Last year more than 20,000 NPR listeners signed up for a study on how taking brief, gentle movement breaks throughout the day could impact their overall wellbeing. Long story short, the more participants moved, the better they felt, both in terms of energy and mood, as Manoush Zomorodi reported on NPR’s special series Body Electric. But moving throughout the day, everyday, can be a challenge, especially if you have a busy desk job, for example.
So Zomorodi asked participants – how do you keep up the habit? One listener designed a chair that tips the sitter out of their seat at scheduled intervals … but you don’t have to be that hardcore! Other ideas include adding movement to things you already do – like taking a lap around your home/office while waiting for lunch to heat up in the microwave. Or topping off small victories with “dance celebration breaks.” If you can get your coworkers in on it, so much the better.
So someone you live with got COVID, and you tested negative, twice. Could you have an asymptomatic case and two false negatives? Maybe. But it’s also entirely possible you were not infected, according to epidemiologist Abraar Karan. It has to do with the way viruses spread – and how previous infections and vaccinations have altered our immune response since 2020.
Early on in the pandemic it was common for someone to be contagious even before symptoms appeared. But now, most people’s immune systems have come in contact with SARS-CoV-2 at least once. That means the immune response comes on quicker, causing coughing, sneezing, sore throat, etc. Those are signs for housemates to steer clear. In one study, researchers observed COVID symptoms even before a person became infectious.
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The other night I stayed up past midnight re-watching White Lotus on my laptop. I set my alarm for 8 a.m., but I woke up about 7:15 and couldn’t get back to sleep – which was not a surprise. It was bright outside, and despite my backout-ish curtains, I’m often unable to sleep while the sun is shining. I’ve always thought of it as my inner Protestant work ethic nudging me out of bed. But sleep researchers would probably say that’s just my circadian rhythm – the internal circuitry that guides the secretion of the essential sleep hormone melatonin.
And the circadian rhythm is "significantly influenced by natural sunlight in our environment," according to sleep scientist and Sleep for Success author Rebecca Robbins.
Keeping in sync with your circadian rhythm – sleeping at night rather than during the day – is recommended for quality sleep and overall health, as Robbins told Life Kit host Mariel Segarra. She also advises against watching TV in bed, because your brain will associate your bed with something other than sleep. She makes an exception for programs that you find soothing. (I guess an HBO drama full of suspenseful music and the specter of death doesn’t fit the bill🙄).
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