Health & Science

Bad times are good for health

Good news: The recent recession may have added years to your life. A new University of Michigan study of life expectancy during the Great Depression found that the health of Americans was actually better then than it was during the periods of prosperity before and after. In the 1930s, the leading causes of death included heart and kidney disease, flu and pneumonia, cancer, and traffic accidents. But mortality rates fell during the Depression, and life expectancy increased by six years (and by eight years for nonwhites); the pattern held true for the recessions of 1921 and 1938, and reversed during economic upswings. “In some sense it is good news,” study author José A. Tapia Granados tells CNN.com. “The usual view of a period of recession is that everything is bad.” The findings align with other studies showing that mortality drops and life expectancy rises during hard economic times. What accounts for it? Tapia Granados speculates that when people are feeling flush with money, they tend to eat more, drink more, smoke more, drive more, and party more—all of which can lead to earlier deaths. During recessions, on the other hand, people eat and drink less, sleep more, and spend less time working—making them less prone to industrial accidents. During hard times, people also tend to seek solace from friends and family members, Tapia Granados says, “and social support could have a protective effect on health.”

Is ‘Ardi’ the missing link?

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Scientists have found a nearly complete skeleton of a newly discovered human ancestor that pushes back the horizon of our species’ evolution by 1 million years, and overturns previous theories about how humans evolved. The new hominid species, named Ardipithecus ramidus, or “Ardi,’’ lived in Africa 4.4 million years ago—long before the famous “Lucy,” who was previously the oldest known hominid. Ardi, who stood about 4 feet tall and weighed 110 pounds, walked upright, but had flat, grasping feet that could be used to climb trees. In many respects, Ardi is close to being the proverbial “missing link,” with physical features halfway between those of humans and those of chimps, and a small, chimp-like brain. “It is not a chimp, it is not a human,” University of California paleoanthropologist Tim White tells The Wall Street Journal. White and his team spent 15 years assembling and analyzing Ardi and the shattered remains of 36 members of her species. The skeletons strongly suggest that humans and chimps diverged on the evolutionary tree much longer ago than was previously thought, with chimps and gorillas developing many of their modern features—such as knuckle-walking and hanging from branches—only after they went down their own evolutionary path. Ardi, says paleoanthropologist David Pilbeam of Harvard University, “is one of the most important discoveries for the study of human evolution.”

Paying the price for heels

High heels and strappy sandals may look better with a pencil skirt than a pair of cross-trainers, but they’re also more likely to cause women foot pain later in life, scientists say. In a survey of 3,300 men and women, 64 percent of older women who reported pain in the back of their feet and in their Achilles tendons had worn high heels or sandals regularly at some point in their lives. Women who’d often worn sneakers or athletic shoes in their youth cut in half their risk of experiencing foot pain later in life, compared with women who had worn hard- or medium-soled shoes. “Women need to really pay attention to how a shoe fits, and realize that what you’re buying could have potential effects on your feet for the rest of your life,” lead author Alyssa Dufour tells The New York Times. “It’s important to pay attention to size and width, and not just buy it because it’s cute.” Only 2 percent of men wore shoes that the researchers rated as “bad,” such as sandals and flip-flops, which alter the natural gait and lead to ankle, heel, and sole problems.

Keeping teen drivers safe

Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for American teenagers, killing 5,000 teens—and injuring 250,000—every year. But there’s a simple way to cut down on the danger, scientists say: Don’t give kids their own car. In a study of 5,500 teens, researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found that 25 percent of kids who had their own cars or the free use of one had been involved in a crash, whereas just 10 percent of teens who shared access to the family vehicle had suffered an accident. Physician Flaura Koplin Winston tells the Associated Press that kids with their own car or keys gain “a sense of entitlement about driving” that renders them less cautious and more arrogant behind the wheel. Her study found that teens with parents who set clear rules and kept tabs on their whereabouts had half as many crashes, were 71 percent less likely to drive drunk, and 30 percent less likely to drive while using a cell phone. “One of the safest decisions families can make is for parents to control access to the keys,” Winston says.