Gender fluidity: What it means and why support matters
Take a moment — yes, right now — to consider your gender. Do you identify as a woman, man, or another gender: essentially, how would you describe your gender identity? How do you show your gender to other people through how you look or act — in other words, your gender expression? And has your […]
Aggressive hypertension treatment does not lead to dangerous drops in blood pressure
Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. It is a primary risk factor for numerous medical conditions, including heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, kidney disease, atrial fibrillation, and dementia. Blood pressure (BP) control is so critical that when the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology updated […]
Treating neuropathy: Which medication is best?
Imagine experiencing burning, tingling, and numbness in your legs day in and day out, getting worse over time — and your doctors can’t find a reason for it. That’s the situation for millions of people who suffer from idiopathic sensory polyneuropathy. The term “idiopathic” means that no cause can be identified; “sensory” refers to the […]
How to avoid a relapse when things seem out of control
There is no one who would deny that this has been a stressful year. As the Grateful Dead said, “If the thunder don’t get you, the lightning will.” If you manage to avoid catching COVID, then you are probably at least contending with some mixture of financial and childcare stress, the nail-biting political divisions we […]
Moody quaranteen? What parents should watch for and do
To keep us safe from COVID-19, health experts tell us that we need to stay home and away from other people. This is particularly hard for teens, because their stage of life is all about their peers and becoming independent from their family. So it’s not surprising that the pandemic has been hard on the […]
Does diet really matter when it comes to adult acne?
When I was a teenager, the advice I got about acne was clear and consistent: Avoid oily foods and chocolate because they trigger breakouts and make existing acne worse Wash your face often Try a topical, over-the-counter remedy such as those containing benzoyl peroxide (Clearasil) or salicylic acid (Stridex). By the time I got to […]
Food insecurity, COVID-19, and eating disorders
Every human in the United States can attest that COVID-19 has changed our way of life. In addition to shining a light on the prevalence of racial and ethnic disparities, socioeconomic status, and weight status on outcomes in COVID-19, the pandemic is driving food insecurity to an all-time high. So, what is food insecurity? Food […]
Should we screen all adolescent girls and women for anxiety? – Harvard Health Blog
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses, affecting up to 40% of women and 20% of men in the course of their lifetimes. Women and adolescent girls are at particularly high risk for the development of anxiety disorders, due to differences in their brain chemistry, psychosocial contributors such as childhood sexual abuse, as well […]
An emerging link between the urinary microbiome and urinary incontinence – Harvard Health Blog
Most people know that microorganisms live on our skin, and in other places in the body such as the digestive tract. However, traditional thinking and medical teaching was that there was no such microbiome in the urinary tract. Many people may still believe that urine is sterile. Advanced detection methods such as enhanced urine cultures […]
Which test is best for COVID-19? – Harvard Health Blog
Now that we’re several months into the COVID-19 pandemic, steps we need to take to effectively control the outbreak have become clear: conscientious prevention measures like handwashing and distancing, widespread testing with quick turnaround times, and contact tracing. None of these is easy to maintain over a prolonged period. But combined, they are our best […]