According to a new survey conducted by researchers at England’s Bath Spa University, traits like conscientiousness and positivity may attract people to adopt specific kinds of canines.

“People tend to report that their dog’s personality is quite similar to their own, but we wanted to see if these stereotypes actually stand up to scrutiny,” explained study author Dr. Lance Workman in a press release. “This study indicates that we might be able to make predictions about someone’s personality based on the breed of dog that they choose to own.”

The data, compiled from a questionnaire filled out by 1,000 dog owners, divides dogs into seven groups: Working, Utility, Toys, Terriers, Pastoral, Hound Dogs, and Gundogs. The results illuminated numerous trends, for instance; owners of hound dogs (such as the always-photogenic basset hound) tended to be more emotionally stable and consistent, while owners of utility dogs (such as the punchline-prone pug) were more extroverted.

What do you say, reader – do you see yourself in your dog? (And if you own a mixed-breed, like a labradoodle, do you have a split personality?)

Image: Baby & Dog, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from gizzypooh’s photostream.

This runner-friendly revelation comes on the heels of an over 30 year-long study by Danish cardiologist Dr. Peter Schnohr. By documenting the exercise habits and subsequent medical issues of over 20,000 people between the ages of 20 and 93, Schnohr’s team was able to attribute a 44 percent decrease in death-risk to jogging. Female joggers extended their lives by 5.6 years, while males lived 6.2 years longer.

“The results of our research allow us to definitively answer the question of whether jogging is good for your health,” Dr. Schnohr said in a press release from the European Society of Cardiology. “We can say with certainty that regular jogging increases longevity. The good news is that you don’t actually need to do that much to reap the benefits.”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t marathon-runners who lived the longest, but folks who were able to stick to a relatively mild exercise routine with regularity. The researchers assert that jogging between one and two-and-a-half hours per week is enough to achieve the maximum benefit.

“You should aim to feel a little breathless, but not very breathless,” explained Dr. Schnohr. “The relationship appears much like alcohol intakes. Mortality is lower in people reporting moderate jogging, than in non-joggers or those undertaking extreme levels of exercise.”

Still feeling a little down on jogging? Try joining a group!

Image: Jogging on a bright November morning, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from Ed Yourdon’s photostream.

Needless to say, I was distraught.

But as I sat down at my desk the morning that this Very Bad Thing happened and began to take phone calls, something very strange occurred. I began to feel better. It wasn’t that I was getting distracted by the patients and doctors who needed me. It was that helping other people was actually making me feel better. And I wound up having a Very Good Day, overall.

It wasn’t until a few days later that I realized how important this story was, and how much it reveals about my love for my work – which doesn’t feel like work at all. Operations Associates at ZocDoc make it our mission to deliver a great experience to the people we serve. I spend my days helping people in a meaningful way, and the very same things that I tell people over the phone are things that I want to apply to my own life.

When I reassure a practice by telling them that every problem has a solution, I remember that the same thing is true for me. When I remind patients that they have an entire group of people who care about them, I remember that I have a strong, amazing team at my back. It’s the most incredible feeling.

The second-most incredible feeling – as I learned from experience – is having your wallet safely returned, lucky penny and all!

Alyssa fancies herself a people person and, at times, a writer. She enjoys rainy days, sunny days, and surveying her territory with a cardboard telescope. Above all such nonsense, she loves to listen to your stories.

Image: See a penny pick it up…, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from sally_monster’s photostream.

“There’s this myth among some people that multitasking makes them more productive,” lead researcher Professor Zheng Wang explained in a statement. “But they seem to be misperceiving the positive feelings they get from multitasking. They are not being more productive – they just feel more emotionally satisfied from their work.”

The research focused on 32 college students who were asked to keep track of how much time they spent on daily activities such as studying, working, watching television, and listening to music. The participants also made note of what purpose these activities served and how they overlapped. At the end of the four-week study, the data showed that multitasking had the dual effects of lessening actual productivity and helping subjects feel happy with inferior results.

