A one-and-done experimental cholesterol treatment shows promise

Plus: dangling from a bar for better health, AI in the OR, and more health news  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Mandy Oaklander | August 28, 2026     It’s always nice to end the week with a spate of good news. Today, there's an exciting development for people eager for an alternative to statins (though more research needs to be done first). An experimental, one-time gene-editing therapy slashed cholesterol and triglycerides in people with high levels—and, better yet, the lower levels persisted when researchers checked a year later, according to a new paper out today. My colleague Alice Park wrote about the very out-of-the-box approach to the chronic health problem. That’s not the only heartening development of the day. Mounjaro, the weight-loss drug from Eli Lilly, is now approved to lower the risk of heart events, including heart attack, in people with diabetes, Alice reports. TODAY’S TOPICS Hang in there! AI can help guide brain surgery Got a question for us? The heart benefits of good genes         ONE SMALL CHANGE Hang from a bar for 30 seconds Your childhood monkey-bar habit might be worth bringing back. Hanging right-side up from a secure overhead bar can stretch the muscles that tighten up while you’re hunched over a desk or phone—and give your grip a workout. The bar is low, literally: Beginners can keep their feet planted and start with a handful of 10-second hangs before working up to 30 seconds. —Angela Haupt, Editor, Health & Wellness         SPONSORED Factor is America's #1 ready-to-eat meal delivery service. Chef-Crafted, Dietitian-Designed Meals Ready in 2 Minutes. Get 50% off your first Factor box. Try Factor Now         TODAY I LEARNED AI in the OR Getty Images AI has been assisting surgeons for a while now. But in a fascinating first, it was used in real time during a brain operation in the U.K., reports the BBC. The AI helped human surgeons remove a patient’s tumor that could have blinded him. It performed on-the-spot analyses in the operating room that helped surgeons navigate the complex space in the brain where the tumor sat, allowing them to remove more of the tumor and avoid disturbing critical structures.  The AI tool was trained “on more operations than most surgeons see or do in a lifetime and can act like an expert second pair of eyes,” Dr. Hani Marcus, who performed the procedure at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at University College London Hospitals, told the BBC. —Alice Park, Senior Correspondent         SPONSORED The cookware the world's best chefs actually cook on, and millions of home cooks swear by, is at its lowest prices of the year. Made In's End of Season Sale is live now, up to 40% off professional-grade cookware, knives, and full sets. Shop the End of Season Sale.         PLEASE ADVISE Ask the health team Have a burning health or wellness question? Wondering how to handle a tricky social situation? Please write to healthmatters@time.com, and we’ll weigh in weekly in the newsletter.         SPONSORED 1,000+ Claude Prompts Top Professionals Actually Use at Work Claude can be your analyst, editor, and strategist. But most professionals are using it to fix grammar. These 1,000+ Claude prompts take it from grammar tool to your most powerful AI work assistant. Sign up for Superhuman AI and get: 1,000+ ready-to-use Claude prompts to get real work done in minutes — researched, tested, and used by professionals at Google, Microsoft, and NASA Superhuman AI newsletter (4 min daily) so you keep learning new AI tools and skills to stay ahead in your career — the prompts are just the beginning Claim your free prompts         WHAT WE’RE READING Lydia McFarlane of WVIA visits a summer camp where kids with brain injuries zip-line, swim, and spend a week with other people who get it. Children of centenarians lived longer and had lower risks of cardiovascular disease and hypertension compared to people whose parents had shorter lifespans, according to a new study in JAMA Network Open. Historically, cold temperatures have been linked to more deaths than hot ones. But new data from the U.K.’s Office of National Statistics reveal that the gap is closing, Damian Carrington reports for the Guardian.     EMAIL US: healthmatters@time.com More Newsletters from Click to sign up. THE BRIEF +D.C. BRIEF +FUTURE PROOF +INSIDE TIME +IN THE LOOP +WORTH YOUR TIME + Connect with TIME PRIVACY POLICY   © 2026 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved. TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508 Boone, IA 50037-0508, United States Unsubscribe

Dolly Parton hated working out. But she loved 'rejoicing exercises'

