This episode does a deep dive on a network meta-analysis evaluating the comparative effectiveness and optimal dosage of various exercise types—specifically aerobic training (AT), resistance training (RT), flexibility training (FT), and combined training (AT+RT)—for reducing depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. Overall, the study aims to provide evidence-based guidance for developing targeted clinical and public health strategies to manage adolescent depression through physical activity.
Cao X. Comparative effects of exercise type and dose on depression in children and adolescents: a network meta-analysis. Front Psychol. 2025;16:1632111. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1632111.
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This episode does a deep dive into a clinical trial article, "Efficacy and Safety of Low-Dose Colchicine after Myocardial Infarction." The study, known as the COLCOT trial, was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 4745 patients who had recently suffered a myocardial infarction, aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of low-dose colchicine, an anti-inflammatory medication, in preventing subsequent ischemic cardiovascular events.
Tardif JC, Kouz S, Waters DD, Bertrand OF, Diaz R, Maggioni AP, et al. Efficacy and Safety of Low-Dose Colchicine after Myocardial Infarction. N Engl J Med. 2019;381(26):2497-2505. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1912388.
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This episode dissects a an article that investigates the differences in psychological factors between individuals with persistent tendinopathy and those without the condition.
Mest J, Flood A, Toufexis C, Waddington G, Malliaras P, Fearon AM. Differences in psychological factors between people with persistent tendinopathy and those without tendinopathy: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. Advance publication. doi:10.2519/jospt.2025.13307.
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This episode does a deep dive into an article that examines the health equivalence of different physical activity intensities—light, moderate, and vigorous—against outcomes like mortality, cancer, and cardiometabolic disease. Using accelerometer data from over 73,000 UK Biobank participants, the study objectively quantifies how many minutes of moderate or light activity are needed to equal one minute of vigorous activity. The core finding is a substantial deviation from the current public health convention of a 1:2 ratio (one minute of vigorous equals two minutes of moderate), which was based on less precise self-reported data.
Biswas, R.K., Ahmadi, M.N., Bauman, A. et al. Wearable device-based health equivalence of different physical activity intensities against mortality, cardiometabolic disease, and cancer. Nat Commun 16, 8315 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63475-2
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This episode does a deep dive into an article titled "Relationship Between Tendon Tissue and Shoulder Disability Change During an 8-Week Exercise Intervention for Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy: An Observational Study," which was published in the PTJ: Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal. This prospective longitudinal study sought to understand how changes in the supraspinatus tendon's thickness and internal architecture relate to patient-reported shoulder disability improvement during an eight-week progressive resistive exercise program for individuals with rotator cuff tendinopathy.
Vila-Dieguez O, Heindel MD, Zipser MC, Mortazavi K, Kulig K, Bashford G, et al. Relationship between tendon tissue and shoulder disability change during an 8-week exercise intervention for rotator cuff tendinopathy: an observational study. Phys Ther. 2025;105:pzaf107. doi:10.1093/ptj/pzaf107.
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This episode details experimental evidence demonstrating that paternal exercise in mice, either via treadmill training or muscle-specific genetic overexpression of PGC-1α, transmits enhanced endurance capacity and metabolic health to offspring.
Yin X, Anwar A, Yan L, Yu R, Luo Y, Shi L, et al. Paternal exercise confers endurance capacity to offspring through sperm microRNAs. Cell Metab. 2025;37:1-18. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2025.09.003.
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This episode does a deep dive on a systematic review and meta-analysis examining the effects of voluntary slow breathing on heart rate and heart rate variability. This extensive scholarly work synthesizes existing evidence to determine if voluntary slow breathing (VSB) influences the parasympathetic nervous system, specifically focusing on changes in vagally-mediated heart rate variability (HRV). The authors conducted a quantitative review of 223 studies, analyzing HRV parameters at three time points: DURING a breathing session, IM-AFTER1 immediately following a session, and AFTER-INT after a multi-session intervention.
Laborde S, Allen MS, Borges U, et al. Effects of voluntary slow breathing on heart rate and heart rate variability: A systematic review and a meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022;138:104711. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104711
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This episode examines the rapidly growing field of using Large Language Models (LLMs) for automatic disease diagnosis in clinical practice. The review comprehensively maps the existing literature, clarifying which diseases and clinical data types have been addressed, the specific LLM techniques employed (such as prompting, fine-tuning, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation or RAG), and the evaluation methods used to assess performance.
Zhou, S., Xu, Z., Zhang, M. et al. Large language models for disease diagnosis: a scoping review. npj Artif. Intell. 1, 9 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44387-025-00011-z
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This episode does a deep dive into an article that argues that the current Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of 0.8 g protein per kg of body weight for adults is insufficient for older individuals, particularly for maintaining skeletal muscle mass and mitigating sarcopenia. Furthermore, the article dismisses common concerns that higher protein intake negatively affects renal and bone health, citing a lack of scientific foundation for these claims in healthy individuals. The authors also suggest that a more even distribution of protein intake across daily meals could be an optimal strategy for muscle maintenance in the elderly.
Traylor DA, Gorissen SHM, Phillips SM. Perspective: Protein Requirements and Optimal Intakes in Aging: Are We Ready to Recommend More Than the Recommended Daily Allowance?. Adv Nutr. 2018;9(3):171-182. doi:10.1093/advances/nmy003
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This episode does a deep dive into a multi-center randomized clinical trial published in Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, focusing on the effect of dose interval for periosteal and intraarticular electrical dry needling (PIEDN) on patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The study compared the long-term efficacy (30 weeks) of three groups: one receiving PIEDN booster sessions every four weeks, a second receiving them every eight weeks, and a control group receiving no further treatment after an initial six-week course.
