I felt guilty. I looked like any other health-conscious customer in the grocery store, perusing Nutrition Facts labels. But I was really there to hunt down a dangerous ingredient on store shelves called artificial trans fat. It’s the worst type of fat in our food supply — so bad, in fact, that the FDA is essentially banning it in processed food starting in 2018.

Last month, the New England Journal of Medicine published a thoughtful essay by David Rosenthal and Abraham Verghese on the many changes in how doctors are trained and how they practice medicine. Efforts to improve efficiency and accuracy — including the introduction of electronic medical records — offer benefits, and pose some complicated problems.

The thought of a child or teenager taking his or her own life is startling to say the least. Yet, suicide is the third leading cause of death in adolescents ages 15 to 18 in the United States. Although suicide in early adolescence and elementary school-aged children is much rarer, it was still the 10th leading cause of death for U.S. children in 2014. Unfortunately, little is known about the characteristics and precipitating factors of suicide in children and early adolescents. Even less is known about the causes for the recent increase in suicide rates among black children. A recent study published in Pediatrics in October of 2016 sheds some light on this important issue.

Many of the flavorings that add a special touch to our favorite holiday foods confer the gift of brain health at the same time. Researchers have discovered that cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and other spices that we mix into baked goods and savory dishes contain nutrients that sharpen memory, reduce stress, or improve sleep, among other benefits.

Are you, or is someone you know, postponing their colonoscopy? Maybe it’s the idea of that prep. At best, it requires being home and near a toilet for a day. Worse, it can make people feel awfully ill. Or maybe it’s the invasiveness of the test. At best, it’s unpleasant. At worst, there can be serious complications, including an instrument puncturing the bowel, bleeding, and organ damage. It’s also time-consuming, requiring time off work for you and whoever will be driving you home.

It’s that time of year again, when people gather with friends and family to celebrate the holiday season. The festivities often feature wine, champagne, and other alcoholic beverages. But before you raise your glass, make sure you’re aware of just how much alcohol you’re actually consuming — and how it may affect your heart.

“My wife and I were happy for 20 years. Then we met.”

Recently I saw a young woman in my clinic for her annual exam. As usual, I asked her if she would like to be tested for sexually transmitted infections, and then we reviewed the “menu” of options: we could collect a swab of her cervix for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomonas, and a PAP smear for human papillomavirus. We could collect blood for HIV, hepatitis C, syphilis, and herpes. We discussed the pros and cons and details of testing — not everyone wants every test. But she cheerfully consented to all of it, and when the results came back positive for chlamydia, she was shocked.

Chalk one up for exasperated women everywhere. Odds are the older men in their lives actually don’t hear them and need a hearing aid. Some estimates suggest that by age 65, about one-third of men need hearing aids. However, only half of this group wears them.

News last week about celecoxib shows how challenging it can be to understand the risks and benefits of newly developed drugs. This is particularly true when the findings of one study contradict those of past studies. And that’s exactly what has happened with celecoxib.

Since 2003, the Movember movement has been raising public awareness of testicular and prostate cancer. The common theme that links cancers of all types is that early detection tends to lead to better outcomes. Because cancer often has no symptoms in its early stages, screening for cancer has been an integral part of primary care routine visits.

It’s National Get Smart about Antibiotics week, an annual effort by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help make sure that we use antibiotics wisely.

I come from a long line of skilled soup makers. In the late 1800s, my great-grandmother Enrichetta Cavagnolo, newly arrived from northern Italy, was a soup chef at Delmonico’s in New York City. Enrichetta’s daughter and granddaughters (my grandmother, mother, and aunts) were talented soup makers as well, to the delight of our well-fed family.

Are you taking care of someone who seems to be against you? This can be the experience of taking care of a family member with post-traumatic stress disorder — PTSD — and it can take a huge toll on everyone involved. At the same time, caring for a person with PTSD can be an act of love and courage.