Plus: humanizing longevity research, Ebola vaccines, and more health news  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Mandy Oaklander | August 27, 2026     This week, I’ve loved watching old clips of Dolly Parton. After her death on Tuesday, these have been circling social media, and she looks marvelous in each one. Where did she get that megawatt glow? That endless energy? It didn’t come from the gym. My colleague Angela Haupt told me that Parton hated traditional exercise—a fact that “always stuck with me, because, same,” Angela says. But that doesn’t mean Parton wasn’t physically active. She preferred doing her signature “rejoicing exercises,” which Angela details in her new piece for TIME. Turns out, we could all learn a little something from Parton’s views on exercise. TODAY’S TOPICS No mice allowed An influx of Ebola vaccines Send us your health question Bat got your tongue?         QUICK CHAT Moving longevity research into humans Potential therapies to extend health span and lifespan abound, and intriguing results from animal models often make headlines. But testing whether they work in people is another story. Dr. Andrea Maier, a geroscientist at the National University of Singapore and one of TIME’s Longevity Leaders, recently opened a new clinical trial center to help bridge the gap. I recently spoke with her about her work. —Veronique Greenwood, Staff Writer This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Carol Yepes/Getty Images Tell me about what makes the National University of Singapore Academy for Healthy Longevity unusual. Our focus is on translating the evidence from geroscience from animal models into humans. We have lots of collaborators doing animal models, but we only touch humans, no mice. We do a precision approach to find out which intervention is working and for whom. We very often do that in randomized control trials.  The Academy is hugely building the infrastructure for clinical implementation. We have had a longevity clinic at a publicly funded hospital for three years now. We have the entire pipeline ready, at least on paper, to bring it into the public-health structures. What’s a major barrier to getting longevity insights, when they arrive, into broader application?  Here’s a huge hiccup: Nobody is educated to be a healthy longevity medicine physician. It doesn't exist. We don't have regulation, we don't have education, we don't have the structures to implement whatever we are going to find. Your GP doesn't know what I'm talking about. So that’s a big gap. We are starting now to offer a master’s in healthy longevity. We need individuals who are actually trained, and for me, training means that it has to be evidence-based and has to acknowledge the latest technologies, the latest evidence, because this is so fast-moving.  Any studies you’re particularly excited about right now? We just did a feasibility study to give nutraceuticals plus exercise plus exergaming cognitive training [which combines physical activity with interactive digital games] to individuals based on their biomarkers of aging. We showed with the individualized therapeutics that we were able to increase muscle mass and muscle strength, and we usually increase cognition. Also, immune markers were improving in individuals just after four to eight weeks.  That gives us the opportunity to do a randomized control trial. We’ve fine-tuned what we are giving to individuals, so we are tailoring the intervention to the needs and to the assumptions we have about how that nutraceutical or that molecule is working.         SPONSORED Afternoon energy. Minus the afternoon coffee. Pique’s new X·E Fountain energy drink delivers clean, caffeine-free energy without the jitters, crash, or dehydration. Vitamin B Complex, magnesium, and electrolytes help support steady focus, while crisp cucumber-celery-lime makes every sip ridiculously refreshing. Get 15% off for life.         BIG NUMBER 70,000 The number of doses of the Ebola vaccine that UNICEF is delivering to Democratic Republic of Congo to treat the current outbreak. The vaccines target the Zaire strain of Ebola, which is different from the Bundibugyo strain causing infections. But the doses will be used in a study to better understand whether they can help people infected with either strain. —Alice Park, Senior Correspondent SOURCE: UNICEF         SPONSORED Hair dye fixes gray. It also gives you roots & a painted hairline. Particle works at the root — gradual, natural, dye-free. Hair + beard. 30-day guarantee. 20% off, code BH20. Risk-Free & 20% Off Today.         PLEASE ADVISE Ask the health team Have a burning health or wellness question? Wondering how to handle a tricky social situation? Please write to healthmatters@time.com, and we’ll weigh in weekly in the newsletter.         SPONSORED The free newsletter making HR less lonely The best HR advice comes from those in the trenches. That’s what this is: real-world HR insights delivered in a newsletter from Hebba Youssef, a Chief People Officer who’s been there. Practical, real strategies with a dash of humor. Because HR shouldn’t be thankless—and you shouldn’t be alone in it. Sign Up Free         WHAT WE’RE READING A Virginia doctor woke up to a bat trying to crawl into her mouth. Melissa Hipolit at WTVR shares her truly nightmarish story. Taylor Farms’ products are everywhere: in grocery stores, schools, hospitals, and restaurants, often under different brand names. A Farm Action report details how Taylor Farms’ enormous reach led to a nationwide Cyclospora fiasco. Edible cookies made from…trash? Researchers have figured out how to program yeasts so they can turn plastic and crop waste into edible proteins and flavorings, Phys.org reports.     EMAIL US: healthmatters@time.com More Newsletters from Click to sign up. THE BRIEF +D.C. BRIEF +FUTURE PROOF +INSIDE TIME +IN THE LOOP +WORTH YOUR TIME + Connect with TIME PRIVACY POLICY   © 2026 TIME USA, LLC. All rights reserved. TIME Customer Service, P.O. Box 37508 Boone, IA 50037-0508, United States Unsubscribe