stress

There is a weapon of mass destruction against our ability to remember things: stress

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One Monday you see your coworker, Laura, leave the office with a striking bright yellow umbrella. The next day, you walk into a coffee shop and see that same unmistakable umbrella resting on a chair. Without thinking twice, your brain does a quick calculation and you deduce that Laura is in there having coffee. This mental agility, which neuroscientists call “memory integration,” is the invisible tool that allows us to weave together loose ends and construct deductions from experiences separated in time. However, when pressure kicks in, this internal compass goes out of calibration. People who suffer an episode of acute stress not only experience emotional distress; your brain loses the ability to connect past memories with new information. Put bluntly: stress not only erases data from your mind, it also shuts down your ability to deduce. To demonstrate this cognitive “short circuit”, a team of specialists from the University of Hamburg, led by cognitive psychologist Lars Schwabe, designed a thorough experiment combining psychological testing and functional MRI to observe the real-time brain activity of 121 adults. The trial was developed in consecutive and carefully structured stages to compare how a relaxed brain reacts to one under extreme pressure. On the first day, participants memorized pairs of images, such as, for example, an animal next to a landscape. The next day, half of the group was subjected to a high-stress situation through a simulated job interview and complex calculations, while the rest performed relaxed tasks. Right after, everyone had to assimilate new information: they had to connect the same animals from the previous day with 3D figures. The final challenge was pure mental agility, as they were asked to deduce the indirect connection between the landscapes of the first day and the 3D figures of the second. The verdict was clear: the stressed group saw their ability to make these deductions drastically reduced compared to the participants who remained relaxed. Why does stress sabotage the ability to deduce? The epicenter of this problem lies in the hippocampus, a brain region essential for integrating information but which, at the same time, contains a very high density of receptors that are extremely vulnerable to stress hormones. According to the research of Science Advancesbrain imaging revealed that acute stress directly interferes with the reactivation of previous memories. In other words, while the stressed participants tried to learn the new information, their brains retrieved the memories stored the previous day much less intensely. Representational similarity analysis shed even more light on the process: instead of integrating memories into a connected network, the stressed brain encourages the separation of memory patterns. Under stress, our mind prioritizes representing each episode as an isolated and distinctive event, sacrificing the formation of connected and flexible knowledge structures. The research has captured the attention of leading scientific communicators due to its serious implications. In statements to the magazine NatureUniversity of Oregon neuroscientist Brice Kuhl (who was not involved in the research), emphasizes the immense value of being able to visually see what’s wrong in the brain thanks to technology. Kuhl points out that, usually, when something new is assimilated, a “small flash” of past experience rises to the mind, and it is precisely that flash that facilitates the integration of information. In people under pressure, the expert points out, that flash is practically absent. For his part, Kai Schüren, first author of the study explained in Wiredwho insists that the effects of acute stress transcend the emotional: they mechanically alter a vital cognitive mechanism, which prevents the construction of knowledge in an agile way. The current epidemic of mental exhaustion The consequences of this cognitive block are not limited to a laboratory environment, but have a profound impact on various critical areas of our society: In legal contexts, a failure to integrate overlapping events can lead to false inferences by witnesses and, consequently, erroneous accusations. In education, this difficulty in weaving together information hinders the creation of solid memory structures, an essential pillar for academic performance. In clinical health, problems integrating related memories are a distinctive feature of severe disorders such as psychosis and anxiety. To this we must add the current climate of tension in which we live immersed, which turns this finding into a major public health problem. According to the Ipsos Mind Health Reportsociety lives in a state of almost constant alert and pressure. The data in the document reflects the daily wear and tear of the population: 77% of people report suffering from multiple factors that negatively impact their mental health. Uncertainty about the future in a changing world affects and worries 57% of those surveyed. Financial instability and job insecurity are positioned as a source of constant stress for 56% of the sample. Continuous exposure to negative news in the media harms 49%. This chronic pressure means that an alarming 56% of people rate their level of stress experienced in the last twelve months with a score higher than 5 out of 10, while 31% admit to currently suffering from a mental health condition. We often consider stress as simply an emotional backpack that exhausts the body and clouds the mood. However, scientific evidence shows us that its impact is much deeper: stress redesigns the way we archive and use our own lives. By blocking neural connections in our hippocampus, the pressure not only makes us forgetful, it robs us of our innate ability to connect the dots. The next step for scientists, who are already preparing tests with rodents, will be to unravel the exact mechanisms to find ways to reverse this effect on memory. Meanwhile, understanding that stress isolates us in a fragmented present is the first strategic move to protect our mind. Image | Unsplash Xataka | Something disturbing is happening with young Spaniards: cases of colon cancer are multiplying

Influencers have made it fashionable to give yourself cramps in your vagus nerve to cure stress. Science has bad news

