Categories HEALTHY-FOOD

Can probiotics help calm inflammatory bowel disease?

Approximately three million Americans have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD is an umbrella term for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, illnesses marked by chronic or repeated bouts of inflammation in the digestive tract. Both types of IBD represent a complex interplay of genes, environment, and immune factors. Current therapies for Continue Reading

Categories HEALTHY-FOOD

Medication side effects: What are your options?

Medications can provide a host of health benefits. They may prevent or eliminate a disease. They might improve your quality of life and even help you live longer. But the medicines we take also have potential side effects. While listed side effects don’t always occur, it’s always possible. And though Continue Reading

Categories HEALTHY-FOOD

Want a calmer brain? Try this

For neuroscientist Sara Lazar, a form of meditation called open awareness is as fundamental to her day as breathing. “I just become aware that I am aware, with no particular thing that I focus on,” explains Lazar, an associate researcher in the psychiatry department at Massachusetts General Hospital and assistant Continue Reading

Categories HEALTHY-FOOD

Do tattoos cause lymphoma?

Not so long ago, a friend texted me from a coffee shop. He said, "I can't believe it. I'm the only one here without a tattoo!" That might not seem surprising: a quick glance around practically anywhere people gather shows that tattoos are widely popular. Nearly one-third of adults in Continue Reading

Categories HEALTHY-FOOD

The BEEP program: Keep your balance

Balance is a skill you don’t think about until you really need it — like when you lose your footing and have to perform an exotic improv dance to keep from hitting the ground. But don’t wait until your sense of balance fails before you give it proper attention. As Continue Reading

Categories HEALTHY-FOOD

Feel like you should be drinking less? Start here

When experts talk about the dangers of excessive drinking, we often assume those warnings apply mostly to people with alcohol use disorder, a health issue sometimes referred to as alcoholism. But people who don’t meet formal criteria for this disorder can still experience toxic effects and suffer other serious harms Continue Reading

Categories HEALTHY-FOOD

Sexual violence can cast a long shadow on health

Sexual violence occurs throughout the world. A simple definition is any sexual act for which consent is not obtained or freely given, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Rape, sexual coercion, and unwanted sexual contact are a few examples. While many people heal fully in time, Continue Reading