“They are not being more productive – they just feel more emotionally satisfied from their work,” Professor Wang told WebMD. “The combination of the activities accounts for the good feelings obtained.”

But these findings only apply to students, right? After all, it makes complete sense that studying while watching TV would lead to lower test scores. On the other hand, reading the ZocDoc blog while checking out some adorable jedi kitten videos seems perfectly efficient...

Image: DSC03227, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from biblioteekje’s photostream.

Q: Krusty The Clown

(A: Funny)

Q: Tim Curry as the IT Clown

(A: Creepy)

Q: Nimrod The Fertility Clown

(A: …?)

Wait, you really haven’t heard of fertility clowns? Allow us to fill you in:

Jérôme Arous and Nimrod Eisenberg, two professional medical clowns from Israel, recently undertook a tour of Canadian hospitals to present information on the benefits that “clowning” can have on women’s fertility, particularly during embryonic transfers.

Arous attributed the success of fertility clowning to the positivity it generates in prospective mothers, telling an audience of medical professionals at McGill University Health Centre, “If you want the treatment to work, it will work better, if you are positive about it. This has been proven.”

There is some science to back up their claim. In a small study conducted at Assaf Harofeh Medical Centre in Israel, women who spent 15 minutes with fertility clowns after undergoing IVF procedures had a 16 percent better egg-attachment rate.

Of course, not everyone believes the treatment is effective. “I am not convinced. Not yet,” MUHC’s Dr. Hananel Holzer told CJAD. “Of course we are all skeptical when we hear this.”

Maybe you’re a believer, maybe you’re not. Either way, if you want the potential health benefits of laughter, there’s just one way to play it safe – check out our awesome Laugh-off Contest!

Image: Little Clown, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from pepe50’s photostream.

Local honey is commonly recommended for treating seasonal allergies. The idea is that bees collect the pollen of local flowers and the trace amounts that remain in the honey can be used to build up immunity to the local flora when consumed regularly. While this is biologically plausible, there is actually little data to support the claim.

Surprisingly few studies have directly tested the impact of local honey on allergy symptoms. Some mouse studies have shown that bee pollen may reduce allergies by deactivating mast cells that are involved in the allergic response. However, human studies have shown mixed results.

In 2002, researchers at the University of Connecticut randomly assigned participants who tested positive for seasonal allergies to one of three groups. The first group received a daily tablespoon full of locally collected, unpasteurized, unfiltered honey. The second group consumed the same volume of nationally collected, filtered, and pasteurized honey. A third group received a placebo of corn syrup with synthetic honey flavoring. The study lasted for 30 weeks. No benefit was detected in either honey group.

Another study published in 2011 tested the effect of birch pollen honey to alleviate symptoms of birch pollen allergy. In this experiment, participants with the allergy were treated for five months with either local birch pollen honey or regular honey before and during allergy season. During allergy season, they recorded their symptoms as well as use of typical allergy medications such as antihistamines. The control group did not have a placebo, but were allowed to use their usual medications.

Both honey groups showed significantly fewer symptoms than the control group and used 50% less medication. There was no difference between the birch pollen honey group and the regular honey group, though the birch group used less medication than the regular honey group. Because of the lack of a placebo it is difficult to draw conclusions from this preliminary study.

Based on these limited human trials it is difficult to conclude what, if any, benefit can be derived from treating allergy symptoms with local honey.

When it comes to the science of wellness, distinguishing the facts from the urban legends can be tough. That’s why we’ve enlisted Darya Pino – a scientist, foodie, and self-proclaimed geek girl. Check out the ZocDoc Blog every other Tuesday to see her bust the biggest myths in health.

Image: African bees like honey, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from austinevan’s photostream.

Early Morning: Her top desk drawer is stocked with a myriad of loose-leaf teas, so it’s no surprise that Jackie’s days are punctuated by plenty of tea breaks. Her favorite is genmaicha. It’s tough to pronounce, so you know it’s fancy!

Before Lunch: Jackie works on the optimization team within Operations. The team focuses on our direct relationship with doctors who use ZocDoc. Jackie loves helping practices improve their efficiency – because that means she’s also helping a ton of patients who use our site.