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After a marathon day, what if the report doesn’t arrive, feed the kids, walk the dog, go to that Pilates class… And your brain refuses to turn off. You open TikTok or Instagram looking for a distraction and, between dances and recipes, a influencer. Wear a minimalist design device around your neck or clipped to your ear. It promises that with the push of a button and a few small electrical pulses, your anxiety will disappear, you’ll sleep like a baby, and your “brain fog” will lift. they call it “the great reset of the nervous system”. For centuries, the vagus nerve has functioned in complete anatomical obscurity, but today it has achieved an almost mythical status in the wellness ecosystem. According to The New York Timesthere are billions of social media impressions about this nerve. Celebrities like Kelly Ripa and podcasters like Andrew Huberman They praise their virtues. “A lot of this is being driven by influencers saying, ‘Just do this to stimulate your vagus nerve, and all the problems in your life will be solved,’” explains Dr. Kevin Tracey, a neurosurgeon and president of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. It sounds like science fiction, but forecasts suggest that the stimulation of this nerve will generate a billion-dollar industry by 2030. The inevitable question that arises is: can we really “hack” our stress with neck cramps, or are we facing the umpteenth expensive internet placebo? To understand the phenomenon, you must first understand the biology. As explained by the Cleveland Clinicthe vagus nerve (whose name comes from the Latin “wanderer”) is the tenth of the twelve cranial nerves and the longest of all. It arises in the brain stem and winds through the neck, chest, and abdomen, connecting the brain to the heart, lungs, and digestive system. It is the main highway of our parasympathetic nervous system, the one in charge of the “rest and digest” function. Basically, it is the body’s handbrake. When we get stressed, the sympathetic system (the “fight or flight” response) is activated; When the danger passes, the vagus nerve should come into action to calm the pulse and relax the body. But why are people obsessed with electrocuting him? According to the magazine Women’s Healthwe live in an epidemic of chronic stress. The flood of emails, traffic jams and daily pressures cause what is known as “vagal dysfunction.” Our body gets stuck in survival mode and loses the ability to calm down.. The promise of a quick fix has led to the emergence of commercial devices. When faced with the idea of ​​using home electricity, it is normal to wonder if this is dangerous. Generally, the physical answer is no. According to Dr. Michael Kilgard, director of the Texas Biomedical Device Center, interviewed by The New York Timesthe batteries in these commercial devices are too small to burn the skin. The most you feel is tingling. However, the real danger is psychological and medical. “The strangeness of the sensations is annoying enough that people feel like the devices are doing something,” Kilgard warns. In most cases, these gadgets are “probably little more than a placebo disguised as neuroscience“. The risk lies in false hope: patients who spend hundreds of euros on devices that do nothing, delaying medical treatments that have been proven to be effective. To understand the true impact of this false hope, it is vital to separate the wheat from the chaff and define where scientific rigor ends. The line between medicine and marketing wellness The science of Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) is real, fascinating and very complex, but it is light years away from what the marketers sell. influencers. There are real medical devices, but as a comprehensive review article published highlights in the scientific journal Comprehensive Physiologyinvasive stimulation (iVNS) “remains the gold standard with well-documented efficacy.” That is, we are talking about small devices similar to pacemakers that are surgically implanted under the skin of the chest, with cables threaded directly to the nerve. According to Cleveland Clinicthe FDA (the US drug agency) has approved these severe implants to treat cases of resistant epilepsy and severe clinical depression. Medical research continues to advance. A pivotal clinical trial published recently in Nature Medicine (the RESET-RA trial), demonstrated that an implanted neuromodulator system targeting the vagus nerve significantly reduced inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who were unresponsive to conventional medications. On the other hand, as a review points out from the magazine Exploratory Research and Hypothesis in Medicinethe use of non-invasive stimulators (in the ear or neck) is being intensively studied in clinical settings for rehabilitation after stroke or to slow cognitive decline. But what about the devices that anyone can buy online to “de-stress”? The experts are blunt. Dr. Kristl Vonck, neurologist at Ghent University, warns that consumer devices They are “lightly regulated and do not have to prove to the FDA that they actually work.” Many companies hide behind vague claims about “wellness” to avoid medical controls and use the language of real clinical trials as a mere marketing tactic. Furthermore, as a clinical researcher explains in The Conversationmanipulating the vagus nerve is not a panacea and does not work the same for everyone. Some people in clinical trials experience headaches, worsening migraines, or even a drop in mood when receiving stimulation. “Most diseases involve multiple biological and psychological factors, and no single nerve explains or solves all of them,” he says. Misinformation is not limited to devices; It also covers home diagnostics. The magazine Bustle recently echoed a viral trend on TikTok: the “three drinks” test. Content creators claimed that if you are unable to swallow saliva three times in a row and quickly, your vagus nerve is seriously deregulated due to chronic stress. The therapists had to intervene. Chloë Bean, an expert somatic trauma therapist, clarified that swallowing does involve this nerve, but not being able to do it three times in a row “does not automatically mean that your vagus nerve is stuck.” It … Read more

There are people visually and economically exploiting “lo cuqui” as a tool against stress

