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Healthy Lifestyle Benefits: 5 Tips for Living Your Strongest, Healthiest Life YetStarting a healthy lifestyle can involv...
05/15/2024

Healthy Lifestyle Benefits: 5 Tips for Living Your Strongest, Healthiest Life Yet

Starting a healthy lifestyle can involve eating nutritious foods, engaging in regular physical activity, and prioritizing your mental health.

When you’re not at your healthiest, you can probably tell. You may simply feel “off.” You may find that you feel tired, your digestive system isn’t functioning as well as it normally does, and you seem to catch colds. Mentally, you may find you can’t concentrate and feel anxious or depressed.

The good news: a healthy lifestyle can help you feel better. Even better, you don’t have to overhaul your entire life overnight. It’s pretty easy to make a couple of small changes that can steer you in the direction of improved well-being. And once you make one change, that success can motivate you to continue to make more positive shifts.

What is a “healthy lifestyle”?
Ask 50 people to define what a “healthy lifestyle” is, and you’ll likely get 50 different answers. That’s because there’s no one way to be healthy. A healthy lifestyle simply means doing things that make you happy and feel good.

For one person, that may mean walking a mile five times a week, eating fast food once a week, and spending virtual or in-person time with loved ones every other day. For someone else, a healthy lifestyle may be training and running two marathons a year, following a keto diet, and never having a sip of alcohol.

Neither of these is better than the other. Both are perfect for that person. You get to decide what your healthy lifestyle looks like.

How is it beneficial?
Making changes to improve your health can lead to benefits for your body, your mind, your wallet, and even the environment.

1. Prevents disease
Healthy habits can reduce the risk of various diseases, including those that may run in your family.

For example, in a recent study, adults who followed a standard American diet (rich in fruits and vegetables) for 8 weeks had a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.

In another 2020 studyTrusted Source, researchers found that every 66-gram increase in daily fruit and vegetable intake was associated with a 25 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Swapping out some refined grains for whole grains also reduces the risk of disease. In an observational studyTrusted Source of almost 200,000 adults, those who ate the most whole grains had a 29 percent lower rate of type 2 diabetes than those who ate the least.

And a reviewTrusted Source of 45 studies concluded that eating 90 grams (or three 30-gram servings) of whole grains daily reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease by 22 percent, coronary heart disease by 19 percent, and cancer by 15 percent.

In terms of exercise, as little as 11 minutes a day may add years to your life. In a 2020 study, researchers tracked more than 44,000 adults. Those who got 11 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day had a lower risk of death compared to those who only exercised at that intensity for 2 minutes. This comparison held true even if people sat for 8.5 hours every day.

2. Saves money
It’s always smart to see your primary care physician for an annual physical exam. This is especially true seeing how some health conditions, such as high blood pressure, are “silent.” This means they don’t have any symptoms, so unless you are checked, you usually don’t know you have the condition.

However, the healthier you are, the less likely you will have to see a doctor. This could save money by reducing co-pays, the need for prescriptions, and other treatments.

3. Lengthens lifespan
Basic healthy habits are connected with living a longer life. If, at age 50, you’ve never smoked, maintain a healthy weight, are regularly active, follow a healthy diet, and keep alcohol to a moderate consumption, you could live up to 14 yearsTrusted Source longer. Making even a few of these changes could lengthen your lifespan.

4. It can be good for the environment
Ultra-processed foods are those that contain refined grains and additives to change the texture, taste, or color. Some examples of these foods are cheese puffs, packaged dessert cakes, chicken nuggets, and sweetened breakfast cereals. More than 70 percent of foods in U.S. supermarkets are ultra-processed.

The making of ultra-processed foods contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, water scarcity, decreased biodiversity, plastic waste, and deforestation.

Then, there are animal products. According to a 2013 study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (an agency within the U.N. that focuses on reducing hunger and food inequality worldwide), raising livestock for meat and dairy makes up 14.5 percent of human-created greenhouse gases.

However, there are easy fixes for this. For example, if every American cut their weekly beef consumption by 1/4 pound, the decrease in global warming gas emissions would be the equivalent of taking four to six million cars off the road, according to the National Resources Defense Council.

But it’s not only about what you eat more or less of. Replacing short car rides with biking can also cut back on the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

In a non-peer reviewed 2010 study, researchers estimated that if 20 percent of citizens in Madison, Wisconsin biked for trips less than 5 miles, it would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 57,000 tons each year.

