Summer thunderstorms can be exciting, but they also have some health effects you may not know about.

The summer thunderstorm is great theater. Lightning seems like it might have been hurled by the hand of an angry god. If it's close, we're treated to the sharp crack of thunder that makes us jump and the dog hide. And if it's far away, there's that heavy kettledrum rumble. The wind whips through. The rain comes in a frenzy. And when it's all over and the storm has passed, we're often treated to some of the season's most delectable weather.

Of course ...

 

Two-wheelers aren't just for kids. Adult cyclists get health benefits, but want safety and comfort, too.

Cycling is more forgiving and inviting than many other forms of exercise. People turn to it partly because it's not as hard on the knees as running and it's usually more convenient than swimming. Heavier people often do well on bikes because cycling isn't a weight-bearing activity, so there's little penalty for girth.

Pedaling a bike strengthens the leg muscles, especially the quadriceps that form the top of the thigh. But for the most part, cycling is an aerobic, not a resistance, workout ...

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Hospitalization rates for heart attacks are going down, so maybe prevention efforts are paying off.

Two studies published in 2010 show that the American heart attack rate is continuing to decline. The first, published in Circulation, was based on Medicare data. The main finding was that hospitalization rates for heart attack dropped by about 23% between 2002 and 2007, which by the authors' calculations might have translated into 100,000 fewer hospitalizations a year for the 45 million Americans enrolled in the Medicare program.

The second study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, was based on the hospitalization ...

 

Bingeing on Bings for gout? A reader was surprised that we didn't mention cherries in our April 2010 story about gout. Dr. Robert Shmerling, who helped us develop that article, has researched and written about cherries and gout before. His bottom line: cherries might have some anti-gout properties, but there's just not enough evidence to recommend them as a remedy or preventive.

Gout occurs when uric aid, a byproduct of normal metabolism, forms crystals in the joints, and there is a little bit of research suggesting that bowls of cherries could lower our uric acid levels. Results reported in ...

My brother has been told he has too much iron in his body. I've heard the treatment is removing blood every so often, but his doctor says that will just produce more iron in his blood. Can that be true?

  At age 60 I was treated for colon cancer. Since then I've had regular colonoscopies with no further sign of colon cancer. I'm now 84 and healthy. Does it make sense to get another colonoscopy?