+Food & Drink

Study Finds Coffee Drinkers Live Longer

By Marilynn Marchione | AP

One of life’s simple pleasures just got a little sweeter. After years of waffling research on coffee and health, even some fear that java might raise the risk of heart disease, a big study finds the opposite: Coffee drinkers are a little more likely to live longer. Regular or decaf doesn’t matter.

+Public Health | May 16, 2012

CDC: Higher Income and Education Levels Linked to Better Health

By Alexandra Sifferlin
Digital Vision / Getty Images

People with more education are more likely to earn a decent living and enjoy better health, according to the government’s annual health report.

Infectious Disease | April 25, 2012

Mad Cow Disease: How the New Case Was Discovered

By Katherine Cooney
Image Source / Getty Images

The California dairy cow that died of atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy was discovered through random testing. See the full story on our companion blog NewsFeed.

+Public Health | April 11, 2012

TEDMED: How the Power of Self-Identity Affects Your Health

By Maia Szalavitz
Newton Daly / Getty Images

When is a label a badge of honor, and when is it a harmful stigma of sickness or deviance?

+Prevention | March 28, 2012

Why Prolonged Sitting Is Bad for Your Health

By Alexandra Sifferlin
Alex and Laila / Getty Images

It’s time to get off your keister. Another study finds that sitting for too long increases your risk of death, even if you exercise regularly.

Family Matters
+Diet & Fitness | December 23, 2011

Boot Camp, Part 3: I’m a Carb-Killer. Yet the Scale Still Doesn’t Budge

By Bonnie Rochman
Peter Kindersley / Lifesize / Getty Images

If you’re going on a no-carb diet, I would suggest you don’t embark on it during the holiday season, like I did.

Family Matters
+Parenting | December 13, 2011

Why Working Mothers Are Happier and Healthier Than Stay-at-Home Moms

By Bonnie Rochman
Peter Dazeley / The Image Bank / Getty Images

Despite the juggling act required to hold down a job and care for children, moms who work report they’re healthier and happier than moms who stay at home when their kids are babies and preschoolers.

+Environmental Health | October 21, 2011

Why the Latest Study on Cell Phones and Brain Cancer Won’t Be the Last Word

By Bryan Walsh
Tom Schierlitz / Getty Images

Proving a negative in science is really, really hard — and that may well be the task that researchers trying to evaluate the potentially carcinogenic effects of cell phone use may have before them.

+Culture | October 19, 2011

How Economic Inequality Is (Literally) Making Us Sick

By Maia Szalavitz
Mario Tama / Getty Images

Imagine there was one changeable factor that affected virtually every measure of a country’s health— including life expectancy, crime rates, addiction, obesity, infant mortality, stroke, academic achievement, happiness and even overall prosperity. Indeed, this factor actually exists.

+Childhood | September 27, 2011

How a Mother’s Love May Counter the Negative Health Effects of Poverty

By Maia Szalavitz
Getty Images

Being raised in poverty can have lifelong negative effects on children’s health, increasing their risk of chronic disease in adulthood. But new research suggests one factor that may help protect poor kids from later illness: having a nurturing mother.