Harvard Health Blog
Read posts from experts at Harvard Health Publishing covering a variety of health topics and perspectives on medical news.
The average American consumes three times the recommended daily intake of sodium, largely because of salt added to processed and prepared foods. It’s possible to reduce daily sodium intake, but it does require effort and vigilance.
“Researchers find that running can add three years to your life!” shout the headlines. And yes, a new study did find that cardiovascular exercise, including running, can decrease the risk of death, and potentially prolong life. But there’s more: the authors not only include analyses of piles of data, but also an exhaustive review of just about every other study of cardiovascular fitness and mortality out there. They cite (and discuss) almost 70 reference articles!
Juice. Many people think of it as a healthy drink, something that should be part of a child’s diet. But it turns out that it’s not necessarily healthy at all — and doesn’t need to be part of a child’s diet. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics just came out with the recommendation that children under a year should drink no juice at all. This is a change from the previous recommendation, which was that children shouldn’t have juice before six months of age.
We have all done it. We are prescribed a medication to help us, but we don’t take it as directed, or at all. Sometimes we don’t even fill the prescription.
High-grade cancer that’s still confined to the prostate is generally treated surgically. But a third of the men who have their cancerous prostates removed will experience a rise in blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA). This is called PSA recurrence. And since detectable PSA could signal the cancer’s return, doctors will often treat it by irradiating the prostate bed, or the area where the gland used to be.
The prescription retinoid that my dermatologist suggested sounded like a great idea. It was a topical vitamin A-based cream, which has been shown to help reduce fine lines and wrinkles. Now that I’m a middle ager, I thought I’d give it a try. Then I got to the drugstore, and found that the little tube had a huge price: $371! I didn’t want to shell out that much for a mere face cream, so I didn’t fill the prescription.
Ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like naproxen are and have been the go-to “benign” pain medication for doctors and patients alike. Why? They aren’t addictive, and it’s not easy to overdose. Serious side effects like gastrointestinal ulcers and bleeding seemed to be limited to high doses taken for longer periods or time, or to people with significant medical problems.
The recommended guidelines for whether men should have the prostate cancer screening test have changed in recent years. A man considering the test should talk with his doctor and understand all the pros and cons involved.
Remembering to take medication regularly and consistently is a challenge. While various devices and strategies have been studied, sometimes the best approach is simply linking to another task that needs to be remembered.
It’s a good idea for parents to monitor, and limit, their children’s overall daily screen time. Here’s some advice for parents on how to manage this challenge effectively, with each child’s healthy and balanced development in mind.
Ever wonder what it would be like to be able to look at people’s entire adult lives? Not asking older people to remember, but starting with them as teenagers and tracking their health and well-being until they die? We’ve been lucky enough to do this for the past 78 years, starting in the late 1930s and early ’40s with a group of men who agreed to be part of one of the longest studies of adult life ever done.
In 2015, motor vehicle accidents claimed the lives of more than 35,000 Americans. Sadly, the toll exacted by motor vehicle accidents has now been eclipsed. Data from the American Society of Addiction Medicine show that more than 52,000 of we Americans lost our lives to opioid overdose in 2015. Here in the Commonwealth, the story is even more grim; even accounting for differences in average age from community to community — younger people are still more likely to be affected than older people — the opioid overdose death rate has climbed to 23 per 100,000 residents as compared to 9 per 100,000 for the nation as a whole. The causes are numerous and a subject for another day. Similarly, approaches to solve the crisis are numerous and no one solution works for everyone who decides he or she has developed an opioid problem.
Many people do focused brain exercises to help develop their thinking. Some of these exercises work, while others do not. Regardless, the focus network in the brain is not the only network that needs training. The “unfocus” network needs training too.
Acupuncture is a treatment that dates back to around 100 BC in China. It is based on traditional Chinese concepts such as qi (pronounced “chee” and considered life force energy) and meridians (paths through which qi flows). Multiple studies have failed to demonstrate any scientific evidence supporting such principles. Acupuncture involves the insertion of thin needles into the skin at multiple, varying locations based on the patient’s symptoms. Once inserted, some acupuncturists hand turn the needles for added therapeutic benefit. Although there are many uses for acupuncture in traditional Chinese medicine, in Western medicine it is primarily used for the treatment of pain.
A new series on Netflix about a teen’s suicide has raised concerns that it may encourage similar real-world behavior, but the show presents an opportunity for parents to talk with their children about mental health challenges and how to cope with their problems.
Seasonal allergies can be frustrating. When spring crawls in, many people begin to experience all-too-familiar itchy and watery eyes, runny nose, and congestion. Symptoms of seasonal allergies are the result of an immune system in overdrive in response to pollen and other allergens. Those bothersome symptoms are intended to protect you from unwanted foreign particles, but in this situation they end up causing misery. There are quite a few options when it comes to controlling allergy symptoms, but we want to watch out for a few that can be quite dangerous when used incorrectly.
Conditions that cause chronic pain are not always easy to diagnose, and sometimes doctors can be dismissive of people with pain that does not have a readily identifiable cause.
Saturday, April 29th is National Drug Take Back Day, which means you can drop off any unused or expired medication no questions asked. It’s easy to lose track of medications, especially if you’re caring for someone else. But if those medications fall into the wrong hands — say, a child or a pet — one dose could be fatal. So, it’s better to dispose of your excess medication in a way that is safe to both those around you and to the environment.
I used to think of treadmills as the walk (or run) of shame. They were only used on rainy or cold days when I was desperate to get in my workout.
Vaccinating babies and toddlers prevents many illnesses, but it also helps the avoid high costs associated with treating those illnesses, helps reduce sick time taken by parents, and contributes to greater immunity in a population.
In any study finding a link between two things, it’s important to keep straight the difference between “association” (the observation that two things occurred together) and “causation” (in which one thing directly causes the other thing to happen). This was a study noting an association between parenthood and longer life. It did not prove that parenthood causes longer life — not even close. So, headlines suggesting it did are provocative at best (just to get your attention) and misleading at worst.
At our son’s 18-month checkup five years ago, our pediatrician expressed concern. Gio wasn’t using any words, and would become so frustrated he would bang his head on the ground. Still, my husband and I were in denial. We dragged our feet. Meanwhile, our son grunted and screamed; people said things. Finally we started therapy with early intervention services.
We are in the midst of an unprecedented epidemic, with several million people currently addicted to opiates in the United States, including both prescription drugs and heroin. Much discussion has been devoted to the visible tragedy of overdoses, which are killing dozens of people every day. Less attention has been paid to a more subtle, but damaging and painful, component of this epidemic: how a person suffering from opiate addiction affects his or her family members.
Data from several surveys indicate that the percentage of women who drink has been increasing for decades. The numerous health effects associated with alcohol consumption mean that women should be especially attentive to how much they drink.
