iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

As little as 10 minutes of activity can do amazing things for your mind and body.

Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

Mental health services and greenspace can reduce risk for heart disease. In study of >1.7 million cardiac deaths, greater access to mental health services and greenspace reduced the association between air pollution and cardiac death. academic.oup.com/eurjpc/artic...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Want to get your steps (or other activity) in? Prioritize your sleep. In study of 71K people, getting 7-9 hours of sleep led to more steps the following day than getting less (or more) sleep. www.nature.com/articles/s43...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Too many times we hear people (influencers) equate weight with health. But that's misguided. In this episode we discuss why people equate weight with health, the role of excess fat in health and when changes in weight are good and when they're not. open.spotify.com/episode/0er3...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

It's International Sudoku Day! Puzzles and games are associated with preventing cognitive decline and being less likely to get dementia.

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

1/2 Daily physical activity can (instantly!) improve the way you think. Small study found that activity was associated with improved cognitive ability equivalent to reversing 4 years of aging: academic.oup.com/abm/article-... #exercise #health #fitness

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

The path to more activity? Go to bed earlier. Over the course of one year, when people slept earlier, their activity the next day was higher. @PNASNews: www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... #exercise #sleep #publichealth

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Work less, be more productive? Study in 6 countries found 4-day work week led to: ⬆️wellbeing ⬇️burnout ⬆️job satisfaction Likely due to better sleep, improved work ability & less fatigue. This was compared to companies that stayed with 5-day work week. #publichealth www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

Greening the lab: Creation of a national playbook on environmental sustainability in lab medicine. How healthcare can help with reducing pollution: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #publichealth

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Never too late to start! Moderate & vigorous activity in seniors associated with longer life and ⬇️chance of early death as measured by accelerometer. Light activity was beneficial but to a lesser extent. #publichealth #exercise #fitness bjsm.bmj.com/content/59/1...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

Want to ⬆ your productivity, put your phone on silent & away. When people put their phone on silent or in another room, attention span increased. Even the presence of the phone nearby was enough to reduce cognitive capacity & lead to 'brain drain'. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Looking to lose weight? No clear winner between intermittent fasting and continuous calorie restriction as indicated in this meta-analysis. This is good news for people who want choice in their dietary options. www.bmj.com/content/389/... #weightloss #diet

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Study didn't include a comparison to alcoholic beer, only to water. Basically study indicates it's best to have in moderation. But going from two beers to day to two n/a beers per day is still a healthier choice. www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/17...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Non-alcoholic #beer is a good alternative to beer, but... Study found 2 per day for 4 wks led to ⬆ glucose, triglycerides & insulin compared to water likely due to the sugar and calorie content. That being said, most n/a beers have << sugar & calories than pop. link below 👇

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Exercise treats colon #cancer. Colon cancer patients who received #exercise counselling had 37% lower chances of death in randomized study. There was lower chance for cancer recurrence & new cancers. The effect similar to commonly used drug treatments. #publichealth www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Lifelong adult physical activity has foundations in adolescence and young adulthood. "We identified that collegiate sport exposure, particularly participation in multiple sports, is associated with higher PA throughout all of midlife in males." #publichealth bjsm.bmj.com/content/59/1...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

1/2 Can sitting shrink your brain? Study in older adults found greater sitting time associated with ⬇️ in hippocampal volume and cognitive function over 7 years: alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #BrainHealth

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Your weight is not your health. The #WeightLoss loss industry will be worth $400 billion by 2030. In this podcast we discuss why people equate weight with health, the role of excess body fat (not weight) in health and when changes in weight are good. #publichealth open.spotify.com/episode/0er3...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Increasing activity later in life may prevent accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques. Study found people who became active had less brain Aβ burden compared to those who reduced activity or remained inactive @alzassociation: alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #exercise

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Are you flourishing? Of 22 countries, Indonesia had highest scores of flourishing (all aspects of a person’s life are good, including context in which that person live). In general, countries with highest GDP had lowest flourishing scores @NatMentHealth: www.nature.com/articles/s44...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

I'm looking forward to competing in Science Slam on May 15th at the Fox Cabaret in Vancouver. #exercise #publichealth Get your tickets here: 3common.com/event/blosso...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Exercise can counter side-effects of #cancer treatment. A review or randomized trials found #exercise following cancer can improve health outcomes & mental well-being and reduce side-effects from cancer treatment. #publichealth bjsm.bmj.com/content/earl...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Would you were a smartshirt to log your workouts? "...SeamFit detects exercises with an accuracy of 89%, classifies exercises with an accuracy of 93.4%, and counts exercises with an error of 0.9 counts, on average." dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/... #exercise #fitness

