Shake Off the Winter Slump: Reignite Your Fitness Routine
If you’ve stayed indoors all winter, you’re not alone. But sitting too much can hurt your body and your mind. Today is a great day to start moving more. If you’re not sure how or why, read on for simple tips. Why move more? Experts say adults should do muscle-strength exercises two times a week […]
Beyond Flowers and Chocolates: Are You Ready to Donate an Organ?
Valentine’s Day gifts like chocolates and flowers are nice. But you can give a gift that really changes someone’s life—organ, tissue, or blood donation. This gift can save a life or free someone from long hours of dialysis. When you donate blood, tissue, or organs, you help people who are very sick. On National Donor […]
When Muscle-Building Becomes an Obsession in Boys: Essential Insights and Actionable Steps
By the time boys are 8 or 10, they see many superheroes and action figures with massive muscles and perfect abs. As they get older, social media shows them even more images of bulky bodies. These messages can make boys worry about how they look. Sometimes these worries get so strong that they affect daily […]
Safeguard Your Lungs After Flooding: Essential Steps to Prevent Respiratory Problems
Heavy rains and rising seas make floods worse. Flood waters can rush into homes and buildings. Right away, people can drown, get injured while running for safety, or catch hypothermia in cold water without shelter. Even after the news crews leave, floods keep affecting people. One hidden danger is worse breathing problems, like asthma or […]
Measles is back. How can we stop it?
Have you heard about the new measles cases in the US? It felt like we had beat measles, but now it is back in many states. Thanks to widespread vaccination, measles stopped spreading in the US over 20 years ago. Before a vaccine was made in the 1960s, almost every child caught measles. Back then, […]
How do doctors find and treat prostate cancer that has spread in men over 70?
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is a group of experts who make rules about health screenings. Right now, they say men over 70 should not get routine PSA tests for prostate cancer. PSA stands for prostate-specific antigen. It is a blood test that can hint at prostate cancer. Why do they say this? […]
Watch Out for Salmonella – It Can Hide in Your Food!
Quick question: what is Salmonella? It is a germ that causes a type of food poisoning called salmonellosis. Every year in the United States, about 1.35 million people get sick from it. It also leads to more hospital stays and deaths from food poisoning than any other germ. Salmonella can cause strange and serious problems. […]
Why Working Two Jobs Might Lower Your Chance of Dying from Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a serious brain illness. After many years of study, we still do not know exactly what causes it or how to treat it very well. Eating well, staying active, and other healthy steps can help, but we need new ways to prevent AD. A new study may point to one such […]
Can a regular vaccine help prevent dementia?
Most medicines can cause side effects, like headaches or upset stomach. Sometimes, a side effect can be a good surprise. New research suggests that the vaccine for shingles might also lower the chance of getting dementia. What is shingles? Shingles is a painful rash caused by the same virus that gives us chickenpox. The virus […]
Can eating less butter and more plant oils help you live longer?
Bad news for butter lovers: a Harvard study published in JAMA Internal Medicine looked at decades of data to see how butter and plant oils affect the risk of dying. The main finding? People who ate more butter had a higher chance of death, while those who ate more plant oils had a lower chance. […]