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In the midst of 2026, the irony of our hyperconnected era has reached its peak. We are witnessing the rise of “maximalists of silence”a digital tribe that has decided to keep their phone notifications off 24 hours a day. What a decade ago was considered a serious breach of the social contract is today applauded as the definitive act of self-care. We live so saturated that ignoring others has become a survival strategy. From this need to turn off digital noise, we have moved on to shielding our physical homes. As Hailey Bieber herself explains in an article for the magazine Voguefaced with noisy neighbors or a stressful environment, the search for silence and peace has become essential. But the market, always attentive to our shortcomings, has been able to read this collective exhaustion. We are looking for tranquility, yes, but we have come across a new viral trend that turns that search into a highly consumable aesthetic. Is called cozymaxxingand it is the new way to visually and economically exploit our need to embrace “cuqui” so as not to go crazy. To understand the phenomenon, we must first define it. As explained in different lifestyle portalshe cozymaxxing is the intentional creation of a multi-sensory environment that cultivates tranquility, peace and extreme comfort. It’s about taking comfort to the limit (hence the suffix -maxxing) to calm the senses. At the level of interior design, this represents a radical paradigm shift. This trend comes to say a resounding “goodbye to minimalism”. Catalog houses, pristine, perfectly organized and often cold, no longer work. Now we are looking for overlapping textures, warm lighting, curved shapes and reading corners. In fact, one of the great unwritten rules of this trend on social networks is the dictatorship against the ceiling light (known on TikTok as the hated one big light). Only dim lamps and ambient light are acceptable. But doesn’t it remind you a little of hygge Danish? Not quite. He cozymaxxing It is basically “he hygge “on steroids”. While the Nordic concept seeks to simplify and share moments In a clear environment, this new trend born on TikTok has a shamelessly maximalist side: it’s about accumulating, layering blankets, collecting fluffy cushions and lighting multiple scented candles. The biology of comfort: an antidote to burnout If he cozymaxxing It is sweeping not only because of a question of pretty cushions; is a direct response to a widespread mental health crisis. According to the health portal Healthlinethe main reason for its success is the burnout (the burnout syndrome) and the frontal rejection of hustle culture or culture of constant effort. People are exhausted and desperately searching for “pockets of peace.” Science supports this need. As mental health experts point out consulted by The SkimmSurrounding ourselves with a comfortable and predictable environment through the five senses activates the parasympathetic nervous system (the one in charge of “rest and digest” functions). This directly reduces levels of cortisol – the stress hormone –, promotes emotional regulation and drastically improves sleep quality. In addition, there is a deep sociological component: the illusion of control. In a world marked by economic instability, climate anxiety and constant noise, as psychologist Ritika Suk Birah analyzes in Healthlinewe cannot control the outside world, but we can control the light, temperature and aroma of our living room. It is a biological and psychological defense mechanism. At this point, we must ask ourselves if we are really learning to take care of ourselves or if we have simply put a nice filter on our stress. Hailey Bieber herself recognize in Vogue that many of these buzzwords “tend to end up being a launching pad for brands to sell you more products you don’t need.” This romanticization of comfort connects directly with another phenomenon: the absolute aestheticization of domestic life. Just as we have seen how Generation Z romanticizes decadence and humidity with the controversial trend trash wall because “it remains authentic” (as we already documented in Xataka), he cozymaxxing aestheticizes the need for rest. By analyzing those peeling walls, we discovered that there is a “luxury in faking” a specific aesthetic. The problem arises when real self-care is replaced by compulsively buying the items that appear in viral videos so that our house looks “perfectly imperfect.” Having an “immaculate reading corner” or a spacious house isolated from noise is a luxury at a time when a large part of a generation shares tiny apartments or suffers from housing precariousness. There is an undeniable class privilege behind this aesthetic. Just as the “productivity gurus” had commodified silence with the #monkmode (monk mode), now the lifestyle influencers They have turned the simple act of lying on the couch into a business model. Resting is no longer an intimate and passive act, but rather a performative performance that requires a perfect showcase and, above all, an economic outlay. So that he cozymaxxing be valid in the age of TikTok, it is not enough to put on old pajamas; The algorithm requires sets of loungewear linen, designer essential oil diffusers, handmade ceramic mugs and blankets that cost the same as the electricity bill. We’ve transformed stress relief into a consumer good where, ironically, if your break isn’t Instagrammable, it doesn’t seem to count. Beyond consumerism, blindly immersing yourself in this trend carries psychological risks. The experts consulted by Healthline and The Skimm issue a crucial warning: if not done intentionally, the cozymaxxing It can lead to avoidance and isolation behaviors. Staying eternally under a heavy blanket with white noise in the background can stop being a way to recharge your batteries and become a way to escape from responsibilities or, worse still, to mask a picture of depression. This links to the social cost that we talked about at the beginning. Isolating ourselves in a blanket bunker, with our cell phone in “Do Not Disturb” mode permanently, frustrates our loved ones and disconnects us from reality. Therefore, extreme isolation is not healthy and they recommend that this search for … Read more

We have been using our pets to relieve our anxiety. And now the stress is on them