Dunning J, Young I, Taylor N, Mourad F, Bliton P, Butts R, et al. Effect of dose interval of periosteal and intraarticular electrical dry needling boosters on pain and disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a multi-center randomized clinical trial. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice. Published online October 17, 2025. doi:10.1080/09593985.2025.2575837.
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This episode does a deep dive into the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) position stand regarding the consumption of energy drinks (ED) and energy shots (ES), based on a critical review of scientific literature. It outlines the common ingredients found in these products, such as caffeine, taurine, and B vitamins, and evaluates their purported effects on acute exercise performance, metabolism, and cognitive function.
Jagim AR, Harty PS, Tinsley GM, et al. International society of sports nutrition position stand: energy drinks and energy shots. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2023;20(1):2171314. doi:10.1080/15502783.2023.2171314
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This episode dissects a systematic review with meta-analysis evaluating the effectiveness of exercise therapy for treating temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). Researchers analyzed sixteen randomized controlled trials to determine if therapeutic exercise could reduce pain and increase both active and passive maximum mouth opening in TMD patients.
Idáñez-Robles AM, Obrero-Gaitán E, Lomas-Vega R, Osuna-Pérez MC, Cortés-Pérez I, Zagalaz-Anula N. Exercise therapy improves pain and mouth opening in temporomandibular disorders: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Clin Rehabil. 2023;37(4):443-461. doi:10.1177/02692155221133523
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This episode does a deep dive into a systematic review and meta-analysis titled "Analgesic effects of non-surgical and non-interventional treatments for low back pain", which investigates the effectiveness of various treatments for low back pain in adults compared to a placebo. The study analyzed 301 randomized controlled trials covering 56 different treatments to determine their analgesic efficacy for both acute and chronic low back pain.
Cashin AG, Furlong BM, Kamper SJ, et al. Analgesic effects of non-surgical and non-interventional treatments for low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo-controlled randomised trials. BMJ Evid Based Med. Published online March 18, 2025. doi:10.1136/bmjebm-2024-112974
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This deep dive presents the methodology and findings of an extensive study investigating the cognitive and linguistic impacts of using Large Language Models (LLMs), search engines, or no tools ("Brain-only") for essay writing over four sessions with university participants.
Kosmyna N, Hauptmann E, Yuan YT, Situ J, Liao XH, Beresnitzky AV, et al. Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task. Published June 2025. doi:10.48550/arXiv.2506.08872.
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This episode does a deep dive into an ancillary study of the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) trial, which investigated the long-term effects of cocoa extract supplementation on inflammaging biomarkers in older adults.
Li S, Hamaya R, Zhu H, et al. Effects of 2-year cocoa extract supplementation on inflammaging biomarkers in older US adults: findings from the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study randomised clinical trial. Age Ageing. 2025;54(9):afaf269. doi:10.1093/ageing/afaf269.
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This episode dissects a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis evaluating the effectiveness of resistance training (RT) for managing pain in patients with knee and hip osteoarthritis (OA).
Liu W, Yin M, Li H. Optimizing resistance training for pain management in knee and hip osteoarthritis: a pairwise and dose-response meta-analysis. Front Public Health. 2025;13:1623679. Published 2025 Sep 2. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1623679
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This episode does a deep dive into a comprehensive review article titled "Magnesium Matters: A Comprehensive Review of Its Vital Role in Health and Diseases." This review details the physiological functions and metabolic processes of magnesium (Mg), emphasizing its role as an essential mineral and cofactor in hundreds of enzymatic reactions vital for maintaining health. We will explore the health consequences of Mg deficiency and its established associations with chronic conditions, including cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, we will discuss Mg metabolism, requirements (RDA), and the impact of deficiency in specific populations, such as the aging population, while discussing the therapeutic potential, optimal dosages, and duration of Mg supplementation.
Fatima G, Dzupina A, B Alhmadi H, et al. Magnesium Matters: A Comprehensive Review of Its Vital Role in Health and Diseases. Cureus. 2024;16(10):e71392. Published 2024 Oct 13. doi:10.7759/cureus.71392
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This episode dissects an original research article from the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle that investigates the relationship between fat infiltration in muscles and the functional recovery of older inpatients. Specifically, the prospective study examined intramuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) in the quadriceps at admission and the subsequent recovery of Activities of Daily Living (ADL), measured using the Barthel Index.
Akazawa N, Kishi M, Hino T, et al. Intramuscular adipose tissue in the quadriceps is more strongly related to recovery of activities of daily living than muscle mass in older inpatients. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2021;12(4):891-899. doi:10.1002/jcsm.12713
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The episode does a deep dive into a systematic review with meta-analysis published in the journal Sports Medicine that investigates the optimal timing of exercise in relation to meal ingestion for acutely lowering postprandial blood glucose levels.
Engeroff T, Groneberg DA, Wilke J. After Dinner Rest a While, After Supper Walk a Mile? A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis on the Acute Postprandial Glycemic Response to Exercise Before and After Meal Ingestion in Healthy Subjects and Patients with Impaired Glucose Tolerance. Sports Med. 2023;53(4):849-869. doi:10.1007/s40279-022-01808-7
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This episode does a deep dive into a systematic review investigating the efficacy of single herbal ingredients on testosterone concentrations in men.
Smith SJ, Lopresti AL, Teo SYM, Fairchild TJ. Examining the Effects of Herbs on Testosterone Concentrations in Men: A Systematic Review. Adv Nutr. 2021;12(3):744-765. doi:10.1093/advances/nmaa134
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