Health in a Heartbeat

While scrolling through the popular website Pinterest, you’re likely to find a number of home remedies for various illnesses. They may be juices said to cure bladder infections or potions purported to kill cancer. But can you really believe these claims, even if they’ve been shared thousands of times? Some of the remedies may seem […]

Love may not stop newlyweds from occasionally sneering at the food a husband or wife puts on the dinner plate. One partner’s delicacy is often another’s pile of dreadful slop. But take a good look at that slop. You may find it delicious in a few decades. In the realm of taste and smell, European […]

Overweight women may need more frequent mammograms, new research suggests. Women with a higher body mass index can be at a heightened risk of not having their breast tumor detected until it has grown larger. The study by Swedish researchers was meant to establish risk factors associated with tumors going undetected until they were at […]

A psychoactive compound found in mushrooms might reset the brains of people diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression. So says a team of researchers from Imperial College London. Researchers measured the effects of psilocybin (sill-o-SY-bin), a naturally occurring compound in psychedelic, or so-called “magic” mushrooms, on patients whose depression failed to respond to conventional treatment. Brain scans […]

When good food costs less, people will make healthier choices. That’s the message from a recent study that found the price of healthier foods plays a significant role in Americans’ eating habits. On average, healthier foods were nearly twice as expensive — 60 cents versus 31 cents per serving — than unhealthy foods. The healthy […]

If you drink or you’re a man who smokes, keep your dentist’s phone number handy. Those who imbibe or men who light up are more likely to lose their dental fillings. These two vices aren’t completely to blame for lost fillings. A genetic difference can also cause premature loss of fillings, U.S. and Brazilian researchers […]

Where your body stores fat, not just the amount of it, may accurately predict an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes according to a study that compared fat distribution patterns among overweight and obese men and women with their cardiometabolic risk. People of the same weight or body mass index may have very […]

It’s no secret that distracted drivers are a leading cause of vehicle accidents. The World Health Organization estimates more than 1 million people are killed in traffic accidents each year, and distraction is a major factor in many of them. A study by researchers in Norway focused on who might be more susceptible to being […]

Depression among new mothers is a well-known condition. New research suggests depression among new fathers is more common than previously believed — and that it is not easily detected. A study of 447 new fathers by Swedish researchers found that new fathers are not screened for depression, although previous studies discovered that just over 8 […]

Researchers have identified various factors in the rising levels of Type 2 diabetes such as poor diet, sedentary lifestyles and genetic disposition. Now, a large study in Scandinavia has found two more possible causes: bullying and workplace violence. Other studies have shown links between job insecurity, long working hours and a higher risk of diabetes. […]

Many Americans who recently went to bed thinking they had normal blood pressure woke up with hypertension. That wasn’t the aftereffect of a nightmare. Blood pressure guidelines have changed. A revamping of guidelines by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology now defines high blood pressure as 130 over 80 or greater […]

Planting trees can ease asthma attacks in people who live in highly polluted urban areas. So says a team of researchers from the University of Exeter in England. They found that an abundance of trees led to fewer asthma-related hospital admissions in those areas. Their findings are published in the journal Environment International. The data […]

The start of a new year means it’s time to schedule your annual physical. After all, the yearly exam is the foundation of good health care. Or is it? Health experts are beginning to question if the annual trip to the doctor’s office is essential or if it has become a relic from a bygone […]

The holiday season can be a time of exuberant excesses. Many of us stay up too late, eat way too much good food and drink more alcohol than normal. But the calendar page eventually flips and we’re faced with a new year to pay for the good times we had. Along with trying to get […]

Is stress the new junk food? When it comes to the digestive system, the answer may be yes. Recently published research shows stress exposure transforms the gut microorganisms that are essential to digestive health much like a high-fat diet does. The research, carried out in female mice by researchers at Brigham Young University, found stress […]