A new study followed nearly 200 women for 44 years. Those who exercised more had a lower risk of dementia, backing up other research on this topic.

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Is a healthy heart linked to a healthy brain? New research from Sweden suggests that it is.

In a study reported early this month in the journal Neurology, researchers found that women with higher cardiovascular fitness at midlife were less likely to develop dementia later in life.

The research team followed 191 women over the course of 44 years, from 1968 to 2012.

Among women who had the lowest cardiovascular fitness at midlife, 32 percent developed dementia by the end of the study.

In comparison, 25 percent of women with medium cardiovascular fitness at midlife developed dementia.

Only 5 percent of women with high cardiovascular fitness at midlife developed dementia.

This study contributes to a growing body of research that shows associations between physical fitness, heart health, and cognitive function.

When the study began in 1968, researchers asked participating women between the ages of 38 and 60 to complete a cardiovascular fitness test.

Over the next four decades, psychiatric professionals examined participants for signs and symptoms of dementia.

According to the results of participants’ examinations and hospital records, 44 of them developed dementia by the end of the study.

Women with high cardiovascular fitness at midlife were 88 percent less likely to develop dementia than women with medium cardiovascular fitness.

The average age of onset of dementia was also more than nine years higher among women with high cardiovascular fitness, compared to women with medium cardiovascular fitness.

According to the lead author of the study, these results are similar to the findings of past studies that included men.

“There are two previous longitudinal studies on cardiovascular fitness and dementia that all include men. These show similar association as ours, but not that strong,” Helena Hörder, PhD, lead author and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, told Healthline.

This latest addition to the research literature provides additional support for the idea that regular exercise and good cardiovascular health might help lower your risk of dementia.

“It’s confirmatory of what the rest of the literature is showing, which is that people that do have a healthier lifestyle at midlife are less likely to develop dementia over time,” Keith Fargo, PhD, director of scientific programs and outreach at the Alzheimer’s Association, told Healthline.

But Fargo and Hörder were careful to note that the findings are associational in nature, not causal.

In other words, the researchers can’t be certain that higher cardiovascular fitness was directly responsible for lowering participants’ risk of dementia.

It’s possible that other variables that affected participants’ cardiovascular fitness also affected their risk of dementia.

More research is needed

To investigate the nature of the link between physical fitness and dementia, the Alzheimer’s Association has recently launched the U.S. Pointer study.

This clinical trial will follow 2,500 people over the course of two years.

Half of the participants will be randomly assigned to a low-intensity intervention.

The other half will be randomly assigned to a high-intensity intervention.

“It’s going to be multimodal,” Fargo said, “so they’re going to be doing exercise four times a week, they’re going to be on a new diet, they’re going to be getting close monitoring of their blood pressure, and so on.”

“We’ll follow those people for two years,” he continued, “to see whether it’s made a difference in terms of their cognition.”

People who are interested in taking part in studies on dementia can learn about opportunities to participating in research by visiting http://www.alz.org/trialmatch.

The U.S. Pointer study might shed more light on the potential role that physical fitness plays in keeping our brains healthy.

In the meantime, the Alzheimer’s Association already encourages people to participate in cardiovascular exercise on a regular basis.

Dr. Douglas Scharre, director of the division of cognitive neurology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, also advises people to get moving.

Taking part in regular exercise and social activities might help build your cognitive reserve and maintain your cognitive function, he suggested.

“Both physical and mental activity are fabulous brain activities. We know this from different studies that have measured how much the brain is involved in both those types of activities,” Scharre said.

It’s also important to take steps to protect your brain from trauma and other sources of damage, which can raise your risk of experiencing cognitive decline and dementia.

“When it comes to modifiable risk factors, avoid toxins, avoid trauma, get good oxygenation to your brain, and try not to damage it too much,” Scharre said.

“Eat a well-balanced diet. And then socialize and exercise. That’s probably the bottom line,” he added.

Honey is the sweet, sticky substance that bees produce and store in hives.

In its natural form, honey is produced by enzyme activity, plant matter, and live bacteria coming together to create a powerful ingredient with hundreds of practical uses.