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When you come home after an exhausting day, those who have a pet at home, the truth is that they hope to be received by their unconditional affection, since for many it is the best therapy against anxiety. And this is where, for many years, we have thought that our dogs or cats act as a protective shield against external chaos, but the truth is that we are seeing that what is really happening is that absorb our stresssomething that, just like what happens to us, is not good at all. It is transmitted. Here are several scientific studies published in recent years that have begun to draw a clear picture of what ethologists call “interspecific emotional contagion”, making animals authentic mirrors of our mental state. One of the most important studies was published in 2019 in Scientific Reports and collected different measures of long-term stress. To do so, the researchers decided to analyze the concentration of cortisolwhich is the main stress hormone, in the hair of 58 dogs and in that of their respective owners for an entire year. The results. Here it was seen that cortisol levels were synchronized, meaning that when the human had cortisol peaks, because he was quite stressed, the dog also had it. In this way, the authors of the study concluded that it is dogs that “reflect” the stress level of their humans and not the other way around. Furthermore, recent research suggests that dogs are capable of perceiving subtle physiological changes in us, such as body odors associated with human stress, responding to them with greater anxiety or adopting more pessimistic postures and behaviors. And this is something that shows how they are true mirrors of what happens to us. The problems of work. If we thought that teleworking or mulling over a work problem only affects us humans, the truth is that we are very wrong. This is what science tells us in different articles that point out that work rumination, which is the habit of mulling over the same topic during our free time, takes a direct toll on our pets, as it is associated with significant increases in stress in dogs. And this is explained because, although we are physically next to our pets, the fact that we are thinking about a topic that obsesses and worries us causes us to not have a good interaction with our pet so that they feel completely safe. And this logically manifests itself with mental suffering. How do we know? We sometimes associate animal stress only with when they have to make a visit to the vet or when there is a big bang, like when a firecracker is thrown, but the reality is different. Here animals, when they live in an unstable environment, such as with a lot of noise, conflicts or many hours of solitude, trigger a series of changes that are often misinterpreted by their owners as “bad behavior.” But here the stress in animals can manifest with constant restlessness, the tendency to hide, excessive attachment, non-stop barking, furniture destructive behavior and much more. That is why, when faced with unusual behavior, we must begin to analyze the situation at home, since it can be contagious, as happens with younger children who also feel the stress at home. Images | lookstudio on Freepik In Xataka | We have stuffed the Gibraltar monkeys with Doritos. His solution has been to eat dirt as if it were omeprazole

Stress was designed by evolution to save your life. Modern chronic stress is taking it away from you

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It is easy to hear in this society the phrase “I am very stressed” because we have more and more demands on us in the workplace or staffand the truth is that it is something that is gradually being used as a “crutch” to associate it with mental fatigue or lack of time. However, the reality is that the great effect that stress has on our body is generating very relevant physical problems that can alter us in the long term. Its effect. The immune system is a fundamental part of our body that defends us against microorganisms, but also against cells that do not follow a natural division and that, without this control, can continue ahead. generating cancer. That is why taking care of it is fundamentaland constant stress is one of your worst enemies by reducing your ability to act. There is no need to demonize. To understand the damage, we must first be fair with the stress, since logically there are situations where you have to have stress to be able to stay aliveand without that ‘stress’ our species would literally be extinct a long time ago. And to understand it, if we ‘travel’ thousands of years ago, if a lion chased a human, the body released adrenaline and cortisol, preparing the immune system for possible injuries and enhancing short-term defenses. The problem with modern life is that the “lion” is no longer a specific predator, but the mortgage, work or constant anxiety. But it is a problem. When stress becomes chronic, it becomes a poison for the body, since, according to different articles, the perpetual state of alert overstimulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system. Here the result is a sustained elevation of cortisol that, paradoxically, ends up causing “glucocorticoid resistance,” which are the molecules that are naturally produced to reduce inflammation. The body is then flooded with stress hormones, but your cells stop responding properly to them to curb inflammation. And as we have seen on many occasions, long-term inflammation brings more problems than benefits. The defenses. The immune dysfunction caused by this chronic condition is perfectly documented. An example is in the classic Cohen study which already mapped out the physiological mechanisms that make us more vulnerable to infections, but experimental studies and reviews from 2025 give us an exact cellular x-ray of what we lose. Among the examples that stand out, we have a drastic reduction of NK cells which are our first line of defense against viruses and tumor cells. Furthermore, both T lymphocytes (which are fundamental cells of the immune system) such as B lymphocytes see their response capacity diminished, making them unable to ‘destroy’ microorganisms that enter our body. But if that were not enough, chronic stress ages the immune system before its time. In a loop. Perhaps the most fascinating discovery that science points to is the connection between the immune system and mental health through neuroinflammation. Here, chronic stress is literally wearing down the body by continually adapting, causing the immune system to skyrocket. proteins related to inflammation that can travel to the brain and activate microglia, which is the ‘defense’ system of the nervous system. The result? A neuroinflammatory environment that is directly linked to the development of depression and anxiety disorders. And logically, if we have anxiety, stress will continue to increase, causing more inflammatory proteins to be released that will continue to affect the brain. It’s not forever. Here science points out that the damage caused by stress is not perpetual, but can be reversed at any time through interventions psychological interventions focused on stress reduction, as well as regular physical exercise. This has shown that chronic inflammation can be reduced and normal immune system cell function restored. That is why now rest and mental health should not be seen as a luxury, but rather we must begin to see them as an important biological shield that can greatly extend our lives if we manage to keep it under control. Images | creativeart on Freepik In Xataka | We thought staying up late was just a bad habit: It’s your body complaining about stress, according to an anxiety expert

