Harvard Health Blog
Read posts from experts at Harvard Health Publishing covering a variety of health topics and perspectives on medical news.
Scary or misleading claims about things that may cause cancer are so plentiful that it’s hard to know which ones to take seriously. A new website developed by experts aims to provide reliable information about whether a particular cancer claim is true.
If you wind up in an emergency department due to an illness or accident what should you know and what can you expect? It’s frustrating to have to wait for care, and also frustrating to have to explain your situation multiple times to different people, but there are reasons why it all happens.
The blood supply in the US is critically low, but FDA guidelines prohibit men who have sex with men from donating blood if they have been sexually active in the previous three months. All donated blood is tested for a number of transmissible infections, and medical organizations are calling for this policy to be changed.
A notable rise in eating disorders is particularly marked among adolescent girls. Many kinds of eating disorders can affect children and teens, and parents need to understand their causes and be aware of signs suggesting their child may have an eating disorder.
Many conditions of the gastrointestinal tract are easy to diagnose using standard testing. But some such diseases can impact the GI tract without a clear test finding. Disorders of gut-brain interaction are so called because they involve impaired communication between the gut and brain via the nervous system.
The vast majority of diseases do not have a single cause; rather, multiple factors combine to cause a disease. Growing evidence suggests that several viruses may be triggers of multiple sclerosis, and a long-term study found evidence that an infection with a common virus can be an important contributing factor in MS.
It can be helpful to think of health as a spectrum, with illness at one end and wellness at the other. Someone who is in the neutral (middle) position can move to the wellness side by adopting and sustaining healthy lifestyle habits — and that has little to do with a person’s shape or size.
When thinking about progressive brain disorders that cause dementia, you’d probably think of memory problems. But sometimes language problems, also known as aphasia, are the first symptom. There are different variants of aphasia depending on what aspect of language is disrupted, and they are caused by different diseases.
When thinking about nutrition, some people think that all fats are bad, but this is not true. Fats are important to a healthy eating plan; the important thing is knowing the right kinds to use, and this is easier when preparing food at home than when eating in restaurants.
Avocados are abundant in healthy fats, fiber, and micronutrients that boost heart health. A long-term study has found that people who eat avocado regularly have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, which leads to heart attacks and strokes.
Rashes are a common side effect of many medications, and while they can be annoying, they typically run their course over a week or two. But not all drug rashes are mild — and some can even be deadly. How can you tell a serious rash from one that is just a nuisance?
The FDA has approved a new medication therapy for advanced prostate cancer that is spreading in the body. The new treatment can seek out and destroy tumors that are still too small to be found via conventional medical imaging. Results of a clinical trial showed that this new drug was effective at delaying cancer progression.
In American Indian and Alaska Native tribal communities, poor housing conditions have led to high rates of health problems and disability, underscoring the need for adequate, affordable housing designed for people of all ages and abilities.
When you have a cold, it’s normal to feel mucus sitting at the back of your throat, and to have the urge to clear it. Typically this sensation lasts just a few days, but what happens if it lingers for weeks or months?
It’s now understood that many factors influence a person’s ability to lose weight —not just burning more calories than are taken in. A new study supports the idea that people using sleep hygiene tips to get sufficient sleep consume fewer calories than people who are sleep-deprived.
The COVID-19 pandemic helped lower life expectancy among all individuals in the US, and this impact has been worse in communities of color. Longstanding systemic failings lead to worse quality of life and poorer health in these communities, but we can all take steps to improve this situation.
It’s a common misconception that sexual orientation develops at an early age and remains stable throughout a person’s life. Yet differing forms of sexual fluidity are a common thread in many lives and understanding changes in attraction, identity, and behavior underpinning this can help dispel misconceptions and reduce stigma.
The time pressures of primary care doctors make it unlikely that they will be able to give their patients tests of cognitive function. So how will the growing numbers of people at risk for Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia be identified? A self-administered test is now available.
It’s possible to overeat and not even realize it until you’ve finished a meal and doing so does not mean you have an eating problem or disorder. Mindfulness exercises can help you slow down and enjoy eating, making it easier to avoid overeating.
In many places in the United States, spring is starting earlier— which means more pollen and a longer allergy season. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to manage the impact of seasonal allergies and reduce sneezing and itchy eyes.
Today, most surgeries to remove the prostate gland in men with prostate cancer are performed with robotic assistance, which ostensibly offers quality-of-life advantages. But how does this method compare with traditional open surgery? A recent study provides some clarity.
If you’re like me, you learned that about 90% of people are right-handed and much of the reason is genetic. And that’s true, although it remains a mystery why our genetic evolution led to so many more righties than lefties.
Claims that vitamin D supplements are beneficial to health are common, but many of these supposed benefits remain unproven. A recent study looked at data from over 25,000 people in an attempt to determine if taking vitamin D regularly might help prevent autoimmune disease.
If you look at photos of President Obama taken before he ran for president and since he left office, you’ll notice a distinct difference: where there used to be only dark brown hair, there is now far more gray than brown. It seems that the stress of running a country would turn any person’s hair gray. But is stress really to blame? And why does hair turn gray, even for those of us who don’t have jobs quite as stressful as President of the United States?