And, a 2017 study in Stockholm found that, if drivers who lived within a half-hour bike ride to and from work commuted by bike rather than car, it could save 449 years of life annually in the county due to reduced vehicle emission.

These estimates aren’t simply dreams. Barcelona’s bike-share program reduces emissions of carbon dioxide by about 10,000 tons each year.

What is the easiest way to start one?
Your journey toward a healthier lifestyle starts with small changes that you feel confident you can achieve. Consider making “SMART” goals. SMART stands for:

specific
measurable
attainable
relevant
time-bound (met by a deadline and done in a certain amount of time)
When you focus on SMART goals, you could find more success. And one initial “win” will propel you to set new, bigger goals.

Consider the following tips for beginning to improve your overall health.

1. Eat more vegetables
A 2010 analysisTrusted Source of prospective studies suggests consuming more veggies and fruit is associated with lower risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, and premature death.

Although eating more vegetables is better, you don’t have to go from zero to nine servings a day. Perhaps your goal is eating one serving of vegetables at dinner. If you already do that, consider eating one vegetable or fruit at every meal.

Keep in mind that less-processed veggies are better. Rather than fries, try roasted potatoes seasoned with herbs or make a stir-fry of several colorful vegetables and drizzle them with a tasty vinaigrette.

2. Swap in whole grains
Replacing refined grains with whole grains will benefit your health. In a small 2017 studyTrusted Source, 81 men and postmenopausal women were divided into two groups. Half followed a diet that contained whole grains, and the other half followed a diet that was calorically the same but contained refined grains. After 6 weeks, the whole grain group increased their resting metabolic rate (RMR). RMR is how many calories your body burns at rest.

Research from 2016Trusted Source and 2020Trusted Source link consuming more whole grains with reduced risk of diabetes, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Start small by replacing one refined grain each day with a whole grain — maybe it’s your breakfast toast or the pilaf you make with dinner. Experiment with different grains and flavorings to see which ones you enjoy most.

Whole grains include:

plain oats
whole grain bread and pasta
brown and wild rice
buckwheat
bulgur wheat
millet
barley
spelt
quinoa
farro
Refined grains include:

white bread and pasta
white rice
most breakfast cereals
chips
pretzel
crackers
3. Be more active
If the words “exercise” or “workout” put you off, think of this step in terms of physical activity or simply moving your body.
You could walk, go for a bike ride, take salsa dancing lessons, practice martial arts, or try a workout class online. The most important thing is to choose an activity you enjoy. Choosing an activity you have an interest in will increase the chances that you’ll stick with it.

Secondly, remember that you don’t have to start with a long workout. Aim for 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week. When you feel ready, add another 5 or 10 minutes. Keep doing this until you reach at least 30 minutes a day most days of the week.

4. Maintain friendships
Strong relationships and staying in communication with friends and loved ones can support mental health.

For one, the risk of depression is greater in people with low-quality relationships. Those with the poorest quality social relationships have more than double the risk of depression compared to people with the highest quality connectionsTrusted Source.

Similarly, researchTrusted Source suggests feeling isolated is associated with an increased risk of poor self-rated health and depression. It is also associated with various health problems, like headaches, palpitations, and lower back, neck, or shoulder pain.

Even if you cannot get together with friends or family in person, schedule a time to catch up over a phone or video call once a week. Or, simply start chatting with a neighbor when you see them.

5. Control stress
Chronic stress puts your body into fight-or-flight mode all the time. This taxes your immune system and makes you more susceptible to health problems, including:

heart disease
diabetes
digestive problems
depression
high blood pressure
anxiety
difficulty sleeping
Exercise can help reduce stress by releasing pent-up energy. Physical activity can also boost the release of mood-lifting hormones called endorphins.

For others, mindfulness practices — like meditation, deep breathing, journaling, or spending time in nature — can help to lower stress. Talking to friends can also help.

If you would like more support relieving stress, consider therapy. Working with a trained psychologist, psychiatrist, or therapist can help you work through challenges life throws your way, and it can help you learn new skills to manage stress.

Are there any drawbacks?
There really aren’t any downsides to a healthy lifestyle since each person gets to define what “healthy” looks and feels like for themselves.