The extreme stress of the Spanish water network explained from within

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The images have flooded social networks this weekend: the Aldeadávila dam “turbinating at full capacity” with the Duero river descending with enormous force, or the Iznájar reservoir recovering its splendor in a matter of days. They are hypnotic images that hide a much more tense and calculated reality. While the citizen sees natural spectacles, the engineers see a fight against the disaster. In the midst of this “festival” of storms that has shaken the peninsula this month of February, One phrase sums up the situation better than any other. It is pronounced by José María Sanz de Galdeanodirector of Hydrological Planning and Works of the Basque Water Agency (URA): “The dams were not designed for floods, but today they are key to cushioning them.” These infrastructures, designed decades ago so that water comes out when you turn on the tap or to turn on the light, have become—almost by historical accident—the last line of defense between the perfect storm and the safety of the populations downstream. A winter concentrated in a few days. To understand the magnitude of the event, we must first look at the Basque Country, where the orography and intense rains have tested the system. As explained by Sanz de Galdeano in the SER ChainEuskadi has faced a winter marked by episodes of very intense rain concentrated in very few days. The situation has forced the activation of the two major Basque regulatory systems. On the one hand, the Zadorra system composed of the Ullibarri-Gamboa reservoir and the Urrunaga dam. On the other hand, the Añarbe system is responsible for supplying the Donostialdea area. It is not a local phenomenon. It is a symptom of a broader hydrometeorological pattern that has affected the entire peninsula. While in the Tormes system, reservoirs like Santa Teresa are close to 80% and release water preventively to defend the city of SalamancaIn the south the situation has been even more drastic. In Andalusia, the Iznájar reservoir—the giant of the community— has doubled its reserves in just two weeks, going from a critical 25% to exceeding 50%, something that had not been seen in a decade. The intensity has been such that the AEMET even warned of scenarios of soil saturation with impacts “some of the highest in the world”, causing water to gush directly from the ground in places like Grazalema (Cádiz). forcing preventive evacuations. From supply to “lamination”. The relevant thing about these weeks is not only that it has rained, but how we have managed that rain. Sanz de Galdeano puts his finger on the sore: “These infrastructures were built primarily for water supply, not specifically to laminate avenues.” However, its immense storage capacity has made it possible to change its function on the fly. Dams have acted as giant shock absorbers. “They have sufficient volume to play with reserves, create space and retain water at the most critical moments,” says the director of URA. Sanz de Galdeano’s warning has scientific support. A study on the effectiveness of dams in the face of climate change confirms that infrastructure designed with “historical data” They are operating blind to the new reality. Old models did not account for this extreme variability; under severe warming scenarios, the risk of large dams overflowing could multiply by up to 17 compared to historical records. The conclusion is technical but terrifying: the effectiveness of a dam decreases dramatically under extreme hydrological regimes if adaptive management is not applied. This excess water has had an unexpected side effect on the energy market: Spain’s “battery” it’s so loaded (117% more stored hydroelectric energy than last year) that nuclear energy is no longer competitive. The Trillo plant, for example, has been disconnected from the grid because, given such an abundance of turbineable water, the numbers simply “did not add up.” Choreography of floodgates. The precision mathematics that decides how much water reaches your home. The management of these crises is a precision choreography that Sanz de Galdeano graphically defines as working “with one eye on the river and another on the sky.” The technical key lies in the “reservoir”: the empty space that is deliberately left in the reservoir before the rain arrives in order to swallow the flood. The director of URA details how it is applied this differently depending on the capacity of each system: In the Zadorra (High regulation): These dams control 60% of the upstream basin. This allows for drastic intervention. The figures from Sunday night are the best example: 260 cubic meters per second of furious water entered the system, but the floodgates only let out 54. That difference (more than 200 m³/s retained) is the flood that was avoided. In Añarbe (Less regulation): Here the dam only controls 23% of the basin. Most of the river water circulates freely, so there is less room for maneuver. Even so, the strategy is the same: when the river goes high, floodgates are closed to retain “as much as possible.” All this is done under administrative coordination complex but fluid between URA, the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation and that of the Cantabrian Sea. Not all barriers are the same. In this context of saving dams, a reasonable question arises: why then are some dams on Basque rivers being demolished? Sanz de Galdeano makes a crucial distinction between large regulatory infrastructures and small weirs. “These are not large infrastructures like those of Zadorra, but rather low-rise structures that have no real capacity to manage avenues,” he clarifies. The elimination of these small obstacles responds to two logics: Environmental: they allow fish and fauna to ascend the river, improving ecological health. Hydraulics: Although it may seem contradictory, these small walls can raise the water table in local floods, worsening the problem instead of solving it. However, large dams have their own silent enemy: sediment. Experts and organizations like Greenpeace warn that torrential rains They drag tons of mud that accumulate at the bottom of the reservoirs, subtracting their real capacity (that “hole” that Galdeano spoke of) and … Read more

