Harvard Health Blog
Read posts from experts at Harvard Health Publishing covering a variety of health topics and perspectives on medical news.
Hiding in the shadow of the opioid epidemic is another troubling public health crisis, the precipitous increase in people whose liver is infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV).
When unaddressed, alcohol and other drug use disorders in the workplace are costly and dangerous for organizations, as well as individuals. There are many good examples of successful programs and resources available that can help, and with over 22 million Americans currently in recovery from alcohol and other drug use disorders, creating a drug-free workplace is entirely possible.
If you know someone dealing with chronic pain it’s tempting to offer advice, but whatever the suggestion might be, that person has almost certainly tried it already. Simply taking time to listen and empathize may be more helpful.
While frightening, fainting is not always serious, though it’s important to be aware that it may be a sign of an underlying problem with the blood vessels or heart.
Giving the proper dosage of a liquid medication can be confusing, and parents can accidentally give an incorrect dose if they are tired or distracted. These tips will help you give the right dose every time.
Last week in the playground another mom remarked that she had just ordered all her sunscreen from Europe: “They have much better ingredients. I ordered one with Tinosorb.” This conversation ironically occurred on the same day that I was asked to write this post and I realized that my sunscreen knowledge was a bit passé. As I started to research sunscreen ingredients — in both medical journals and blogs — I discovered why Americans are compelled to go to international markets to find the “best” products.
Despite willpower, many people find that making significant lifestyle changes is very difficult. Factors both internal and external influence our ability to make changes, but being aware of them is the first step to overcoming them.
Over a third of American households own at least one pet, and people often have close bonds with their pets. In one study, 13 of 16 people said they would give a hard-to-get lifesaving medicine to their pet over non-family people.
Yoga has several scientifically proven benefits for the mind and body. Yoga improves your strength and flexibility, reduces stress, and boosts your immune system. Yoga can also reduce fatigue, improve sleep, and invigorate the body and mind for people who are recovering from medical illnesses, including cancer survivors. Start your day with this simple 15-minute routine that includes several important elements of yoga, including breathing techniques, movement, and beginner’s meditation. The key to reaping the benefits of yoga is to practice regularly and consistently without any self-criticism.
Although talking about guns is difficult and can be awkward, putting children’s safety first means asking if there are loaded guns in any place your child plays.
Going out for dinner can be a nice way to unwind with family or friends. But if you’re watching your salt intake, restaurants aren’t always so relaxing. Much of their fare is loaded with sodium, a main component of salt. In fact, some entrees at popular chains contain far more than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium — the recommended limit for an entire day’s worth of food.
Harvard Medical School (HMS) has a bicycle-friendly campus. Faculty, staff, and students who commute by bike can park their wheels in secured cages, wash off road grime in showers, buy new helmets at a discount, and receive a monthly reimbursement for bike maintenance costs. HMS encourages bicycle commuting not just to relieve parking congestion and foster cleaner air, but also because observational studies have suggested that cycling, like other forms of exercise, is good for us.
Charlie Schmidt In 2012, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) took the unprecedented step of recommending against prostate cancer screening for all men, regardless of age, race, or family history. Now this influential group of independent experts is reassessing its position based on more recent data. Instead of discouraging screening altogether, the UPSTF is […]
In April, scientists reported encouraging results from a pilot study of men with metastatic prostate cancer, or cancer that has spread beyond the prostate gland. Long considered incurable, these advanced cancers are usually treated by giving men systemic drugs that target new tumors forming in the body.
A new study found that caffeine may reduce sensitivity to pain, perhaps more effectively than standard pain relievers. But because the findings are based on mouse experiments we can’t say whether or not the results might apply to humans.
When I was a kid, my summer sport of choice was baseball. Every day I played in marathon neighborhood games until it was too dark to see the ball. It was about fun and not fitness. But now that I’m older, and my Louisville Slugger has been officially retired, I need a summertime sport that recaptures the playfulness of my youth, but also works to keep my physical and mental skills sharp.
Chronic lack of sleep makes it hard to focus on a task. As if this didn’t make complete logical sense, multiple research studies have shown that sleep deprivation has about the same effect on our cognition and coordination as a few alcoholic beverages.
Past studies have linked the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks with cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and obesity. So it’s easy to understand the appeal of diet soft drinks and other artificially sweetened beverages. If you drink two cans of Coke per day, switching to diet sodas could reduce your calorie intake by 8,400 calories each month. As long as you don’t add in new sources of calories, over time that could add up to some serious loss of excess weight.
The United States was declared free from ongoing measles transmission in 2000. So why are we still having measles attacks? An outbreak of measles is currently raging in Minnesota. In 2015, 125 cases of measles occurred in California, and in 2014, 383 people were infected with measles in an Amish community in Ohio.
The scope of the opioid crisis in the US has led some communities to revise their view of substance use disorders. One idea is creating supervised injection facilities that would provide a safe environment and make treatment resources available.
We have all done it. We are reading something we want to remember later and out comes the highlighter. Green, yellow, blue, sometimes multiple colors at once to differentiate the importance of words in sentences.
The alternate-day fasting thing is very popular right now. This gist of it is, basically, feast and famine. You starve one day, then feast the next. Proponents claim that this approach will lead to weight loss, as well as a number of other benefits.
Almost all women have some mild premenstrual symptoms that signal the imminent arrival of their period every month. These symptoms are typically just an annoyance and don’t cause any distress.
It’s nearly June and the start of the summer season is upon us in New England. That means taking advantage of the warm weather to hit the beach or a hiking trail, and of course, it’s the season of the backyard barbeque.