This means you don’t have to do anything that doesn’t make you happy. After all, as we already covered, unhappiness can affect your health.

For example, if you don’t like conventional exercise, think of ways you enjoy moving your body. And if you hate kale, you don’t have to eat it.

6 natural ways to lower blood pressureLifestyle changes can be as effective as medication.Taking medication to lower hig...
05/14/2024

6 natural ways to lower blood pressure

Lifestyle changes can be as effective as medication.

Taking medication to lower high blood pressure is a proven way to reduce your risk for heart disease. But adopting lifestyle changes may let you maintain healthy readings and perhaps even avoid drug therapy. "Unless a person's blood pressure is very high, medication most often does not start immediately," says Dr. Howard LeWine, editor in chief of Harvard Men's Health Watch. "For people with elevated blood pressure or stage 1 hypertension, the first order of business is to get serious about modifying their lifestyle."

By the numbers
Normal blood pressure is defined as a reading of less than 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Elevated pressure means systolic blood pressure (the first number in a reading) is 120 to 129 mm Hg with a diastolic pressure (the second number) of less than 80 mm Hg. People who have consistent readings of 130 to 139 for systolic pressure or 80 to 89 for diastolic pressure are said to have high blood pressure (stage 1 hypertension).

"But your target numbers may differ based on your health and individual goals, as determined in consultation with your doctor," says Dr. LeWine.

Healthy lifestyle habits are the cornerstone of managing blood pressure, whether or not you require medication. A lifestyle approach to management also helps people feel more in control of their health.

"Understandable, sometimes people are reluctant to start a drug because they don't want to be dependent on medication," says Dr. LeWine. "And this resistance can provide extra motivation for making the necessary changes." Still, don't be discouraged if your doctor wants you to begin taking a low dose of medication. Once you reach your blood pressure goals, maintaining a healthy lifestyle may mean you can take a drug holiday (with your doctor's approval). "And even if you still need medication, your healthy lifestyle changes can help prevent dose increases or additional blood pressure drugs," says Dr. LeWine.

The big six
Six lifestyle changes have the most significant influence on blood pressure, according to Dr. LeWine. They include the foundation for healthy living — diet, exercise, and weight control — as well as limiting sodium and alcohol and managing stress.

"While all of these are important, don't try to change them all at once," says Dr. LeWine. "In consultation with your doctor, you first want to concentrate on the one or two most important modifications, based on what's likely to have the greatest impact."

Diet. While most experts advocate plant-based diets to help lower blood pressure numbers, a recent study found that the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet may have the most significant impact. The researchers found that adopting the DASH diet could prevent an estimated 15,000 annual heart attacks and strokes among men with high blood pressure. DASH emphasizes fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, nuts, seeds, and grains and limits consumption of red meat, sodium, and sugar-sweetened foods and drinks.

Exercise. Guidelines call for a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. A reasonable starting goal is 20 to 30 minutes every other day. Any kind of exercise is always better than nothing. But if you need motivation, join a walking club or sports league (like golf, bowling, basketball, or pickleball), hire a personal trainer, or sign up for fitness classes at a gym or community center. You can also increase your daily movements, like walking for five minutes every hour, doing two sets of five to 10 push-ups on the floor or against the kitchen counter, or 20 minutes of yoga or stretching.

Weight. While it's natural for men's weight to increase somewhat with age, even five to 10 pounds over their ideal number can raise blood pressure. "In fact, for overweight men, every pound lost could lower systolic blood pressure by up to 1 mm Hg," says Dr. LeWine. Your doctor can determine your target weight for your age and body type. Investing in a healthy diet and increasing exercise can help reduce weight.

Sodium. "People with high blood pressure sometimes have a significant improvement by avoiding sodium," says Dr. LeWine. Processed foods account for much of the sodium that people consume. These include foods like canned vegetables and soups, frozen dinners, lunch meats, instant and ready-to-eat cereals, salty chips, and other packaged snacks. Cut back on these items, or select low-sodium options.

Alcohol. Drinking more than moderate amounts of alcohol can raise blood pressure. Guidelines says men should consume no more than two standard drinks per day, with a single drink defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits. However, cutting back on alcohol as much as possible is ideal.