The unique process that creates honey makes it especially valuable for cosmetic uses, such as clearing acne, healing scars, and evening out skin tone.

Raw, unpasteurized honey has the most potential for topical application on skin. Keep reading to find out how honey can be applied to your face and help your skin.

Raw honey is packed with components beneficial for your skin, especially if you have acne or autoimmune skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis. Even Candida overgrowth may be controlled by applying honey to your skin.

Raw honey helps balance the bacteria on your skin, which makes it a great product to use for acne. Manuka honey has been studied as an anti-acne product and found to be significantly more effective than other popular products.

Honey speeds up your skin cells’ healing processes. If you have blemishes or an eczema outbreak, honey that’s unpasteurized could speed healing and reduce inflammation. Manuka honey is so effective at healing wounds quickly that it’s now used by doctors in clinical settings.

Raw honey is also a natural exfoliator, which means applying it to your face takes off dry, dull skin and reveals new skin cells underneath.

Uses of honey on the face

Applying honey to your face is fairly simple, though there are different ways to do it.

Honey for face acne, psoriasis, and eczema

Honey for chronic skin conditions can be treated with a paste, spot-treated, or with a face mask that you leave on for several minutes.

The most important thing about using honey to treat these conditions is to use unpasteurized honey, such as manuka honey.

It’s vital that the honey you use still contains its healthy bacteria to be effective. This will activate your immune system and help with inflammation and redness, as well as heal blemishes.

One way to use honey for your face is to mix it with other ingredients to create a soothing face mask treatment. Before doing this, make sure to do a patch test of the honey and any other ingredients to ensure you won’t have an allergic reaction.

Allergy warning

If you have allergic reactions to pollen, celery, or other bee-related products, steer clear of using honey on your skin.

A mixture of raw honey and cinnamon is a powerful antioxidant and antimicrobial combination.

Mix three parts honey and one part freshly ground or pure cinnamon (“true” cinnamon) and warm the mixture slightly using the microwave. Apply to your skin and leave the mixture on for 8 to 10 minutes. Rinse off completely using warm water and pat your skin dry. Don’t use if you’re allergic to cinnamon.

Honey for skin lightening and brightening

Researchers haven’t drawn a direct connection between using honey on your face and lightening dark spots.

But since honey has exfoliating properties, using it on your face can eliminate dead skin cells that make your skin look dull. This can reveal brighter skin.

After washing your face with soap and water, apply manuka honey or another variety of unpasteurized, raw honey to your face. If you’d like, dilute the honey with purified water to make it less sticky and easier to remove. Leave the honey on your skin for several minutes before rinsing off.

Honey for scar fading

Honey helps your body’s healing process, which may help fade acne scars. You can use honey as a spot treatment on scars, applying it every day or every other day as a paste at the site of your scarring.

You may also see results if you use honey face masks as a part of your beauty routine, as described above. Keep in mind that what we know about honey’s healing abilities is limited, and still developing. A study found that honey may not be good for scarring caused by burns and deep cuts.

Side effects of applying honey on face

Honey is unlikely to cause an allergic reaction in most people. You should use any of these remedies with caution if you have any known allergies to:

• pollen
• celery
• bee venom

Always test new products on a small area of your skin that’s minimally visible to see if you’re allergic.

Make sure to remove any honey from your face before you go to bed. Honey left on your face can attract dust and other debris, which could aggravate an active breakout.

Takeaway

Using raw honey on your face can work as a treatment for acne, scarring, and dull or dry skin.

Raw honey is more expensive than other kinds of honey, but it’s relatively inexpensive compared to other skin cosmetics for your face.

Researchers are working to find out more about how honey can help your face look its brightest and most clear. As long as you don’t have an allergy, there’s little reason not to give it a try.

Dental sealants can prevent cavities in children and adults for years, but are they worth the cost and potential risk?

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Brushing your teeth is important, but dental sealants may be the best way to prevent kids from getting cavities.

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has touted the benefits of the relatively simple and inexpensive procedure in children.

Dental sealants are a thin coating that is painted on teeth to protect them from cavities.

This painless procedure can be $30 to $60 per tooth, although some insurance or discount plans can reduce that cost.

