Medical Bulletin 10/Jul/2025

Here are the top medical news for the day:

Are You Choosing the Right Workout for Your Personality Type?

A new study published in Frontiers in Psychology by researchers at University College London (UCL) suggests that matching exercise to personality traits could be the key to helping people stick with fitness routines and reduce stress. The study highlights how personality influences exercise enjoyment, offering a potential path to more effective, personalized fitness interventions.

The new study aimed to explore how personality traits influence both enjoyment and adherence to exercise, and the resulting impact on fitness and stress levels.

Researchers recruited 132 volunteers with varying fitness backgrounds. Participants were assigned either to an eight-week cycling and strength-training programme or a resting control group. Baseline fitness was assessed using press-ups, planks, countermovement jumps, and VO₂ max testing. Participants also completed the Big 5 personality assessment, which categorizes individuals by dominant traits: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. Enjoyment ratings and stress levels were tracked throughout.

The study revealed notable links between personality and exercise preference. Extroverts enjoyed high-intensity exercises like HIIT, while individuals high in neuroticism preferred short bursts of activity and less monitoring during workouts. “We found some clear links between personality traits and the type of exercise the participants enjoyed most,” said Dr. Flaminia Ronca of UCL Surgery & Interventional Science. “We could potentially use this knowledge to tailor physical activity recommendations to the individual – and hopefully help them to become and remain more active.”

Interestingly, while conscientious individuals tended to be fitter overall, they didn’t report greater enjoyment—suggesting their motivation may stem from long-term health goals rather than immediate satisfaction.

Perhaps most strikingly, those with higher neuroticism saw the greatest stress reduction. Ultimately, the study concludes that the best way to promote lasting physical activity is to help individuals find an exercise they genuinely enjoy.

Reference: Ronca Flaminia , Tari Benjamin , Xu Cian , Burgess Paul W. , Personality traits can predict which exercise intensities we enjoy most, and the magnitude of stress reduction experienced following a training program, Frontiers in Psychology, Volume 16 – 2025, 2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1587472

10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1587472, ISSN=1664-1078

Improved Survival Rates for People with Dementia: Global Study Finds

A new multinational study published in communications medicine has found that people diagnosed with dementia are living longer than in previous decades, signaling encouraging progress in dementia diagnosis, treatment, and care. The research, led by Dr. Hao Luo from the University of Waterloo, analyzed survival trends among more than 1.2 million people over the age of 60 across eight regions from 2000 to 2018.

Dementia remains a major public health concern worldwide.

The research team assessed hospital data from Ontario, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Finland, Germany, and New Zealand. The study found that in five of those regions including Ontario individuals diagnosed with dementia today have a lower risk of death compared to previous years. These five regions accounted for 84 percent of the study population.

Dr. Luo attributes the improvement to a range of factors: “The increase in survival probability is likely due to progress in dementia prevention and care in recent years, as well as more effective drug treatments and psychosocial interventions tailored to an individual’s needs.”

However, the study also found variation in outcomes. “We were surprised to observe a steady increase in mortality risk in New Zealand between 2014 and 2018,” Luo noted. This trend appears to be linked to a national policy that shifted dementia diagnosis and care from specialists to primary care, potentially resulting in later-stage diagnoses during hospital admissions.

The study’s findings highlight the impact of health system strategies on dementia outcomes.

Reference: Luo, H., Koponen, M., Roethlein, C., Becker, C., Bell, J. S., Beyene, K., ... & Wong, I. C. (2025). A multinational cohort study of trends in survival following dementia diagnosis. Communications medicine, 5(1), 1-10.

Can the Monday Blues Lead to Chronic Stress? Study Says Yes

A new study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders reveals that anxiety felt on Mondays can have long-lasting effects on the body’s stress response system, potentially increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. The research, led by Professor Tarani Chandola from the Department of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), uncovers how Mondays uniquely drive long-term biological stress regardless of whether a person is still working or retired.

The study analyzed data from more than 3,500 older adults who participated in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Researchers examined anxiety levels reported on different days of the week and measured cortisol levels using hair samples, which provide a cumulative record of the body’s exposure to stress hormones over a two-month period. They found that participants who reported feeling anxious on Mondays had 23% higher cortisol levels than those who felt anxious on other days.

“Mondays act as a cultural ‘stress amplifier,’” said Professor Chandola. “For some older adults, the week's transition triggers a biological cascade that lingers for months. This isn't about work—it’s about how deeply ingrained Mondays are in our stress physiology, even after careers end.”

The study also found that only 25% of the Monday effect could be explained by higher reported anxiety levels on Mondays. The remaining 75% was due to the stronger biological impact of feeling anxious on that specific day.

The research highlights the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which regulates cortisol. Chronic dysregulation of this system is associated with health problems like hypertension, insulin resistance, and immune dysfunction. Given that Mondays are already linked to a 19% spike in heart attacks, this study may help explain the physiological underpinnings of that trend.

Reference: Tarani Chandola, Wanying Ling, Patrick Rouxel. Are anxious Mondays associated with HPA-axis dysregulation? A longitudinal study of older adults in England. Journal of Affective Disorders, 2025; 389: 119611 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2025.119611

Tummy Tuck May Help You Keep Losing Weight—Even Years Later

A new study published in the issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), suggests that many patients who undergo abdominoplasty, commonly known as a “tummy tuck,” continue to lose weight long after the procedure.

Abdominoplasty is typically performed to remove excess skin and tissue after significant weight loss, particularly in patients who have undergone bariatric surgery or other major body transformations. While some plastic surgeons have observed ongoing weight loss in these patients, little research has previously confirmed this trend.

To investigate further, researchers studied 188 patients—97% of whom were women—who underwent abdominoplasty between 2018 and 2022. Most also received liposuction or lipectomy during the procedure. The average preoperative weight of participants was about 168 pounds with a body mass index (BMI) of 27.7. Patients were tracked for up to five years to monitor weight trends.

Findings revealed steady, long-term weight loss. At three to six months’ post-surgery, patients lost an average of five to six pounds. From one to four years, the loss held steady around five pounds. At five years, although based on a smaller sample size, patients had lost nearly ten pounds on average, representing more than a five percent reduction in BMI.

The study also noted that continued weight loss was more likely in older patients, non-smokers, those who underwent additional fat-removal procedures, and individuals with higher initial BMI. Some who used semaglutide, a newer weight-loss medication, experienced greater reductions.

Although the exact mechanism behind continued weight loss remains unclear, the researchers believe lifestyle changes may play a role. “We have found that patients who were able to achieve weight loss after their abdominoplasty succeeded in developing healthy habits that centered around nutrition and exercise,” they wrote.

The findings highlight the potential long-term benefits of abdominoplasty, beyond aesthetics, and point to the need for more structured research into the postoperative lifestyle changes that support sustained weight management.

Reference: Jonathan Bricker, Sarah Ferenz, Simon Moradian, Kareem Termanini, Brandon Jackson, John Y. S. Kim. What Happens to Weight following Abdominoplasty: An Analysis of 188 Consecutive Cases. Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, 2025; 156 (1): 51e DOI: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000011959