No doubt cold weather can be hard on your health, but there may be a silver lining or two.

Winter and its chilly temperatures are a mixed blessing when it comes to human health. We might not appreciate it at the time, but cold temperatures perform a great public health service by killing off disease-mongering insects and microorganisms, and one of the big worries about climate change is that winter will lose its pestilence-fighting punch. Although it's a bit theoretical, cold weather may also help us slim down by stimulating metabolically active brown fat. And in Scandinavia and Russia, many ...

Research appears to support the idea that a regular dose of vitamin D helps improve strength and balance in older people, which helps reduce the incidence of falls.

It is not always easy to tell whether an oncoming illness is a cold or the flu, but the symptoms do differ, and this chart can help.

Researchers from Harvard found that people with certain types of colon cancer who took aspirin were less likely to die of the disease.

Teeth, gums, and the rest of the oral cavity need extra care and attention if you want them to stay healthy in your later years.

Aging isn't always pretty, and your mouth is no exception. (Ever consider why you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth?) A century ago the need for dentures in later life was almost a foregone conclusion. Today, three-quarters of people over 65 retain at least some of their natural teeth, but older people still suffer higher rates of gum disease, dental decay, oral cancer, mouth infections, and tooth loss. While these problems are nothing ...

 

Split dosing and some new liquids may make the bowel cleansing needed for colonoscopy a bit easier and perhaps more palatable.

For many people, the main problem with colonoscopy is not the procedure itself, which is experienced in sedative-induced oblivion, but what comes beforehand. Bowel preparation — or, simply, "the prep" — typically involves drinking about a gallon of a foul-tasting solution that provokes diarrhea and then a marathon session on the toilet.

And, currently, there's no getting around it for colonoscopy. Virtual colonoscopy takes the "scope" out of colonoscopy by using CT scans to visualize the colon, but ...

I am 85 and have taken an 81-mg aspirin each day for decades for heart attack prevention. Recently, I noticed these words on the label: "Stop using if you get ringing in your ears or loss of hearing." Should I be worried?

I have heard that doctors feel men over 60 shouldn't be treated for prostate cancer because they're old enough that they are going to die anyway. Is that so?