With flu season right around the corner, your mother, doctor and HR manager will no doubt be reminding you of the usual preventive measures: Get a flu shot. Cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze. Wash your hands with …
Medicine
Study: Putting More People on Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs Could Save Money
When it comes to preventing heart disease, most of us know what to do — lower our cholesterol, lose weight, quit smoking and try to avoid stress. But we also know that if eating right and going to the gym aren’t enough, there …
Home Turf War: Stinkbugs Are Closing in on Bedbugs’ Territory
Bedbugs are so five minutes ago. There’s a new intruder infesting the Middle Atlantic states: the stinkbug.
The Complicated Link Between Abortion and Mental Health
After, say, arcane changes in the tax code, abortion is the least fun topic of public conversation in America today. The opposing sides of the reproductive-rights debate are like estranged in-laws after a few too many drinks at …
Do Parents Discriminate Against Their Own Chubby Children?
It’s no secret that overweight kids are typically not the most popular kids on the block. Nor is it news that kids can be mean, forming groups of “haves” and “have-nots,” gossiping, ostracizing their chunky classmates.
Cell Phones and Cancer: A Scientist’s Persuasive New Book
Dr. Devra Davis’s new book Disconnect — the result of an investigation into the data on cell phones and cancer, as well as the wireless industry’s efforts to stave off regulation — is convincing enough to give you pause …
CDC: 20% of Gay Men Are HIV-Positive, but Nearly Half Don’t Know It
Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that 1 in 5 sexually active gay and bisexual men in America are HIV-positive but that 44% of them don’t know it.
Did Johnson & Johnson Bury Data on Ortho-Evra’s Health Risks?
It’s should be common knowledge that the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Ortho-Evra birth-control patch has more risks than the birth control pill (it’s on the label) — because it exposes women to higher levels of hormone, it carries a …
What the FDA’s Restriction of Avandia Means for Diabetes Patients
Now that the Food and Drug Administration has decided to strictly limit the use of the diabetes drug Avandia, what does that mean for patients?
Study: America Is Officially the Fattest Developed Country in the World
If you tuned into the season premier of the Biggest Loser last night — during which the reality show’s trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels toured the country collecting obese people — you got the message: Americans are …
For Women Who Want to Stay Slim, a Heavy Roommate Might Help
The myth of the dreaded “freshman 15,” it seems, is greatly exaggerated. That’s the average amount of weight that college freshmen supposedly gain after moving into dorms where beer and pizza are more plentiful than fresh …
Study: City Life Spreads Disease, But If It Doesn’t Kill You…
Following the news that the rise of cities contributed to the spread of HIV is a more heartening take on urbanity: a history of city living may have helped some populations develop resistance to tuberculosis (TB).
Another Study Questions the Benefit of Routine Mammograms
When the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) changed its screening-mammography guidelines last year — recommending against routine annual mammograms for women in their 40s — the announcement met with some resistance. …