It’s likely you already know that regular exercise helps prevent chronic disease, such as diabetes and heart problems, while improving your overall health, mood, and quality of life. It can sharpen me

While speaking as a panelist on substance use disorder (SUD), I felt it necessary to remind the audience that addiction is a family disease. While family members may not themselves be tethered to use

“Let there be work, bread, water, and salt for all.”— Nelson Mandela Salt: without it, food can seem tasteless. It is the reason sea water bu s our eyes and skin. Some people enjoy salt water baths.

Are you heading home for the holidays, hosting relatives, or throwing parties? A strong dose of calm can help you enjoy yourself more and stress less. Here are a few ways to take holiday stress down a

It’s the holiday season, time for buying toys for the children in our lives. As we do, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) encourages us to think about buying toys that can actually help children

We spend our days interacting with the world around us through our senses of sight, sound, and touch. But anyone who has developed complete nasal obstruction from an infection or severe allergies has

The human microbiome, or gut environment, is a community of different bacteria that has co-evolved with humans to be beneficial to both a person and the bacteria. Researchers agree that a person’s uni

Insulin is a naturally occurring, glucose-lowering hormone used by many people with diabetes to control their blood sugar. In people with type 1 diabetes, supplemental insulin makes up for the insulin

In my experience, most people dealing with infertility would say that their longing for a child brings sadness year-round. Still, there are times and seasons when the pain intensifies. This may be in

People who work in manual labor have higher rates of injury and overdose Our country’s ongoing opioid crisis has many faces, from teenagers on Cape Cod to middle-aged parents in West Virginia. A recen

How is it that the United States spends the most money on healthcare, and yet still has the one of the lowest life expectancies of all developed nations? (To be specific: $9,400 per capita, 79 years, and 31st.) Maybe those of us in healthcare have been looking at it all wrong, for too long. Healthy ...

I’m not a regular drinker, nor a teetotaler. But like many people, I enjoy the occasional glass of wine with di er, and nothing tastes better than an ice-cold beer on a sweaty summer day. Besides, some alcohol is a toast to my long-term heart health. At least that’s what the science says, right? Not...

Public parks look a lot different than they did just a decade ago. Sure, you’ll find swings and seesaws, but today they’re bigger, sturdier, and more ergonomically designed. And they’re often paired with colorful outdoor exercise equipment, making play at multigenerational fitness parks a great work...

Follow me on Twitter @RobShmerling Fibromyalgia is a common condition that causes chronic body-wide pain and affects millions of people. The cause is unknown, and medications approved to treat it often aren’t effective, cause side effects, or both. To say we need better treatments for fibromyalgia i...

Follow me on Twitter @JohnRossMD If you think that there’s a lot of flu going around this winter, you’re absolutely right. Every state except Hawaii is reporting widespread influenza activity, making for a lot of miserable people suffering from classic flu symptoms of cough, fever, headache, stuffy ...

I got a new doctor last year and at my first exam, he asked the standard, “What do you like to do for fun?” I laughed at him. I said that I have a 6-year-old and 3-year-old, mumbled something about poker games, and then my answer stopped. I’m not complaining, at least not much. I like my family and ...

Follow me on Twitter @drClaire The trial of Larry Nasser, the physician who sexually abused female gymnasts, has been deeply disturbing. It’s hard to fathom how he managed to abuse hundreds of girls for so many years. Sadly, this can happen with sexual abuse. Very often, the perpetrator is someone k...

Follow me on Twitter @RobShmerling This is the time of year when it’s important to think about flu vaccinations. And there’s good reason for that! The flu causes thousands of preventable hospitalizations and deaths each year. But what about other vaccinations? Do you think of them as something for k...

Okay, everyone knows smoking is bad for you, the number one cause of preventable death in the US and the world, a direct cause of lung and heart disease and cancer… et cetera. So let’s get right down to the nitty-gritty: quitting smoking is tough. What can people do to quit? To answer this question,...

Every year in the US, about 10,000 persons are treated for carbon monoxide poisoning, and roughly 400 die from unintentional exposure. This mostly occurs in our cold winter months, like now… Why winter? Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless, and tasteless gas normally found in the atmospher...