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Now there is good news for those who fear it might be too late in life to improve their fitness. People into late middle age can reverse or reduce the risk of heart failure caused by decades of sedentary living by exercising, a study has found. But there is a catch - it takes two years of aerobic exercise, four to five days a week, researchers said. [For more on this story by Alex Therrien, go to http://www.bbc.com/news/health-42565137 ]

Most years, we write one (or two) Fixes columns about the year in social innovation. What were the big ideas, the new trends? This year, it’s tempting to sum all that up in a word: Ha! Never has social innovation seemed less relevant. Although the federal government is never the most nimble innovator, it’s normally a prime consumer and amplifier of social innovation. And at times, Washington does produce new ideas — for example, in the Obama administration, federal agencies held prize...

Glenn Baker loves his one-bedroom apartment on the South Side of Chicago, and it shows: on his walls hang pictures of his favorite superheroes, and a note above his sink reminds visitors to do their dishes. But Baker says his favorite thing about his apartment is simply the fact that it is his. “I never have to worry about a place that I can lay down at night to stay warm,” Baker said. “I’ve only been to the emergency room a few times since I moved in here. I’m very happy about that.” Since...

Pittsburgh's Hill District hasn't had a full-service grocery store in 30 years. Nestled in the heart of the city, the Hill was once a vital center of jazz, black culture, and civic life, earning it the nickname "Little Harlem." The neighborhood had its own newspaper and radio station. Thoroughfares were lined with black-owned clubs, restaurants, and shops. Dizzy Gillespie sat in at the Crawford. Satchel Paige played at Greenlee Field. Harlem Renaissance poet Claude McKay called it "the...

There is no more pressing issue facing cities and society today than how to create high-quality, family-supporting jobs. As manufacturing jobs have faded—today only 5 or 6 percent of American workers are engaged in direct factory production—the job market has cleaved into an advantaged and affluent third of high-paying knowledge, professional, and creative jobs; and a nearly 50 percent share, of low-paying, insecure, and precarious service jobs. A recent report by researchers at the London...

It can be hard to find hope in climate change mitigation. But that’s exactly what NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus does in Being the Change. While he’s not your typical government scientist—he commutes by bicycle, meditates, grows and exchanges food—he does approach his life and global warming with the solution-driven focus of one. To Kalmus, individual actions matter: His family cut their climate impact to one-tenth the national average. He finds hope in the data—cutting out some things,...

Image: courtesy of wikimedia To those in the pediatric community: I want to let you all know that I have the honor of managing the ACEs in Pediatrics site. I began working with ACEs Connection in October. I came here with more than 25 years of experience as a health journalist, and a commitment to reporting on the remarkable shifts occurring in medicine and other sectors to promote trauma-informed and resiliency-building practices based on ACEs science . ACEs in Pediatrics is a forum for...

Since 2013, more than 12,000 children and their parents have been screened for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York.

This may be one of the most important health issues of our time! Learn More • Join the Conversation • Help Create Solutions CHANGE THE QUESTION We now know that childhood trauma changes the bodies and brains of children, and the way they approach life. Trauma, if left untreated, impacts physical and mental health, social connections, and even lifespan. Understanding what has happened in a person’s past, and helping them see the connection to their current behaviors, emotions, and health can...

Richmond is hot in the summer. August days in Virginia’s capital feature the kind of heat that shimmers in waves from the pavement and even in the evenings plasters suit shirts to skin like wet towels. On one such evening last year, that heat did a little extra sticking, even as a group of people gathered packed in a tiny room behind the governor’s mansion. In the middle of the group, Governor Terry McAuliffe stood, relishing the attention despite the heat. He’d shown his visitors through...

The thinking about problem drinking and alcoholism has changed. It's no longer considered a black-and-white, you have it or you don't condition. "We now know that there's a full spectrum in alcohol use disorder," says George Koob , the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcohohlism, part of the National Institutes of Health. You can have a mild, moderate or severe problem. And there's not a one-size-fits-all approach to getting help. There is a wide range of options —...

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, imprisoning 2.24 million out of the world's total of 10.2 million incarcerated people as of 2013, according to the International Center for Prison Studies . The ICPS also reports that, in 2013, 480,000 people were held in U.S. jails before even being tried for their charges. The system of cash bail targets poor people who can’t afford their bail, and several major insurance companies make billions in profits from the cash...