Sexual health and gender-affirming care – Harvard Health Blog

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LGBTQ+ people are often considered a cohesive group, but sexual orientation and gender identity are different. Sexual orientation describes who a person prefers to be sexually intimate with. Gender identity, on the other hand, describes their sense of themselves as male, female, or another gender. Transgender and other gender diverse (TGD) people, whose gender identity […]

COVID-19 and the heart: What have we learned?

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Early in the pandemic, epidemiologists made a striking observation. Compared to the general population, people with cardiovascular disease (CVD) were more than twice as likely to contract severe forms of COVID-19. In the last six months, death rates from COVID-19 have dropped significantly, but CVD remains a major predictor of poor outcome. What have we […]

3 easy ways to eat a healthier diet

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While many people might be taking a pass on formal New Year’s resolutions this year, others may mark a fresh start this month by resolving to make up for poor eating habits of the past. But this motivation is often focused on a diet that’s too ambitious, or too restrictive. Without a solid plan, you […]

Do pro-inflammatory diets harm our health? And can anti-inflammatory diets help?

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Our emerging understanding of the role of inflammation in major chronic diseases has brought much attention to the effect of diet on the inflammatory process. Understanding the link may help us identify specific dietary patterns and foods than can diminish chronic inflammation and improve health. Inflammation: Helpful, harmful, or both? There are two types of […]

The health effects of too much gaming

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It is estimated that 164 million Americans — half of our population — play video games, also known as gaming. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t just teens who play games. According to a recent survey, only 21% of gamers were under 18 years old. While gaming can be a fun distraction or hobby (and […]

Making the most of physical activity apps

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One of the best moves you can make for your health is to get moving. “Walking is man’s best medicine” is a well-known quote from Hippocrates. Centuries later, we have multiple research studies that reveal the power of exercise as medicine. One study specifically compared exercise to common medications for heart disease, stroke, and prediabetes, […]

Good news: Deaths due to HIV are way down

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World news this month appropriately focuses on containing the COVID-19 pandemic, as the first vaccines become available. Yet we can also celebrate major success in the fight against a different global viral scourge: HIV. During my medical training in the 1980s, hospital wards were often filled with people dying of HIV. Since then, antiviral treatments […]

Executive function in children: Why it matters and how to help

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Executive function refers to skills that help us focus, plan, prioritize, work toward goals, self-regulate behaviors and emotions, adapt to new and unexpected situations, and ultimately engage in abstract thinking and planning. Just as a principal conductor would do for an orchestra, executive functions supervise and coordinate a multitude of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional tasks. […]