Stress. Reducing stress is also a priority. Stress can lead to chronic inflammation that damages artery walls, making them less elastic. In addition, ongoing stress can trigger the adrenal glands to release hormones that raise blood pressure. "Uncontrolled stress often manifests as poor sleep, overeating, and physical inactivity," says Dr. LeWine. To manage stress, practice relaxation breathing and meditation, or perhaps just set aside time every day to do whatever you wish, even if it's nothing at all.

Image: © Jon Feingersh Photography Inc/Getty Images

Shark Tank 'Fired' Barbara Corcoran Before Filming an Episode. "You really have to stand up for yourself."That's the mes...
03/18/2024

Shark Tank 'Fired' Barbara Corcoran Before Filming an Episode.

"You really have to stand up for yourself."

That's the message Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran sent loud and clear in a recent interview she gave LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky. The interview is full of powerful lessons from Corcoran's life, but one story stood head and shoulders above the rest:

The time Shark Tank "fired" her, before she filmed a single episode.

Corcoran said she received a call from a woman asking her to be on a new show called Shark Tank. Ecstatic, Corcoran agreed. She immediately went on a shopping spree, buying new outfits and autograph-signing materials. "I'm going to Hollywood!" she excitedly told her friends.

Then, Corcoran got a dreadful phone call telling her "they changed their mind" and had decided to give her seat to another woman.

"I just couldn't believe it," said Corcoran. "It was the equivalent of [my ex-husband] telling me he was marrying my secretary."

After hanging up the phone, Corcoran says she was "crestfallen." But after taking a minute to feel sorry for herself, she took matters into her own hands.

Corcoran wrote an email directly to Shark Tank creator, Mark Burnett.

"Dear Mark, I consider your rejection a lucky charm," Corcoran says. "Everything good happens to me after I get rejected."

Corcoran then detailed multiple stories as evidence, including the time Donald Trump told her she'd never collect a penny of her $4 million commission, after which Corcoran says she sued Trump and got every penny.

Corcoran says she ended the email like this:

"I expect to be on that plane on Tuesday. And I hope you let me compete for the seat."

Shortly thereafter, Burnett's secretary wrote Corcoran telling her she would have the chance to compete for the seat.

The rest is history.

Corcoran's actions teach a powerful lesson in emotional intelligence, the ability to understand and manage emotions effectively. Let's break down three valuable takeaways from Corcoran's story and see how you can apply them to your own business. (If you find value in this lesson, you might be interested in my free emotional intelligence course, which provides a new tip for building emotional intelligence every day for a week.)

Don't dwell on negative emotions
Corcoran credits her employees for teaching her a lesson that helped her at this crucial moment.

"I learned from my salespeople over the years that the greatest salespeople [spend] less time feeling sorry for themselves," Corcoran said. "They take the hits like everybody else but they don't give themselves much time."

"I mimic them in my own personality. And I really credit their example [for] what I did to Mark Burnett."

It's not just effective salespeople.

Everyone experiences failure. Everyone has bad moments. But instead of dwelling on negative emotions, emotionally intelligent people have the ability to process them and move on.

As it's been said: You may not be able to stop a bird from landing on your head, but you can keep it from building a nest.

Use negative experiences as motivation
Instead of throwing herself a pity party, Corcoran used Burnett's rejection as motivation. She then channeled those feelings and emotions into her email.

It worked. Not only did Corcoran motivate herself, her quick action, confidence, and masterful storytelling convinced Burnett to change course and give her a shot.

Corcoran says she learned that lesson when her ex-husband told her he was leaving her for her secretary. Consequently, Corcoran split the business she ran with her ex in half, and he told her she'd never succeed without him.

"When he gave me that curse leaving, I'll tell you, I knew I was going to be successful," Cocoran said. "Just to prove him wrong."

Negative emotions can be useful if you learn how to harness them. But to do that, you have to consciously decide what you're going to do with them. Be like Corcoran and use negative emotions as a catalyst for positive action.

Focus on what you can control
Corcoran realized she couldn't force Burnett to change his mind. But she could stand up for herself, which would prove beneficial for her mental state.

And by getting on that plane and showing up, Corcoran gave herself every opportunity to get on Shark Tank.

This teaches a final powerful lesson: You can't waste time on things you can't control. But you can focus on what you can control and take action accordingly.

Dealing with a customer who refused to pay an invoice? Offer them a compelling reason to pay. Got an employee who's lost their drive? Give them a listening ear and think of how you can support them.