Science suggests that economic stress ages the heart

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For decades, cardiovascular medicine has operated under an almost immovable dogma: If you want to protect your heart you have to watch your dietexercise and control blood pressure. However, science has begun to see that there are other social factors that can also be very important, such as the status of personal bank accounts. The study. In order to reach this conclusion that aims to drastically change an authentic dogma of medicine, the Mayo Clinic has analyzed more than 280,000 patients thanks to the artificial intelligence application. To do this, the AI ​​has analyzed the patients’ conventional medical tests and their history. In this way, researchers have discovered that the factors that accelerate the biological clock the most of the heart is not always in the medical history, but in the bank account and in the shopping basket. The ‘invisible’ age. The technological core of this discovery is found in an AI algorithm applied to electrocardiograms. In this way, unlike the analysis carried out by a cardiologist who looks for arrhythmias or abnormalities in the conduction of the heart, this learning model analyzes changes in the electrocardiogram that are very subtle in the electrical signals that can go unnoticed by the human eye. In this way, the algorithm can estimate something that science calls “heart age.” From here, when the researchers compared the figure with the patient’s actual age, a cardiac age gap emerged. That is, there were people with a heart that looked older than it should, which is a much more accurate predictor of mortality than some traditional markers. The social impact. Now the question that science asks is why. The results of the study published in Mayo Clinic Procedures, place financial stress and food insecurity as the most aggressive social determinants of health (SDH). In this way, what the study demonstrates is that constant worry about payment, rent, mortgage or the increase in the cost of basic foods generates a state of physiological wear and tear that AI detects as premature aging of cardiovascular tissue. The reasons. At a biological level, this phenomenon is explained through the chronic stress response. Economic uncertainty keeps the body in a state of permanent “alert”, triggering levels of cortisol and adrenaline. This prolonged hormonal overexposure damages the vascular endothelium and alters heart rate variability, effects that the Mayo Clinic algorithm identifies as signs of an aging heart. Surprisingly, the study indicates that the impact of this precariousness can equal or even exceed the risk posed by physical inactivity or chronic diseases such as diabetes in terms of accelerated mortality. From loneliness to inflation. This work is not an isolated event, but the culmination of a line of research that the Mayo Clinic has reinforced in recent years. In 2024, the same team used AI to show that social isolation acts in the opposite way: having strong support networks and community ties works as a biological “brake” that slows down the aging of the heart. However, the new 2025 study is the first to prioritize economic factors over clinical ones. Change the rules of the game. This finding reminds us of the importance that in clinical practice, beyond seeing results of tests or electrocardiograms, we must also know that in front of the doctor there is a human patient. And not only is the high cholesterol in the analysis important, but there are also many social problems behind him that can interfere with his pathology and that doctors should be aware of. The relevance of this work lies in its ability to prioritize. While other previous studies already talked about social stress, this is the first to use AI models to quantify exactly how economic precariousness “rusts” the heart muscle compared to traditional medical factors. Images | Robina Weermeijer Christian Erfurt In Xataka | Half of employees say they work under constant stress: they would give up 21% of their salary to avoid it

“Cozy games” were going to save us from stress and productivity. They have ended up being true slaves of leisure

