You started hearing it from your mom not long after you came into this world. In junior high school, your health education teacher took up the beat, and then passed the baton to your high school biology instructor. You caught a break in college (or, perhaps, you were too busy to notice), and your girlfriends had other things on their minds. But then everyone got into the act, from your wife and your doctor to your company's HR director, your insurance carrier, and the federal government: live right to live well and live long.

We call it prudent advice, but ...

The debate is over; nearly all scientists (and politicians) agree that climate change is real, is here, and is the result of human activity. Experts also agree that the consequences of global warming are serious and far reaching. All too often, though, these consequences are framed in terms of the threat to polar bears, exotic wildlife, and beautiful glaciers. Without minimizing the value of stately bears and snow-covered peaks, many people find it hard to make lifestyle changes and economic sacrifices to protect such distant assets. But climate change threatens more than the earth's vistas. It also threatens human health ...

Genes regulate the growth, multiplication, and death of all human cells. Cancer develops when cell growth escapes from the normal control that holds it in check. In a fundamental sense, then, all cancers depend on genetic abnormalities.

In some cases, abnormal genes are passed down from parent to child. In others, problems develop after birth as a result of environmental influences, including nutritional imbalances and exposure to tobacco, radiation, and toxins.

If genes are responsible for cancer, then therapies that target genetic abnormalities should be beneficial. That possibility lies in the future, but we are already at the point where ...

On call Statin therapy Q. I am 55 years old. My cholesterol counts are normal, but my wife clipped a newspaper article about a study that found statin drugs prevent heart attacks even in people with normal cholesterol. My golfing partners all take cholesterol medication — should I join them?

A. Congratulations on being healthy, having normal cholesterol levels, and having a wife who watches over your health. Congratulations, too, on doing a little homework before you ask your doctor for a prescription.

Your newspaper was referring to the so-called JUPITER study, a multinational investigation headed by scientists at Harvard ...