourages people to invest in a long-term care insurance plan in their 60s or even late 50s, because premiums go up as you age. If your parents dismiss your attempts to help, Huddleston recommends using language like the following: “I respect your independence and I want to help you remain independent for as long as possible. But to do that, we need to have some plans.” Oh, and you can tell them you heard about it on NPR, you know, if that helps ;). Learn more. Plus: A loved one's dementia will break your heart. Don't let it ruin your finances Support Independent Journalism and NPR's Climate Solutions Week In the face of the climate crisis, inaction is a privilege humanity can't afford. Reporting teams across the NPR Network have been searching for solutions and the innovators behind them. Your donation to the NPR Network is crucial to this process: your dollars power our reporting, including on topics like climate solutions. And your gift ensures we're freely available to the millions of people who want to be informed about what we find.   Please join us with a donation today. Donate Now Can you combat the negative health effects of a sedentary desk job? Let’s find out Daniel Hertzberg I like to take advantage of the various positions available at which to work at a computer at my coworking space. I’ll sit in a standard office chair for an hour or two, then move to a couch. There are high tables I can stand at, with stools for when I get tired of standing. Changing position helps mitigate various aches and pains. But it won’t save me from the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle. That's according to Columbia University exercise physiologist Keith Diaz, who spoke with NPR host Manoush Zomorodi for the new podcast series “Body Electric.”  Sitting too much has been linked with numerous health concerns including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and early death. You know this. I know this. And yet, 85% of American workers hold sedentary jobs and U.S. adults spend an average of 9.5 hours sitting per day, often tethered to devices.  We need to move, at regular intervals, Diaz says. In a lab study earlier this year, his team came up with a minimum standard of exercise to combat the health effects of a day of sitting: A five-minute walk every 30 minutes.  But is this practical for us desk jockeys "in the wild"? To find out the answer, NPR and Columbia University invite you to participate in a new study. It involves integrating specific intervals of activity into your day over a period of three weeks, and keeping track on your smartphone. The deadline to sign up is TONIGHT, October 8 at 11:59pm ET.  (Progress note on my end: This five minutes of walking thing may not go according to plan if you work in a cutesy neighborhood with the kind of boutique where you walk in to quickly buy a card and end up trying on sweaters.) If you're reading this after the study sign-up deadline, you can still follow along on your own. Zomorodi and Diaz will report the results in the final episode of the special series on November 7.  Learn more and listen to the first episode of Body Electric, a podcast series about how we can change the relationship between our technology and our bodies, to hopefully sit less, get off our screens, and feel better. You can also find the series in the TED Radio Hour feed here, or wherever you listen to podcasts.    Plus: Break up your work day with these five exercises for neck and back pain relief   Before you go: MacArthur Foundation This MacArthur 'genius' knew the initial theory of COVID-19 transmission was flawed A mobile clinic at a Dollar General says a lot about rural health care If you’re vegetarian – or have failed at being one – it might be because of your genes To prevent gun violence, these peacemakers start with the basics Time for a walk! Find more of NPR's health journalism on Shots. All our best, Andrea Muraskin and your NPR Health editors Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WMFE (edit station). What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: shots@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? 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