Lunch: On her first day at ZocDoc, Jackie realized that she works with really interesting people who are passionate about really interesting things. Jackie wanted to learn more about everyone, so she helped start our show-and-tell tradition. Every Wednesday, during our family-style lunch, someone shares a slice of his or her life with the team. (So far we’ve heard from a hot air balloonist, a Krav Maga instructor, a recycling fanatic, an amateur magician… this list goes on and on.)

Afternoon: Being a part of the Ops team allows Jackie to get involved with every part of the organization. A normal workweek could find her interacting with salespeople, executives, engineers, marketers, recruiters, and more!

Afternoon Break: The kitchen is stocked with enough treats to satisfy even the most ravenous snackhound. (Think fresh fruit, cereal, popsicles, hummus, veggies, granola bars, and so on.) Jackie’s personal favorite is a sweet berry mélange – that’s blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and snozzberries.

Evening: Every Tuesday evening, the Operations Team comes together for our weekly meeting. We update each other on the past week’s events and come up with creative ways to make our service stronger, leaner, and more convenient for the patients we love!

Lianna is a part of the photography operations team here at ZocDoc. Her favorite thing to do is drive with the windows down on a nice spring day while blasting a trendy pop song. Unfortunately, she lives in NYC, so she doesn’t drive too much these days. However, she definitely still listens to a TON of trendy pop songs.

Researchers at The University of British Columbia recently conducted a study exploring the advantages of different types of exercise for elderly women. The experiment involved 86 women, between the ages of 70 and 80, who exhibited normal levels of mild cognitive impairment for their age. The women were randomly assigned to one of three different exercise classes: resistance training (weight lifting), outdoor aerobic walking, or balancing/toning.

Brain tests performed before and after completion of the six-month program showed that (unlike the other groups), the weightlifting women strengthened their associative memory, improved their ability to resolve conflicts, and dramatically increased their cognitive performance. These mental functions are key to not only preventing dementia, but maintaining independence in old age.

“What our results show is that resistance training can indeed improve both your cognitive performance and your brain function,” study author Professor Teresa Liu-Ambrose explained. “What is key is that it will improve two processes that are highly sensitive to the effects of aging and neurodegeneration: executive function and associative memory — often impaired in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.”

But why does pumping iron provide a mental edge that other workouts do not? ”Strength training itself is a type of exercise that requires a lot of attention,” explained Professor Teresa Liu-Ambrose. “So when you are performing strength-training exercises such as lifting weights, you’re constantly monitoring what you’re doing, you’re monitoring your breathing, you’re trying to monitor the number of sets, the repetitions you’re doing as well as maintaining good form.”

While the study needs to be replicated in larger numbers, weightlifting appears to be a great way to keep our bones, muscles, and brains going strong well into old age. Check out this site for an introduction to some senior-friendly weight routines.

Image: [108/365] Ill-advised, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from pasukaru76’s photostream.

As the leader of Khosla Ventures – one of the world’s premier venture capital firms – Vinod is a leading light of the tech industry. We’re extremely humbled to say that he’s also an early supporter of ZocDoc. Vinod was gracious enough to share his thoughts about startups and the future of healthcare, and to answer our myriad questions.

We can’t wait until he comes by again – hopefully very soon! If you haven’t been lucky enough to see Vinod speak, you can check out some of his videos here.

We are beyond thrilled to start serving the four million residents of the Tampa Bay Area with easy-to-book primary care, dermatologist, and OBGYN appointments. And keep your eyes peeled; many more doctors and specialties are going live in the near future.

The ZocDoc team would like to send a huge thanks out to the folks of the Tampa Bay Area for voting. We’re here to make healthcare faster, easier, and more convenient from Sarasota to Clearwater, and from Largo to Brandon. If you’re as excited as we are about simpler and better healthcare, spread the word!

Are you longing for your fair city to undergo a ZocDoc invasion? Vote here!

Image: Tampa Downtown pic, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from greatshippics’s photostream.