The key is to ask yourself: What can I do to make this situation better?

So, the next time you're frustrated by someone else's actions, take a page out of Barbara Corcoran's playbook and:

Don't dwell on negative emotions.
Use the experience as motivation.
Focus on what you can control.
In doing so, you'll turn a negative into a positive, make emotions work for you, and experience positive results in the process.

Prenatal Yoga Poses and StretchingA Gentle Addition to Your Prenatal Fitness RoutineIf you’re pregnant, it’s a great ide...
08/21/2023

Prenatal Yoga Poses and Stretching
A Gentle Addition to Your Prenatal Fitness Routine
If you’re pregnant, it’s a great idea to stay physically active. However, it’s important to embrace exercise that is gentle enough for your ever-changing body. Instead of hitting the gym or going for a jog, you can practice yoga or stretch to get the activity you need to feel your best, and to promote a healthy delivery and recovery.

Benefits of Prenatal Yoga
Some of the many benefits of including stretching and yoga into your fitness routine during pregnancy include:

Reducing negative emotions like anxiety and depression
Improving sleep quality
Alleviating lower back pain
Reducing muscle tension
Reducing headaches
Increasing physical strength
Improving flexibility and range of motion
Lowering the risk of preterm labor
Lowering the risk of intrauterine growth restriction
Stretches to Try


Sun Salutation
Sun salutation, or Surya Namaskar, is actually a series of poses that help to warm up and strengthen the entire body. To move through this sequence, follow these steps:

Begin in a standing position with your feet hip-distance apart and your hands together at your chest.
Stretch your arms over your head, push your hips forward as you arch your back.
Bring your chest forward toward your knees, folding over as far as you can comfortably. Your knees should be slightly bent and your hands should reach for your ankles. If they don’t reach, you can take an elbow-to-elbow grip in front of your face.
Flatten your back and bring your torso up halfway, keeping your hands on your ankles.
Walk both feet backward to get into a plank position. Your shoulders should be in line with your wrists.
Bend your elbows to lower your body to the floor, push-up style.
Pushing through your palms, arch your back and lift your chest toward the ceiling.
Lift your tailbone toward the ceiling, pushing yourself up with your hands. Your hands should remain flat on the floor, your back should be straight, and your knees should be slightly bent.
Walk your feet forward, planting them between your hands. Your knees should be slightly bent and your hands should reach for your ankles.
Come up halfway, keeping your back flat and your hands on your ankles.
Stand up, stretching your arms over your head, pushing your hips forward as you arch your back.
Return to the original standing position.
Camel Pose
Ustrasana, or the camel pose, helps to stretch the front of your body, strengthens the muscles in your back, and helps to improve your posture. It's also known to elevate your mood and to give you an energy boost.

To move into camel pose, follow these steps:

Begin in a kneeling position with your body upright. Your hips should be stacked right above your knees.
Draw your hands up to your ribcage. Wrap your hands around the sides of your ribcage with your thumbs at the back and your other fingers around the front. Your elbows should be pointing out to your sides.
Lift your ribcage as you open your chest up to the ceiling.
With your chest open and lifted toward the ceiling, move your hands one time to grab your heels. If this is too difficult, you can use blocks on the sides of your feet to hold onto, elevating the ground.
Bring your hips forward so they are stacked over your knees.
If it is comfortable, you can release your head backward, opening up your neck. You can also choose to keep your chin tucked instead.
Hold this pose for several breaths.

Advancing Women's Health Requires Better EvidenceFor decades, advances in health and health care have had a bias toward ...
08/18/2023

Advancing Women's Health Requires Better Evidence

For decades, advances in health and health care have had a bias toward the male body. The reasons for this bias aren't nefarious, but it is simply the case that the research is incomplete. It was long assumed that what researchers found in a male could generally be applied to a female; that, on the whole, men and women were biologically similar enough for the small differences not to matter all that much. As we now know, this is, quite simply, incorrect.