“Considering that less than half of children have them, I’d say [the trend of dental sealants] it still is gaining traction,” Ashley Grill, a New York-based dental hygienist, told Healthline. “Dental sealants are safe and effective, and they’ve been safe and effective for over 40 years.”

What the research shows

The CDC report states that dental sealants prevent 80 percent of cavities for two years after application.

They also continue to protect against 50 percent of cavities for up to four years.

The sealants can be retained in the mouth for up to nine years, according to the CDC.

About 43 percent of 6- to 11-year-old children have a dental sealant. Children from low income households were 20 percent less likely to have sealants than children from higher income households.

School-age children without sealants have almost three times more cavities than children with sealants.

Applying sealants in school-based programs to the nearly 7 million children from low income households who don’t have them could save up to $300 million in dental treatment costs, the CDC reported.

Dr. Valerie Barba, a dentist in New Jersey, told Healthline that sealants are the “most conservative” noninvasive treatment in dentistry.

The sealants need to be monitored and maintained during regular care visits to ensure they do not wear away.

They are technically sensitive to where they are placed, so practitioners who do not apply them correctly may not have the best success rates.

The skinny on sealants

Grill noted that children can report lost school time due to tooth decay, as it can interfere with sleep, eating, and other regular activities.

In addition to preventing cavities, sealants can ensure the teeth stay intact.

“Once a tooth is drilled and filled, restored, or extracted, the natural structure is compromised. There is a lifetime cost associated with maintaining the restored tooth or implant,” she noted.

There are some disadvantages or potential problems with sealants, Grill said. They may need to be reapplied if they fall out, chip, or wear away. In replacement, excess material may need to be drilled down or removed with a scaler.

“I understand the environmental exposure concern about synthetic estrogens such as bisphenol A (BPA),” Grill said.

Salivary BPA levels from exposure to BPA peak three hours after a procedure and return to baseline within 24 hours, she said. Grill added that blood serum levels of BPA have not been detected in clinical studies, but more research is needed.

“I’ve never observed an adverse reaction to dental sealants, and none have been reported in the literature,” said Grill, who applies sealants. “People tolerate dental sealants well.”

If parents are concerned about BPA more than the risks of tooth decay, they should note that treating tooth decay can involve a wealth of dental materials that have more chemicals than BPA. Alternative sealant materials exist, though Grill is not sure if they work better than those containing BPA.

Another issue with sealants is that a person’s bite can feel abnormal after application due to the extra layer on the tooth, Dr. J. Kolby Robinson, a board certified pediatric dentist from Oregon, told Healthline. Some of that wears away over time.

“The main problem with dental sealants is lack of awareness,” Grill added.

Most children don’t benefit from prevention because of overregulation and restrictions at all levels on preventive dental care, Grill said.

Some are insurance barriers, such as only covering certain teeth for sealants. There are also rules imposed by state boards that only allow hygienists working with dentists to place sealants, or requiring a dental examination with a dentist before prevention is allowed.

Long-term benefits

If the application technique is perfect, dental sealants can last a lifetime. More often than not, though, they do need to be replaced, Grill said.

“As soon as your child is getting new teeth in with grooves called ‘pits and fissures’ like molars and premolars, get them sealed once they are erupted,” she said. This happens at 6, 12, and 18 years of age.

Baby or primary teeth can be sealed, but the child should be old enough to tolerate the painless procedure, which involves being able to hold their mouth open and not move for a few minutes. Usually, treating younger teeth is performed only on those with an increased risk of tooth decay.

“I recommend getting individual advice on when to seal from your dental team. You can seal any vulnerable surfaces, but retention is best in the pits and fissures,” she said.

Adults can also benefit from sealants.

“All people, no matter age can benefit [from sealants], even adults,” Barba said.

With age, our exposure to decay increases, and the protective quality and biochemistry of saliva changes with certain medications over time. That said, adults are also candidates for this treatment.

But if you already have a restoration or implant, then that tooth will not benefit from a sealant, Grill noted.

“Sealants have proven to be safe and effective,” Robinson said. “The benefits outweigh the risks.”