Recent Blog Articles
Prostate cancer in transgender women
Why eat lower on the seafood chain?
Can long COVID affect the gut?
When replenishing fluids, does milk beat water?
Safe, joyful movement for people of all weights
Slowing down racing thoughts
Are women turning to cannabis for menopause symptom relief?
3 ways to create community and counter loneliness
Helping children make friends: What parents can do
Can electrical brain stimulation boost attention, memory, and more?
Staying Healthy
At-home tests: Help or hindrance?
Our homes have become mini medical testing labs. But beware of the pitfalls.
- By Maureen Salamon, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch
At some point in the past three years, a great many of us stood at our kitchen or bathroom counters swabbing our nostrils or throat and counting the minutes until we learned if we had COVID-19. How did we do that? With at-home medical tests offering rapid results — an innovation that has changed the way we approach our health.
This collective pandemic experience transformed our dwellings into mini medical testing labs. But it also drove home the benefits of being able to check ourselves for conditions that might steer our actions in the short term — say, by isolating to avoid infecting others — or even guide health decisions for years to come.
To continue reading this article, you must log in.
Subscribe to Harvard Health Online for immediate access to health news and information from Harvard Medical School.
- Research health conditions
- Check your symptoms
- Prepare for a doctor's visit or test
- Find the best treatments and procedures for you
- Explore options for better nutrition and exercise
I'd like to receive access to Harvard Health Online for only $4.99 a month.
Sign Me UpAlready a member? Login ».
About the Author
Maureen Salamon, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch
Disclaimer:
As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.
No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
You might also be interested in…
COVID-19, Flu, and Colds
Any given year, we’ll collectively come down with one billion colds and up to 45 million cases of flu, while the number of new cases of COVID-19 keeps rising. In this guide, you will learn how to avoid getting any of these three viral infections, and, if you do get sick, what you can do to feel better. You’ll also learn when your condition is serious enough to call a doctor. The report also provides specific information about high-risk groups for whom COVID and the flu can be very serious.
Free Healthbeat Signup
Get the latest in health news delivered to your inbox!
