April campus wellness blog publishes

Health & Vitality — an IU “news-you-can-use” blog about health, fitness, sexuality, sociology and psychology written by University experts — has released its April issue, which discusses research and tips about heart disease, animal memory and yoga
practices.

Jacob Hunnicutt, a graduate student in IU’s Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, was the first author of a study that solidified the relationship between red meat consumption and heart disease.

The study, which was published online in the Journal of Nutrition, found a strong
association between heme iron, which is found only in meat, and deadly coronary heart disease. It found that heme iron consumption increased risk for heart disease by 57 percent, according to an April 23 press release.

IU neuroscientists Jonathon Crystal and Wesley Alford have been researching a decidedly less human issue, according to the release. The two scientists just published their study, “Validation of a Rodent Model of Source Memory,” in the March 2014 issue of Biology Letters.

Crystal and Alford’s work found nonhuman animals likely share a type of memory called “source memory” with humans.

This “refers to the memory of how, where or by what means we acquired a piece of information,” the press release stated.

It has long been seen as exclusively human, and the findings of this study could pave the way to possible new interventions for memory failure in conditions like schizophrenia and depression.

Shelley Taylor’s work was  also highlighted in the publication. Taylor, an adjunct instructor of yoga in the School of Public Health’s Department of Kinesiology, said in the release that, “Yoga is a personal experience.”

She commented on the increasing popularity of yoga as an intense exercise and
discusses in her work her will to emphasize the relaxing benefits of yoga rather than glorify it as a difficult workout.

“Every individual body develops at a different pace, and it can never be a competition,” she said.

She likes to teach restorative yoga to prevent injuries and eliminate tension in the body, according to the release.

In her post on the blog, she discussed this point and offered tips on safe practice.
These three studies and more information about these subjects is available on the Health & Vitality blog at viewpoints.iu.edu/health-and-vitality.

Anicka Slachta