Monthly Archives: January 2014

Finding the time to break away from the daily grind, a vacation at the beach is one of the best imaginable ways to lower your blood pressure. However, is it the relaxation alone that’s responsible? According to the results of a new study conducted in the United Kingdom, regularly exposing the skin to the sun’s rays may also play an important role in reducing hypertension. The study, which was conducted in a laboratory environment, found that people experienced a reduction in blood pressure and dilation of their blood vessels after being subjected to 30 minutes of UVA radiation designed to mimic a Southern European summer sun. Although getting too much sun without proper protection can lead to a sunburn and even skin cancer in some cases, high blood pressure can result in fatal consequences including stroke and heart attack.

Worldwide, a smaller percentage of people are smoking today than they were about 30 years ago, according to a new study from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Unfortunately, the growing population means that a larger number of people are smoking now than they were at that point, too. As of 2012, roughly 31% of men across the world smoked, a figure that’s still alarmingly high, though not as dire as the 41% figure observed in 1980. Smoking rates are far lower among women, and managed to drop down to 6.2% from 10% over the same time period. However, due to increases in worldwide population, about 967 million people smoke today – a figure that stood at 721 million 34 years ago. In 2012 alone, people smoked over 6 trillion cigarettes.