You don't have to be a brain surgeon to know it is vitally important for your brain to receive an uninterrupted supply of blood. That's because nerve cells require a constant supply of oxygen. Even a brief disruption stuns nerve cells, impairing their function, while more prolonged oxygen deprivation kills the cells. If only a small, noncritical area of your brain is affected, you may not notice the damage. Unfortunately, however, the damage is often very noticeable indeed. Brief or partial interruptions of blood flow cause transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), while prolonged or complete blockages are the major cause of ...

Summertime, and the living is easy — if you stay healthy, that is. Most men think of winter as the "sick season," but summer's seasonal woes can creep up on you when you least expect them. Here are a few tips for staying cool, dealing with the sun's awesome radiant energy, managing poison ivy, and warding off the insects that like summer as much as you do.

Heat and humidity Heat can turn an August day into a medical crisis. But with simple precautions, you can stay safe this summer.

Your metabolism always generates heat, and when you exercise, your ...

How healthy are you, and how does your life expectancy stack up against the average? To answer these questions, your doctor will ask about your smoking, drinking, diet, and exercise. He'll measure your cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, and weight or waist size. And he may ask if you're happy or stressed and if you sleep well.

These facts and numbers do count; men who rate well in midlife stay healthier and live longer than gents who score poorly. Still, scientists are always looking for additional measurements that predict survival. And research from Denmark proposes an unlikely candidate: semen quality.

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Our April 2011 article "Meet the statins" contained an error.

Q. I really appreciate the dietary guidelines that you publish from time to time, but my wife and I find it hard to do the math in a busy supermarket. Can you give us targets that are easier to use than "percentages of daily calories"?

A. I understand the problem, and I'll try to help. The reason we use percentages of daily calories is that dietary needs vary from person to person. But let's do the math for a hypothetical person, and then give you a template so you can run the numbers for yourself.

The first step is to ...