Latest Stories

It’s no secret that having a good sex life can make your whole life feel better, your relationships run more smoothly and boost your confidence. But problems can sneak into the bedroom that create more frustration than joy. Here’s a secret every man should know…

There are many proven reasons breakfast has earned the title of “most important meal of the day.” And the popular practice of fasting is proving yet another reason why: a chain reaction set off by inflammation that can make you sick easily and more often and set you up for heart problems…

Research has demonstrated the power of young blood to rejuvenate older bodies, making hearts and muscles stronger and minds sharper. But you can’t walk into your doctor’s office and ask to be hooked up to an IV of blood from a 20-year-old. Here’s what you can do…

Astrocytes are star-shaped cells in the brain that express receptors for hormones, including ghrelin, which signals hunger, and its counterpart, leptin, which signals fullness. But just 10 days of the wrong foods dismantles that whole system…

Given how deadly a heart attack or stroke can be, it helps to get as much advance warning as possible. But too often that’s not the case by the time the heart signals a problem. But there’s another part of the body where researchers have discovered a tell-tale sign that may save lives years in advance.

During the pandemic, there was a lot of research into how nutrition might give us an edge, and one vitamin stood out. Now that the worst appears to be behind us, you may be wondering what was ultimately decided. Does vitamin D have exceptional clout or not?

If you follow a few simple rules, you can drink tomato juice until your heart’s content (and your heart will be very content — and healthy — with lower BP and cholesterol!). That’s what people in this study did, and look how it worked out for them? Ready to give it a go?

Snoring, waking up gasping for air or with a headache in the morning and feeling tired and irritable are all signs of sleep apnea, a condition that affects more than 29 million Americans. A new study has found an easy way to reduce your risk of sleep apnea in under 20 minutes per day…

Will a banana a day keep heart disease away? Let me count the ways… bananas are high in potassium, a mineral that plays a pivotal role in maintaining a healthy heart. Without enough of this mineral, your heart and arteries simply cannot function the way they’re supposed to.

If you think forever chemicals are new, you’d be wrong. PFAS have been around since the 1940s. That means most of us have been around long enough for PFAS to have taken advantage of a vulnerable window of time when they set us up for disease later in life…

The health and longevity of people in blue zones is just one reasons for tons of research on omega-3 essential fatty acids. They’ve held an ancient secret that in today’s world is still proving they’re not only essential because we can’t produce them on our own, but good health depends on them.

Blood clots in response to an injured blood vessel. It’s a normal response even to a paper cut. As the bleeding stops, the clot is no longer needed and dissolves. Things don’t always go as planned, but who would have thought an artificial sweetener could make things worse…

You wouldn’t think being a spectator at a sporting event would have a positive impact on your health. But it does — at least when it comes to one sport in particular, whose fans could put just about anyone’s Fitbit score to shame…

Studies have shown that not sleeping enough and having irregular bedtimes and wake-up times can put your heart at risk. Now, researchers have connected the dots between poor sleep and a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke…

Chronic constipations affects more Americans than care to admit. If you’re one of them and reach for laxatives for relief, take a close look at the type and how many you use. Your future brain health may depend on it…

Over the years, we’ve learned more about how the health of your mouth can affect your entire body. But oral health risk factors that contribute to stroke prompted research into how caring for your mouth could save your brain from silent damage…

A daily spoonful of olive oil could tame a lot of health ills. But what makes it so healthy? For years polyphenols, phenomenal plant compounds, got all the glory. But a component that makes up almost 80 percent of olive oil’s composition is stepping forward…

If you’re age 65 or older and considering surgery, know your risks. Especially if the surgery is elective. You’ll need to weigh the chances of a newly recognized risk and what it could do to your life… against the potential benefits you’ll get from having the surgery. And it’s a threat your doctor may not be aware of yet…

The word “diet” conjures up images of deprivation, tasteless foods, and constant cravings for what we can’t have. But deprivation diets set you up to fail… unless you have willpower like Superman. Instead of starting a new “diet,” pledge to gradually change your “eating style,” and you’ll have greater success.

Strange as it sounds, obesity is a form of premature aging. But though that’s been well established, experts were still shocked to see how similar obesity-related neurodegeneration is to changes in an Alzheimer’s brain…

Ever hear the expression, “out of the frying pan, into the fire”? It means going from a bad situation to one that may be even worse. Like taking a drug linked to heart issues, bladder cancer and liver toxicity and giving it new life as an Alzheimer’s treatment.

