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A natural deception: 3 marketing myths the supplement industry wants you to swallow

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Americans seem to have quite a positive view of dietary supplements. According to a 2023 survey, 74% of U.S. adults take vitamins, prebiotics and the like.

The business of supplements is booming, and with all the hype around them, it’s easy to forget what they actually are: substances that can powerfully affect the body and your ...Read more

Loneliness can kill, and new research shows middle-aged Americans are particularly vulnerable

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Middle-aged Americans are lonelier than their European counterparts. That’s the key finding of my team’s recent study, published in American Psychologist.

Our study identified a trend that has been evolving for multiple generations, and affects both baby boomers and Gen Xers. Middle-aged adults in England and Mediterranean Europe ...Read more

(Digital Diagnostics)/KFF HEALTH/TNS

As AI eye exams prove their worth, lessons for future tech emerge

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Christian Espinoza, director of a Southern California drug-treatment provider, recently began employing a powerful new assistant: an artificial intelligence algorithm that can perform eye exams with pictures taken by a retinal camera. It makes quick diagnoses, without a doctor present.

His clinics, Tarzana Treatment Centers, are among the early...Read more

Richard Thomas/Dreamstime/TNS

On Nutrition: Food fun

Health Advice / Nutrition /

If you’ve followed this column for a while, you know this is the week when I get to share jokes and groaners that may even be remotely related to food.

And as I can’t remember a funny story any longer than I have time to laugh, these have been gathered from various sources (with a few personal edits).

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A sandwich walks into a bar. The...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Untangling the threads of early onset dementia

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Changes in personality, behavior and language are hallmarks of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the most common form of dementia in patients under the age of 65, which is associated with degeneration of the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Researchers have known that a less common protective variant of a gene called TMEM106B may slow ...Read more

The Course Of Rare Van Der Knaap Disease Is Somewhat Unclear

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have a question that I hope you can help me with. My 1-year-old grandniece (my brother's granddaughter) was recently diagnosed with Van der Knaap disease after suffering seizures and getting an MRI. An internet search described it as a rare inherited disorder with walking difficulties and a progressive decline in brain ...Read more

Handout/Texas A&M Forest Service/TNS

How do wildfires affect mental health? A new study examines the connection

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

SEATTLE — Checking air quality and staying indoors when smoke inundates the Seattle area has become second nature during Washington's wildfire season in recent years. But new research highlights how wildfires can affect a less visible aspect of well-being: mental health.

A University of Washington study published in late February found an ...Read more

What is metabolism? A biochemist explains how different people convert energy differently − and why that matters for your health

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

If you’ve spent any time scrolling through the health and wellness corners of social media, you’ve likely come across many products claiming to improve your metabolism. But what exactly is your metabolism?

Everything you expose your body to – from lifestyle to an airborne virus – influences your physical characteristics, such ...Read more

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Four years after shelter-in-place, COVID-19 misinformation persists

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

From spring break parties to Mardi Gras, many people remember the last major “normal” thing they did before the novel coronavirus pandemic dawned, forcing governments worldwide to issue stay-at-home advisories and shutdowns.

Even before the first case of COVID-19 was detected in the U.S., fears and uncertainties helped spur misinformation�...Read more

Esther Lau/KFF Health News/TNS

California is expanding insurance access for teenagers seeking therapy on their own

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

When she was in ninth grade, Fiona Lu fell into a depression. She had trouble adjusting to her new high school in Orange County, California, and felt so isolated and exhausted that she cried every morning.

Lu wanted to get help, but her Medi-Cal plan wouldn’t cover therapy unless she had permission from a parent or guardian.

Her mother — a...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Hospitals cash in on a private equity-backed trend: concierge physician care

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Nonprofit hospitals created largely to serve the poor are adding concierge physician practices, charging patients annual membership fees of $2,000 or more for easier access to their doctors.

It’s a trend that began decades ago with physician practices. Thousands of doctors have shifted to the concierge model, in which they can increase their ...Read more

Treatment For Thymic Cancer Begins With Surgery Or Chemo

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DOCTOR ROACH: I have recently learned that my sibling, age 70, has rare cancer of the thymus. She will be getting chemotherapy and perhaps radiation treatment. I have heard of immunotherapy. Is this an option?

Would you know what could have caused this type of cancer? When she was younger, she had bouts of rosacea; could there be a ...Read more

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS

Nighttime gunshots may have broad impact on health and sleep of millions, Mass General study finds

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

BOSTON — Nighttime gunshots and the sirens wailing right after may be a larger factor in the health and well-being of millions of people than previously considered, Mass General Brigham researchers report.

The study looked at 72,236 gunshot reports from big cities — including Boston.

“A nighttime gunshot likely disrupts the sleep of ...Read more

Michelle Rose/Massachusetts General Hospital/TNS/TNS

The Massachusetts man who received a pig kidney transplant discharged from MGH: 'One of the happiest moments of my life'

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

The Weymouth man who received the world’s first successful transplant of a genetically-edited pig kidney has been discharged from Massachusetts General Hospital, calling it “one of the happiest moments of my life.”

Richard “Rick” Slayman, 62, who has been living with end-stage kidney disease, was the recipient of the groundbreaking ...Read more

David J. Neal/Miami Herald/TNS

Testing found this recalled medicine can have a deadly bacterial contamination

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

MIAMI — A drug used to treat a form of pneumonia has been recalled after testing found it might be as deadly as the infection it’s supposed to treat.

AvKARE recalled one lot of Atovaquone Oral Suspension after third-party testing discovered a potential Bacillus cereus contamination in the medicine.

As for what that means, the risk ...Read more

A century after the EEG was discovered, it remains a crucial tool for understanding the brain

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Jena, Germany, 1924: Working in near-isolation and with painstaking tediousness, the psychiatrist Hans Berger observes rhythmic electrical activity from the scalp of human subjects. He is convinced the activity arises from within the brain and coins the term “electroencephalogram.”

It is 10 years before the scientific community ...Read more

Environmental Nutrition: Pomegranate benefits

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Q: What are some benefits of pomegranate juice?

A: Pomegranate juice benefits include lowering blood pressure and improving your heart health. Also, you don’t have to guzzle glasses of grape or vegetable juice with high amounts of sugar to lower blood pressure when small portions of pomegranate juice benefits will do the trick.

Pomegranate ...Read more

The best leafy green vegetables

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Leafy green vegetables are a diverse group of vegetables known for their vibrant green color and abundance of nutrients.

As part of a healthy diet, vegetables in general offer a wealth of health benefits, including supporting the immune system, and reducing the risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and certain types of ...Read more

How much sleep do you actually need?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

On average, how many hours do you sleep each night? For most healthy adults, guidelines suggest at least seven hours of slumber.

But these are general recommendations and not strict rules. “Some people need less than seven hours, while others might need more,” says Eric Zhou with the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Do...Read more

Hormonal Treatments Making a Comeback -- With a Twist

Health Advice / Scott LaFee /

In the early 2000s, hormonal treatments for menopause fell out of favor, but they appear to be rebounding with a notable focus.

People think of hormonal treatments as replacing diminished levels of estrogen, but in premenopausal women, there's actually more testosterone than estrogen.

Like estrogen, testosterone levels fall over time, and ...Read more