--- title: This Week in Health: Take a Walk, Get a Massage, Pet a Dog description: The benefits of walking, massage and pet therapy are among the biggest stories in health this week. canonical: https://time.com/4727729/health-news-walk-massage-hpv/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-07T16:10:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:14:32.621Z article:section: Health og:title: This Week in Health: Take a Walk, Get a Massage, Pet a Dog og:description: These are the biggest stories in health news this week og:url: https://time.com/4727729/health-news-walk-massage-hpv/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea8020438726ad04/6988c12f4dd215e4bfefe606/time-health-stock-skin-shoulder.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5256 og:image:height: 2957 og:image:alt: time-health-stock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Week in Health: Take a Walk, Get a Massage, Pet a Dog twitter:description: These are the biggest stories in health news this week twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea8020438726ad04/6988c12f4dd215e4bfefe606/time-health-stock-skin-shoulder.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Week in Health: Take a Walk, Get a Massage, Pet a Dog > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 7, 2017 4:10 PM UTC  Getty Images  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 7, 2017 4:10 PM UTC This week’s health news was filled with useful tips about how to feel better and happier with a bit of self-care, like taking a walk during work and getting an occasional massage. Here’s what else caught our attention this week. (Sign up for our [newsletter](http://time.com/newsletter-health) for more.) ## [Here’s how to be less tired after work](http://time.com/4726709/tired-all-the-time-work/) If you’re tired of battling post-work fatigue, take a walk. A quick lunchtime stroll in a green space helped people concentrate more and feel better for the rest of the afternoon. ## [Almost half of U.S. adults have HPV](http://time.com/4727871/human-papillomavirus-hpv-sti/) The sexually transmitted infection is more common than you think. Even more concerning: one in five adults has the type that puts a person at higher risk for cancer. ## [Why your pet is good for your mental health](http://time.com/4728315/science-says-pet-good-for-mental-health/) The smile-making, anxiety-relieving benefits of pet therapy are fur-real. ## [The health risks of tattoos](http://time.com/4725634/tattoo-ink-dangerous/) Tattoos come with some rare but real risks, including blood-borne diseases from tainted ink and cancer. ## [Aspirin may lower the risk of dying from cancer](http://time.com/4728946/aspirin-cancer-nsaids/) Here’s how much aspirin is linked to a lower risk of cancer death, and how long people have to take it before these benefits emerge. ## [Massage can help treat lower back pain](http://time.com/4728672/massage-low-back-pain/) Touch therapy is powerful—even against lower back pain, the leading cause of job disability worldwide. In a new study, massage helped most back pain sufferers feel better. ## [How vitamin C may help cancer treatments work better](http://time.com/4718630/vitamin-c-cancer-treatment-chemotherapy/) A small new study finds that it’s safe for cancer patients to take large doses of intravenous vitamin C while undergoing radiation. Doctors are now looking into whether doing so helps their treatments work better. ## [Babies in these countries cry the most](http://time.com/4722784/study-babies-cry-most-canada-uk/) Newborns cry more in the U.K., Canada and Italy than they do in other countries, according to a new study. The driest infant eyes are in Denmark, Germany and Japan. (Still a mystery: [why people cry](http://time.com/4254089/science-crying/?iid=sr-link1) in the first place.) ## [Why nature sounds help you relax](http://time.com/4727058/nature-sounds-relaxation-stress/) Hearing the soothing sounds of nature may help people get out of their own heads, a new brain imaging study suggests. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4727729/health-news-walk-massage-hpv/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4727729/health-news-walk-massage-hpv/"},"headline":"This Week in Health: Take a Walk, Get a Massage, Pet a Dog","datePublished":"2017-04-07T16:10:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:14:32.621Z","description":"The benefits of walking, massage and pet therapy are among the biggest stories in health this week.","url":"https://time.com/4727729/health-news-walk-massage-hpv/","keywords":["this week in health","Dogs","Pets","Cancer","HPV","nature","aspirin","tattoo","walking","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea8020438726ad04/6988c12f4dd215e4bfefe606/time-health-stock-skin-shoulder.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/bltea8020438726ad04/6988c12f4dd215e4bfefe606/time-health-stock-skin-shoulder.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"time-health-stock","caption":"Woman with hand on bare shoulder, close-up TIME health stock","creditText":"Getty Images","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/4727729/health-news-walk-massage-hpv/","name":"This Week in Health: Take a Walk, Get a Massage, Pet a Dog"}}]}] ```