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Unhealthy lifestyle shortens life by 23 years, Cornwall devolution and could Tetris cure PTSD?

A 50-year study has quantified the number of years by which an unhealthy lifestyle can reduce a person’s lifespan. Developing conditions like heart disease and type 2 diabetes, which are preventable for eight out of ten people, means life is cut an average 23 years short for a 40-year-old man, the Telegraph writes.

However the figure applied only to those patients developing both conditions, researchers said.

Cornwall could win a Manchester-style NHS revolution deal, reports the Independent, with plans floated for the county take on a £2bn health and social care budget by 2020. The council is reportedly targeting the prospect in bid to be able to pool health and care budgets to better manage its large elderly population.

Could Tetris help treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? According to an article in the Mirror, the old-fashioned video game may help patients reduce distressing flashbacks by forming a ‘cognitive blockade’ under which they can process what they have been through in a less intrusive manner.

Researchers are already trialling the method by letting people who have been in car accidents or other traumas play Tetris or other similar puzzle games in hospital emergency waiting rooms.

 


          

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