Exercising regularly can improve symptoms of mild to moderate depression as well as anxiety and psychological distress, a review of many prior published studies suggests. The analysis, published online Feb. 16, 2023, by the British Journal of Sports Medicine , used 97 earlier research reviews involving more than 1,000 trials with a total of 128,119 […]
Prostate cancer: Radiation therapy elevates risk for future cancers
A standard treatment for localized prostate cancer — meaning cancer that is confined to the prostate gland — is to kill or shrink tumors with radiation. The long-term outcomes for most men treated this way are excellent. But as with other cancer treatments, radiation involves a certain amount of risk, including the possibility that it […]
Protect your skin from serious burns
It takes only a moment to suffer a burn at home. It can be as simple as brushing against a sizzling skillet on the stove or getting into a bath that’s too hot — a particular risk for people with decreased sensation in their feet. Understanding common causes of burns can help you prevent them. […]
Will new guidelines for heart failure affect you?
Your heart is a muscular organ with four chambers. The right atrium and right ventricle collect oxygen-poor blood from the body and pump it to the lungs. The left atrium and left ventricle collect oxygenated blood from the lungs and pump it out to the body through an artery called the aorta. In a normally […]
Beyond hot flashes
Falling estrogen and rising inflammation can fuel a surprising array of menopause symptoms, We’re told what to expect when we’re expecting — but not so much at midlife, when we might not expect to inhabit a body that no longer feels quite like our own. Yet that’s exactly what happens to a startling number of […]
Fighting the most common skin cancers
Heading outside on a sunny day is a bit like going into battle. To protect your skin from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, you’ll need armor (sunscreen or sunblock, and sun-protective clothing), tactical strategy (avoiding peak sun hours), and a place to retreat (the shade) — especially during the summer months, when UV intensity is highest. […]
How high a fever is too high?
Ask the doctors Q. Everyone gets a fever sometimes, but at what point does an elevated temperature warrant medical attention? A. It’s true that fevers are incredibly common, and COVID-19 certainly brought its share of thermometer-raising days to those infected. As with COVID, fever — defined as a temperature of 100.4° F or higher — […]
Can breastfeeding really prevent pregnancy?
Having a baby is an exciting and life-changing event. Yet it takes a lot of time and energy to care for infants, especially if you’re juggling both family and work. So even the happiest and proudest parents might like to wait awhile after the birth of one child before welcoming another. You may have heard […]
Short on slumber
If you use an alarm clock to wake up, it’s a good bet you’re sleep deprived. But what if you feel fine when that buzzer, bell, or blast of music rouses you? You’re probably still not getting all the sleep you need — the fundamental definition of sleep deprivation — or you wouldn’t have required […]
Irregular sleep patterns linked to atherosclerosis
Go to sleep at 11 p.m. one night, and 2 a.m. the next? You may want to rethink that pattern. A study published online Feb. 15, 2023, by the Journal of the American Heart Association suggests that sleep irregularity — night-to-night variations in sleep duration and timing (when you sleep) — are linked to atherosclerosis […]