The biological differences between the male and female body exist down to the cellular level. In the case of cardiovascular function and disease, we now know that the underlying mechanisms of disease often differ such that certain diseases can be self-limiting—that is, they tend to resolve themselves without intervention—and whilst that might be the case for one s*x, it is not for the other. The same biological process that can cause the course of a given disease to worsen in men can have no effect or do the opposite in women, and vice versa. Moreover, differences in the prevalence of chronic diseases—such as Alzheimer's and related dementias, rheumatoid arthritis and lung cancer, which are more common in women—often mean that female patients are undergoing simultaneous treatment of multiple diseases, adding further complexity to drug interactions or conflicting treatment plans. Even among patients with multiple comorbid diseases, men and women tend to have different combinations of diseases. For example, on average, women experience more autoimmune disorders than men.

By focusing research on women's bodies and building out this base of evidence on women's health, scientists and doctors can improve health outcomes and overall quality of life for women, all while also saving money. Although it was long assumed that addressing the gaps in the evidence base on women's health would be too costly an undertaking, this assumption has also proven false. Indeed, research that focuses on women's health sees a return on its investment (ROI) that would make any investor take notice. More on this in a moment, but first, it is important to understand how we ended up here, with a medical system and research pipeline so skewed toward the male body.

Research that focuses on women's health sees a return on its investment that would make any investor take notice.

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In the wake of the Diethylstilbestrol (DES) and thalidomide tragedies, the earliest decisions around research on women's health were made, in part, to avoid the risk of harming fetuses. Excluding women from research, then, was not seen as a problem but as protection. It wasn't until the 1990s that researchers made the case that it was unethical to exclude women from research. While the underrepresentation of women may have been explainable in the 1990s, and was even, perhaps, understandable in the 2000s, the fact that the problem continues today, that s*x/gender differences are not systematically assessed to determine results for women is clearly accepted as a feature, not a bug, in the system of research itself.

To date, research has provided the possibility of better care for men, all while undervaluing and under-assessing the biological differences between males and females, as well as a myriad of differences in men's and women's lives, social roles, and longevity. In ignoring these differences—both biological and social—the system of research has closed off the possibility of a better understanding of the underlying causes of different disease prevalence across men's and women's lives, as well as the nature and complexity of certain comorbidities, and in the effectiveness of different treatments. Such evidence-based policy around treatment and prevention requires data, not conjecture. This is exactly why it is so important to begin increasing funding for research on women's health. Lives stand to be saved.

A few years ago, I helped oversee a study commissioned by Women's Health Access Matters, a nonprofit advocacy organisation that works to increase awareness of and funding for women's health issues. The study assessed just what an increase in funding for research on women might look like, in terms of the value it might create by extending women's lives. To test this, we simulated a doubling of the current investment in research funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health on various questions surrounding women's health. To evaluate the social and economic returns, we assumed a very small impact—just 0.01%—on disease prevalence, disease progression, and health-related quality of life. At issue was whether such minimal gains, well below what can be expected from most science funding, would produce positive returns on such a modest investment. We considered four diseases: Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), coronary artery disease, lung cancer, and rheumatoid arthritis.

In 2017, just 12.0% of the NIH for ADRDs was spent on studies that examined how the disease affects women. The percentages were smaller for coronary artery disease and rheumatoid arthritis: just 4.5% and 7%, respectively. For each disease, we assessed the ROI after doubling the funding for research and based our findings on minimal reductions in age prevalence, a slowing of the disease's progression, and an overall improvement in health-related quality of life. We considered the downstream effects of this one-year doubling in investment: the new knowledge gained, the new treatments developed, and the lives prolonged, saved, and made more productive, due to better treatments. The savings in health care costs, in years of life without a given disease, in greater overall longevity—together these savings yielded billions of dollars over 30 years.

The ROI on the additional investment of USD288 million in ADRD research, to address questions on the health of women, would be 224%. It would be 9,500% for the additional investment of USD20 million for research on coronary artery disease and women's health; 1,200% return for lung cancer; and 174,000% for the USD6 million spent on rheumatoid arthritis and women's health.

These results demonstrate that addressing the gap in the evidence base is not only a solvable problem but one that reveals the opposite of what was so long assumed. Investing in research into women's health isn't prohibitively costly. In fact, the far costlier way forward would be to continue failing to do so.

Chloe E. Bird is a senior sociologist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation, Director of the Center for Health Equity Research at Tufts Medical Center, and the Sara Murray Jordan Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, where she studies women's health and determinants of s*x/gender differences in health and health care.

This commentary originally appeared on OECD Forum Network on April 7, 2023. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.

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