Within each of us is a unique ecosystem of bacteria known as the gut microbiome. When it’s well-balanced, well-being flourishes. The same can be said for your social biome. And whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, helping yours thrive entails more than quality or quantity…

The ringing, buzzing, hissing, whistling, swooshing and clicking of tinnitus can drive anyone crazy. And though doctors have tried for years to help, there’s been little known about the causes of the condition — until now. It turns out it could be sitting in your medicine cabinet at this very moment…

Inflammatory bowel diseases, like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, can be painful and debilitating, causing chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain and cramping, bloody stools, weight loss and fatigue. If you’re in your 40s, certain medications can increase your risk of developing one…

Tinnitus can be caused by hundreds of health issues and external stimuli. But one recently identified source is something we’re all exposed to at one time or another — and it’s not-so-great news for people living in urban areas…

Phthalates are colorless, odorless “everywhere” chemicals. They go by a host of names, but they’re all endocrine-disrupting chemicals. From thyroid to menopause trouble, women are hardest hit. Now, they’re why you can get diabetes from your shampoo…

Before you head off to the nail salon, there’s something you should know. Gel manicures may look lovely but they expose you to a very real danger. Just like the sun and tanning beds, those nail dryers pack a serious punch of UV radiation…

Exercise is one of the most powerful anti-aging tools we have. But even though physical activity can improve health during aging, evidence also shows that inevitably those beneficial effects decline. Research shows with the right intervention, they may not have to…

If you’re one of the 80 percent of people who suffers from low back pain at one point or another, there’s something that you need to know before you see your doctor: the prescription they want to give you probably won’t work. Even worse, while it does little to nothing for your pain, the drug could lead to problematic or even dangerous side effects…

It’s no surprise that women’s bladders get weaker. And Kegel exercises have long been recommended to improve pelvic floor strength and relieve bladder leaks. But that didn’t always work well enough until they added a second step…

Sleep apnea is a progressive condition that causes a person to stop breathing during sleep, often multiple times a night. It’s linked to hypertension, stroke and heart failure. Now, researchers believe sleep apnea increases vulnerability for a serious COVID-19 infection partly because of how it affects blood oxygen levels…

You pull yourself out of bed in the morning and your back aches. You head into the kitchen to get breakfast and notice that your neck and shoulders are tense and your hamstrings tight and painful. Every movement hurts. And you think, “Today, I’ve got to stretch.” But you may be surprised to learn that what you’re eating could be causing your muscle pain.

According to the CDC, 88 million Americans are now living with prediabetes and are on the path to a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis in the coming years. Yet, as scary as that number is, it can also be looked at as 88 million cases of diabetes that are preventable with the right steps. And those steps are exactly what a brand-new study published in the international journal JAMA Internal Medicine has given us…

Eggs have had a bad rap. Many people stay away from them, to avoid high cholesterol and heart disease — and the newest research says eating eggs may lead to diabetes. But as it turns out, eggs could be one of the best things to include in your diet to stabilize your blood sugar — with one caveat…

If you have a dog, they’re part of your family. And you want to do whatever it takes to protect their health and well-being. Good nutrition is an important part of that equation, and it turns out the timing of a good diet needs to be precise to protect your dog from a particularly irritating health problem…

For years, doctors and researchers have seen a tantalizing connection between vitamin D and cancer. Yet, that connection has always been just out of reach. Now, a brand-new look at that VITAL study data has once again delved into the connection between vitamin D and cancer and found good news for us all — an up to 38 percent reduction of metastatic or fatal cancers.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the US. And with the surge that experts warned us about last summer, researchers are increasingly turning to drugs and natural supplements already approved for use against other conditions to stem the tide. The latest? The supplement we all love to help us sleep appears to reduce the risk of testing positive…

Semi-volatile organic compounds hang in the air and dust of your home, and they’re changing the composition of your gut microbiome. That’s a big deal considering your gut is command central for your immune system and helps fight off not only bacteria and viruses, but also myriad diseases. This danger may be invisible, but the threat to you and your family is not…

The damage caused by stroke can range from mild to life-threatening, depending on the severity and how quickly health care professionals intervene to stop it. Researchers are working overtime to find ways to combat stroke damage… One new way focuses on calcium’s confusing relationship with ischemic stroke.

Light is connected to migraine in more ways than one. Anyone who suffers from them knows that during an attack light is like salt on a wound. Light hurts and makes a migraine worse. But light can also be a trigger. When I changed the light in my life, I also changed how migraine affected my life.

