--- title: This Week in Health: Cheat Death, Lose Weight, Do Pilates description: The most fascinating stories in health this week were about Pilates, sleep, weight loss and the opioid crisis. canonical: https://time.com/4682455/health-aging-sleep-pilates/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-24T20:48:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:31:14.004Z article:section: Health og:title: This Week in Health: Cheat Death, Lose Weight, Do Pilates og:description: The most fascinating stories in health this week were about Pilates, sleep, weight loss and the opioid crisis. og:url: https://time.com/4682455/health-aging-sleep-pilates/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte33015390febdc4a/6988ba93196cf41cbb03ee45/longevity-sleep-cure-erik-madigan-heck.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: longevity-sleep-cure-erik-madigan-heck og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Week in Health: Cheat Death, Lose Weight, Do Pilates twitter:description: The most fascinating stories in health this week were about Pilates, sleep, weight loss and the opioid crisis. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte33015390febdc4a/6988ba93196cf41cbb03ee45/longevity-sleep-cure-erik-madigan-heck.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Week in Health: Cheat Death, Lose Weight, Do Pilates  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Feb 24, 2017 8:48 PM UTC  Erik Madigan Heck for TIME  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Feb 24, 2017 8:48 PM UTC A full night of sleep rejuvenates you in a way that even the world’s strongest cup of coffee never could. In a recent deep dive for TIME, we found that [sleep also helps you age more slowly](http://time.com/4672988/the-sleep-cure-fountain-of-youth/). Mounting evidence suggests that the benefits brought on by adequate sleep—including eased-up levels of inflammation—are impressive enough to help steel the body against the aging process. Here’s what else grabbed our attention in health this week. ## [**How to lose weight and keep it off**](http://time.com/4674825/how-to-lose-weight-and-keep-it-off/) Most people gain weight back after losing it. But [this trick](http://time.com/4674825/how-to-lose-weight-and-keep-it-off/), involving phone calls and a bit of reflection, can really help. ## [**These high-tech hacks could help slow aging**](http://time.com/4672962/silicon-valley-longer-life/) Here are [five ways](http://time.com/4672962/silicon-valley-longer-life/) Silicon Valley is trying to hack its way to a much (much, much) longer life. ## [**President Trump vowed to solve the opioid crisis. He needs to fix this problem first**](http://time.com/4677394/donald-trump-opioid-epidemic-and-rising-drug-costs/) The [cost of a critical antidote, naloxone, is soaring](http://time.com/4677394/donald-trump-opioid-epidemic-and-rising-drug-costs/). That’s partly because of drug-industry consolidation and a lengthy FDA-approval process, but those aren’t the only problems. ## [**Why mental illness can fuel physical disease**](http://time.com/4679492/depression-anxiety-chronic-disease/) With the help of [new evidence](http://time.com/4679492/depression-anxiety-chronic-disease/), scientists are shedding light on the mysterious mind-body connection. Physical problems seem to be closely connected to what happens in the brain. ## [**Here are the health benefits of Pilates**](http://time.com/4676903/pilates-benefits-workout/) The exercise looks deceptively easy. But [Pilates](http://time.com/4676903/pilates-benefits-workout/) is a mind and body workout with unique benefits for your abs. ## [**Does washing my clothes kill all the germs?**](http://time.com/4676920/washing-machine-germs/) Read on to learn the [healthiest way to do laundry](http://time.com/4676920/washing-machine-germs/). (A warning to germaphobes: this story gets graphic.) ## [**The extreme ways man has tried to cheat death**](http://time.com/4672994/a-cure-for-the-ages/) From eating monkey brains to drinking blood, man has tried some gnarly ways to extend life. Here are [24 cures](http://time.com/4672994/a-cure-for-the-ages/) our species has attempted through the ages. ## [**This type of fat can lower diabetes risk**](http://time.com/4677903/saturated-fat-diabetes/) Saturated fat is often maligned, but not all fat is created equal. [This delicious type of fat](http://time.com/4677903/saturated-fat-diabetes/) actually seems to help protect against type 2 diabetes. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4682455/health-aging-sleep-pilates/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4682455/health-aging-sleep-pilates/"},"headline":"This Week in Health: Cheat Death, Lose Weight, Do Pilates","datePublished":"2017-02-24T20:48:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:31:14.004Z","description":"The most fascinating stories in health this week were about Pilates, sleep, weight loss and the opioid crisis.","url":"https://time.com/4682455/health-aging-sleep-pilates/","keywords":["this week in health","fat","Aging","Sleep","Germs","Laundry","Age","anti-aging","Opioid"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte33015390febdc4a/6988ba93196cf41cbb03ee45/longevity-sleep-cure-erik-madigan-heck.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte33015390febdc4a/6988ba93196cf41cbb03ee45/longevity-sleep-cure-erik-madigan-heck.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"longevity-sleep-cure-erik-madigan-heck","caption":"longevity-sleep-cure-erik-madigan-heck","creditText":"Erik Madigan Heck for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/this-week-in-health/","name":"this week in health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4682455/health-aging-sleep-pilates/","name":"This Week in Health: Cheat Death, Lose Weight, Do Pilates"}}]}] ```