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The promise of relaxing and clearing your mind for a few hours is what attracts us of the cozy games: those games that surround us with cute little animals, calm us with a comforting visual palette and give us repetitive and friendly tasks that make us escape from stress. It all seems very bucolic; You inherit a farm, plant flowers, decorate rooms or make dream furniture, with the promise of escaping for a few hours from the daily routine. However, that kind of digital refuge has become the materialization of what you wanted to escape from; in a second Google Calendar full of meetings, in a clone of your 9 to 5 job. And ‘Tiny Bookshop’ reaffirms it to us. Released this summer,’Tiny Bookshop‘ quickly became a hit within the crowded category cozy. The premise is clear: you arrive in a small, charming town with your new traveling bookstore project, which you can decorate with hundreds of possibilities. Through your relationship with the neighbors you manage to sell and recommend a large number of books and, in turn, discover all the secrets of the town. This entire initial point is more than striking for fans of the genre (like yours truly). After more hours than I would like to admit, I realized that I had fallen into the gaming trap again. cozy: dedicate hours and hours at a job. Underneath the adorableness of being able to paint everything in pastel tones or recommend ‘Jane Eyre’ to your clients, in the end you find that you have been searching for objects for a while to increase your sales, check the opening hours for the next day and be on the lookout to replenish the shelves with the right genre. You can call this cozybut I call it emulating another workday; and what’s worse, enjoying it. Recommend all kinds of books at ‘Tiny Bookshop’ At the beginning of the 2010s it became quite fashionable, sponsored by the gurus of Silicon Valleya trend called “gamification of work“Through video game or board game mechanics, missions, points or rewards were added within the daily routine of monotonous work tasks. It is worth asking if the cozy games They have done the opposite path, “trafficking” video games. It is true that, as is often the case with these cozy gamesit’s easy to have fun with them and immerse yourself fully in the story. The interactions are adorable, the characters are cute and they have that air of “afternoon movie” that makes them irresistible; but in the end we cannot ignore the fact that we are replicating tasks that we are supposed to escape from, such as spending hours and hours working. And yes, it all depends on the type of player you are and how you manage the objectives of the game, but the cozy games They rarely have to do with something comfortable or warm. We’ve romanticized even paying a mortgage We are not talking about a specific thing that happens with this new release, completing or performing the daily tasks of this style of games can be the least relaxing thing there is. With the pinnacle of the cozy‘stardew valley‘, the day doesn’t last long between milking the cows, collecting the eggs, making jam and going to the mine to get objects. Furthermore, as if it were real life itself, after all these tasks, you have to put on a good face and interact with your neighbors. Something similar happens with another of the big names in the category such as ‘Animal Crossing‘: you have to give objects to your island companions, cut down trees, plant flowers, fish and be attentive to the day the character who is in charge of buying your collection arrives, in order to get money and pay the mortgage. Yes, a mortgage on a beautiful house, but Tom Nook does not forgive the deadlines. After all this, it would be interesting to check the players’ heart rate when their character goes to sleep after completing all those tasks. Spend the day cutting down trees in ‘Animal Crossing’ By becoming something more mainstream and produce some sales more than substantial Since its rise in the pandemic, there are countless games that adopt the “cozy” to capture the public, even when its dynamics move away from what characterizes the genre. It is worth asking if within this label, the greatest exponents should not be games like ‘Abzu‘ either ‘Unpacking‘, where the “you don’t have to do anything” is strictly followed and the objectives do not have a timer. The contemplative and the mechanical is what is essential in these examples, honoring that part “cozy” of mental refuge with peace, serenity and tasks that are repeated over and over again. In fact, there is even metacriticism within this world. ‘Wanderstop‘, a tea shop simulator created by the visionary mind behind ‘The Stanley Parable‘, Davey Wreden. The game ironizes this fact with a character who invites you to attend to customer requests when it seems right to you, without rushing, because the last thing the protagonist needs is it’s more pressure. It is curious that most games cozy They deal with mental health or anxiety, but some have mechanics in line with this and others offer ones that are radically opposite to the feelings they seek to create in the player. The perversion of language, or the excessive use of a label such as “cozy” to sell more copies ends up producing a very specific reality: something is broken when the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about these comforting games is taking care of a farm or a supermarket, watering parsnips or paying for an extension to your house. Productivity as leisure Beyond the mechanics and quality of each of them, the addiction and fanaticism that they generate for us does nothing more than put ourselves in front of the mirror and expose the reality of our daily life: even with our leisure we want to be productive, … Read more

records every excess, sleeplessness and stress in the cells for 20 years

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As we age, not only do we accumulate experiences and begin to observe the marks of the passage of time such as wrinkles, but something more silent happens in your body: an inflammation that does not hurt, but never completely goes away. Scientists call it inflammationand it is one of the keys to understanding why we age and how we could do it better. Your body remembers what happened 20 years ago. Researcher Juan Pablo de Rivero Vaccari, from the University of Miami so he warns. For years, the modern lifestyle—calorie diets, constant stress, lack of sleep and a sedentary lifestyle—has kept the immune system on a kind of permanent “red alert.” Normally, inflammation is a useful response: it helps repair tissues and defend us from infection. But when that response is not extinguished, it becomes a slow fire that gradually deteriorates the body’s systems. From Mayo Clinic they describe it like an internal civil war: innate immune cells, which should act only when faced with a threat, begin to chronically release inflammatory substances. Meanwhile, adaptive defenses—those that “learn” from viruses—are weakened. The result is felt in practice: a simple flu that takes weeks to pass, wounds that heal more slowly or constant fatigue. Immunologist Jessica Lancaster sums it up in a simple way: “With age, the immune system ages and this constant inflammation can deplete defenses and damage healthy tissues.” An internal fire? The inflammation of aging appears to arise from a combination of cellular stress, metabolism, and lifestyle. According to researcher Alan Cohen of Columbia University, stressed cells release proteins that indicate that “something is wrong,” even in the absence of disease. However, we do not all age the same. a study, published in Nature Aging by Cohen himself and colleagues from several universitiescompared people from Italy and Singapore to indigenous communities from Bolivia (the Tsimane) and Malaysia (the Orang Asli). The finding was surprising: only populations in industrialized countries showed the classic pattern of increasing inflammation with age. The hypothesis is clear: the inflammation It could be, more than an inevitable consequence of the passage of time, a side effect of modern life. Assembling the puzzle. Because science has already found the pieces. AT Yale University, Vishwa Dixit’s team analyzed plasma from adults who reduced their caloric intake by 14% over two years. They found that this moderate calorie restriction markedly reduced levels of a key inflammatory protein, complement C3a, linked to immune activation. In other words, they found that inhibiting C3a reduces age-related inflammation and improves metabolic health. Furthermore, in mice, pharmacological blockade of the same component of the complement system increased longevity and improved metabolic function. In parallel, another team, led by Marissa Schaferidentified a new marker of cellular aging: the interleukin-23 receptor (IL-23R). This biomarker increases with age in both humans and mice and is associated with inflammation in organs such as the kidney or liver. However, there is hope: certain senolytic drugs—such as fisetin (present in strawberries) or venetoclax, used against cancer—managed to reduce these inflammatory levels in old animals. The idea is simple but powerful: eliminate poorly aging cells to relieve inflammation from within. Any plan to avoid it? While science searches for treatments, experts agree: lifestyle remains our best medicine. From Mayo Clinic they explain it simply: sleeping well, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising and eating fewer ultra-processed foods are the most effective keys to strengthening the immune system. In fact, As Dr. Lancaster points out: “Sleep is probably the most critical factor for immunity, more so than diet or exercise.” During sleep, the body releases proteins that fight infections and eliminate brain toxins. For its part, in a report for the Washington Post They add that controlling blood pressure, visceral fat and blood sugar is essential to reduce inflammation. And Yale researcher Vishwa Dixit sums it up with ancient wisdom: “The same thing your grandmother and mine said: do things in moderation, don’t eat too much, and move more.” Towards aging without fire. Scientist Alan Cohen uses a perfect metaphor: “Inflammation is like a fire alarm. It’s not always pleasant, but it indicates that something is wrong. The important thing is not to turn it off, but to prevent it from ringing all the time.” For this reason, experts recommend not becoming obsessed with micromanaging each biological marker or pursuing eternal youth through supplements. Image | FreePik Xataka | The birth rate in Poland is a disaster and some hotels have had an idea: money for those who conceive during a stay