There has been considerable scientific interest in recent microbiome studies related to diabetes. But what exactly do the bacteria in your gut have to do with type 2 diabetes? Your gut microbiota can form a molecule that can lead to the progression of type 2 diabetes…

The prospect of anti-cancer properties is just one of the many researched benefits of curcumin. So why not add more curcumin to your life? Here are a few fun and easy ways you can…

Sugar offers little to nothing but calories. But we really like it, except when it leads to weight gain. A new study, however, may change the way you think about it. You know the saying — “the hair of the dog” — used often when someone suffering a hangover needs a little of what got them that way to get over it? It turns out that sugar could be the key to eating less over the holidays…

It’s no secret that a sedentary lifestyle can wreak havoc with your health. But sometimes it can seem impossible to work even 30 minutes of exercise into your busy life. Luckily, experts are finding more evidence that smaller stints of exercise can be just as powerful, yielding significant benefits you can’t afford to pass up.

Functional pain refers to pain that occurs without injury. Migraines and fibromyalgia fall into this category. Turns out more women suffer this kind of pain and now we know why. For starters, a female hormone acts on sensory pain receptors and may ramp up that stimuli. To make matters worse, certain pain treatments can kick it into high gear.

When inflammation goes unchecked for too long, the nervous system becomes damaged and can lead to diseases like Alzheimer’s or multiple sclerosis. That’s just one example of why inflammation is often called the root of all disease. But researchers have found a peptide in the beetroot that could make all that a thing of the past…

Walnuts are known to have numerous health benefits, many of which involve the heart — I’ve lost count of how many I mention in this one post! And now, the largest and longest study to date exploring the benefits of walnuts has discovered how they can help protect you from one of the most destructive processes in the human body…

A new study shows that people doing hard physical work have a higher risk of developing dementia than those doing sedentary work — 55 percent higher. Why? There’s a difference between hard labor and exercise. One of them hurts the blood supply to the brain and the other boosts it…

It’s time to stop thinking of menopause as something perfectly normal. While the menopause symptoms women experience may seem annoying, the truth is they can actually be a harbinger of things to come for your heart. So, what turns a menopause symptom into a heart disease trigger? The number of them you might suffer carries more weight, even if they’re moderate to severe…

2020 has been a very unpredictable year, and levels of anxiety and depression have skyrocketed. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by it all. Even the thought of how to shake it seems like an insurmountable task. But what if all it took was just one thing… one step… one new habit to ditch what’s bringing your down and feel like your old self again? Not to mention the added benefits…

Vitamin D builds strong bones and teeth and prevents osteoporosis. It also helps control the overactive immune response. Now, research has shown that a lack of vitamin D in pregnant women could predict future cognitive deficits for their unborn children.

Researchers continue to uncover the ways in which COVID-19 affects our bodies. One connection they discovered between COVID and your heartbeat could raise the risk of death from the illness considerably or leave you with a lifelong condition…

Why do some people gravitate toward chili peppers and enjoy the burn while others can’t stand it? Perhaps they sense something that more and more research is revealing: that chili peppers may help you live longer. So, if you’re not traditionally a fan of spicy foods, it may be time to change your ways…

Men need to be watchful for any signs of testicular cancer, especially if they are at higher risk for the disease because of age, race, family history or medical condition. Recently, a study turned up another risk factor for testicular cancer — a medical procedure that can be difficult to avoid but could raise the risk almost 60 percent…

When you live with inflammatory bowel disease, you have a lot to watch out for. There’s the chronic inflammation of your digestive tract, the weight loss and diarrhea and the increased risk of colon cancer. But IBD also triples the risk of a life-threatening blood clot. For 1 in 7 IBD patients, it could be even higher…

The Endocrine Society has spent over 14 years researching our exposure to environmental toxins that are present in the air, water, soil and our homes. They interfere, imitate or alter pathways of hormones in the body that lead to disease. And now there’s proof that our exposure can lead to diabetes that we can pass onto our children.

You’ve probably heard that if you want to lose weight, you should eat your biggest meals early in the day. The theory is you drop weight faster by taking in most of the calories you plan to eat in a day several hours before bedtime (when your metabolism naturally slows). The idea of not worrying over what to eat so much as when seemed easy enough. But, we’re learning it may have sounded too good to be true…

While it’s normal and healthy for blood pressure to fluctuate throughout the day, when your blood pressure stays elevated, it can lead to many health problems. Many people require medications to control their blood pressure. However, there are several things you can do that will help to make it easier to manage your readings…

It’s been long understood that when you have a heart attack, it’s because somehow blood flow to your heart has become cut off, either due to a blockage or a narrowing of your coronary arteries. Blood clots can detach and float off to block those arteries. But finding immune cells are the mechanism behind those clots came as a surprise to researchers recently…

More than a year ago now, I experienced a life-changing event that wreaked havoc with my balance, my ability to swallow liquids and my memory. I got hlep in that “golden hour,” and I know many do not. But a new treatment may make that possible for more stroke sufferers.