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Every 3 sec someone is diagnosed with dementia. There's no cure for dementia making prevention all the more important. In this podcast we discuss what is dementia, it's risk factors and how your lifestyle affects your chances of getting #dementia. #publichealth open.spotify.com/episode/0rZF...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

3/3 Increasing physical activity of any kind was associated with ⬇️ risk for #cancer went down. bjsm.bmj.com/content/earl...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

2/3 Replacing 1 hr of sedentary time with activity resulted in reductions in cancer risk as follows: ⭐️light activity ⬇️7% ⭐moderate/vigorous activity ⬇12%

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

1/3 Walk your way to lower #cancer risk.🚶🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️ Study of 85K people found the more steps per day, the lower the chances for getting cancer. Walking 5000 steps/day resulted in⬇️20% risk compared to 3000 steps, and risk continued to go down with more steps. #exercise #publichealth

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Using social media before your training reduces performance. Volleyball players who used social media for 30 min before training session led to mental fatigue and poor attack efficiency (AE): onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #exercise #sports

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

New stir stick can tell if your drink has been spiked. Researchers @UBC have developed a simple stir stick that changes colour if your drink contains GHB or ketamine in hopes to reduce sexual assaults. #publichealth

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Artificial sweetener increases appetite. Study comparing sucralose to sucrose and water showed activation in areas of brain involved in hunger and appetite regulation @NatureMedicine: www.nature.com/articles/s42... #diet #nutrition #weightloss #publichealth

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Move not only for your body, but your brain too. More research showing higher fitness in older age is associated with better brain function (memory, attention, cognition, processing). #fitness #publichealth #health #exercise bjsm.bmj.com/content/59/3...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

I guess this needs to be said. Safety first!

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Study indicates your lifespan depends more on environment than genes. For many diseases, modifiable factors (green) shape your risk more than genes (yellow). These were smoking, economic status, physical inactivity, living alone, poor sleep & mental well-being. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

World Happiness Report 2025 #1 Finland (again) Canada dropped to 18 and US dropped to 24. worldhappiness.report/ed/2025/

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Get in shape for your brain. Higher #fitness levels associated with better cognitive performance and lower chances of getting #dementia : bjsm.bmj.com/content/59/3... #publichealth

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Review of 155 studies finds link between social media use and psychiatric disorders that involve delusions, such as narcissism and body dysmorphic disorder. bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.... #publichealth #mentalhealth (the irony of sharing this on social media is not lost on me)

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Everyday you make decisions about your health. Each day you're bombarded with info influencing your decisions. Here we discuss behavioural economics, how it explains why we make decisions we don't want & how to make healthy choices the easy choice. Check it out: open.spotify.com/episode/0xa7...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Vascular brain injury & cognitive dysfunction influenced by environment & healthcare. Adults in China had 6-7x prevalence than those of Chinese background in Canada. This was largely explained by differences in SES factors and modifiable risk factors. #publichealth www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Pressed for time? Try walking (or any other activity). In people with low activity "...an hour’s walk could add an impressive 6 hours to life." Comparing the least to highest activity group resulted in 11 more years of life. #publichealth @BJSM_BMJ : bjsm.bmj.com/content/59/5...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Wahoo! 🥳 Just submitted my grant to @CIHR_IRSC entitled: "Understanding the Role of Physical Activity in Health in Low and Middle Income Countries: Is all physical activity good physical activity?"

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Activity at any amount and any intensity can reduce chances of early death in people with heart disease. academic.oup.com/eurjpc/artic... #publichealth #exercise

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

People underestimate the kindness of strangers. Strangers often do a better job of returning lost wallets than police and wallets with money are returned more often. www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article... #kindness #happiness

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Physical activity is key to postpartum physical and mental well-being. #publichealth obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Another reason for businesses to support bike lanes: Fewer sick days in their workers. Cycling to work is associated with fewer sick days in the cyclists: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #helath #fitness #publichealth

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Exposure to pollution is bad for your brain. One hour exposure to candles made attention performance & emotion expression worse (both aspects of executive function). #publicheatlh www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

#Exercise myths debunked. From exercise weakens the immune system to exercise needs to hurt to be effective here are 9 myths debunked. #fitness #publichealth

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Great morning skiing before returning to my grant writing.

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Scott Lear, PhD @drscottlear.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Spending some time each day unplugged from technology can: 🌟⬇️ eye strain 🌟reset your mind 🌟allow you to get in touch with your thoughts 🌟help you sleep 🌟⬇️ sedentary behaviour #MondayMotivation

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