Spain, at the head in Europe in workers with stress or depression and we have the culprit: work

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In recent years, Spain has established itself as one of the European countries where they relate more workers Mental health problems with employmentstanding among the five countries With higher stress ratesdepression and anxiety linked to the work context, according to the latest survey OSH click 2025 that elaborates the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). The data places Spain among countries with worse indicators In psychological well -being work related, only surpassed by Greece, Finland, Cyprus and Poland. In Spain, work with too much stress. The survey reveals that 40% of Spanish employees interviewed by the European Agency for Labor Safety and Health, pointed to their job as main reason for stressanxiety or depression. This percentage of stressed employees leaves Spain only behind Greece (49%), Finland (45%), Cyprus and Poland (both with 41%) and well above the European average located at 29%. In addition to stress, employees point out Other symptoms and pathologies which also frequently relate to the workplace. 45% indicate generalized fatigue related to work, 42% report headaches or tired view and 37% identify muscle pains or bones caused by their work activity, figures equally higher than the average recorded by the EU. Companies look the other way. The European report links this increase in work stress to the low implementation of preventive measures by Spanish companies. While 44% of employees in the European Union claim to be exposed to time or Work overloadin Spain this figure amounts to 49%. In addition, Spain is one of the countries where you least consult the templates on psychosocial risks, standing at 34% of employees who affirm that the companies where they work take into account their indications on mental illnesses, compared to 45% of the European average, and far from countries with best practices such as Germany, where 65% of respondents affirm that in their companies they have been consulted. In Spain we are not very psychologist. An important point that highlights the survey is that, in Spain, the culture of Mental health assistance to social level, much less at work level. A good barometer of this is that the psychological advice in the work environment is still very limited in Spain, where only 28% of the people surveyed say they have this resource in their company, compared to 40% on average in the European Union. Finland is headed in this regard, reaching 78% of companies that offer mental health advice and assistance for their employees. This deficit in access to psychological support from the company itself contributes to enching the impact of mental health problems on the templates, as the report points out ‘WHO guidelines on mental health at work ‘ Posted by the World Health Organization (WHO). An obstacle to professional careers. As a consequence of the lack of culture of psychological well -being in Spain that the European report indicated, the belief that reveal a mental health problem It will involve a social and professional stigma that will negatively affect the development of the professional career. However, that feeling, although on different scale, is common to all EU countries. That fear of stigma makes 48% of European employees say that revealing that they suffer a mentally affecting a problem of their professional career. In Spain, this percentage rises to 54%. The study indicates that this fear is especially high among younger employees or those who occupy precarious jobs, still increasing their vulnerability in the labor market. More stress, lower medical. According to the AXA 2025 Mental Health Studythe disabilities related to mental health problems have climbed into among the diseases with greater affectation since 2016 in the Spanish work environment. Taa and as stood out The countryPandemia marked a turning point In temporal disabilities due to psychological and psychiatric problems, with a 72% increase in casualties. This has put on the table the need for Review prevention strategies and support for mental health within companies, an aspect where Spain still shows important deficiencies regarding the European environment. In Xataka | Only one in four Spaniards has rested on vacation. The culprits: job anxiety and inability to disconnect Image | UNSAPLASH (Vasilis caravitis)

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