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Your quick guide to the most interesting health stories around today.
New eye implants could replace reading glasses
All the frustrations of wearing reading glasses – like, you know, constantly misplacing them – could soon be a thing of the past. A ground-breaking new eye implant called the Symfony has the potential to cure long-sightedness in a procedure that takes just a few minutes.
According to UK surgeons, long-sighted patients will experience near perfect vision with pin-sharp focus just days after the plastic lens is inserted into their eyes. The Symfony lenses should last a lifetime and are multifocal, meaning that in nine out of ten cases the need for reading glasses should be completely eliminated.
Experts have labelled this a breakthrough in vision technology, as until now no insertable lens has been capable of mimicking natural vision so closely (via the Daily Mail).
If you’re into it, casual sex is good for you
Having sex outside of a relationship doesn’t float everyone’s boat – but for those who desire it and enjoy it, casual sex can have some major psychological benefits.
A study of 371 college students, published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, has revealed sociosexuality – a personality trait that measures someone’s tendency towards casual sex – can influence how casual sex impacts on people psychologically. The study found that for the students who were “sociosexually unrestricted”, casual sex was associated with higher self-esteem and life satisfaction, and lower levels of depression, distress and anxiety.
“[This suggests] that high sociosexuality may both buffer against any potentially harmful consequences of casual sex and allow access to its potential benefits,” the researchers write. (via The Pacific Standard)
Poor sleep may damage your brain
That lack of sleep can impact your health is something we’re all aware of. However, the impacts of insufficient rest on the brain might be longer-lasting than we expected.
New research from the University of Pennsylvania reveals chronic sleep deprivation may lead to irreversible physical damage to, and loss of, brain cells. The study team examined the neural activity of mice with different levels of sleep loss, and found the mice with prolonged sleep loss had impaired neurological cell function and a higher number of dead brain cells. (via the Huffington Post)