Staying Healthy Archive

What you need to know before taking a vitamin or mineral supplement.

The average American diet leaves a lot to be desired. Research finds our plates lacking in a number of essential nutrients, including calcium, potassium, magnesium, and vitamins A, C, and D. It's no wonder that more than half of us open a supplement bottle to get the nutrition we need. Many of us take supplements not just to make up for what we're missing, but also because we hope to give ourselves an extra health boost—a preventive buffer to ward off disease.

Harness the powerful mind-body connection for healthier eating.

As an anonymous 19th-century European traveler once observed, "Americans don't dine, they gobble, gulp, and go." In the 21st century, health experts say that eating on the run is not just uncultivated; it's downright unhealthy.

It's always best to get your flu vaccination early in the season, but making it your first New Year's resolution can still pay off. The peak spread of the flu virus occurs in January and February, and people can continue to get sick into mid-May, say experts.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults at particular risk for severe flu are those 65 and older and people with heart, lung, or kidney disease or weakened immune systems. A severe bout with flu can land these people in the hospital. Thousands die every year from severe complications of the flu, including worsening of existing chronic health conditions and bacterial pneumonia.

Longtime smokers can expect to lose about a decade of life, finds a study in the journal BMJ. The smoking-impact study was part of a larger project, called the Life Span Study, which follows the health of more than 120,000 Japanese men and women who joined the study starting in 1950.

From 1963 to 1992, health researchers collected information on the smoking habits of about 27,000 men and 41,000 women. The data (from surveys and office visits to doctors) included details of when the people started smoking and how much they smoked. The investigators tracked the causes of death in the group until 2008. Smokers who picked up the habit early in adulthood and did not quit ultimately lost a decade of life due to a variety of causes. However, those who quit by age 35 eliminated nearly all of the risk they would have faced if they continued to smoke.

When is surgery warranted?

Droopy upper and lower eyelids change more than just your appearance; they can block your peripheral vision. The fix is blepharoplasty, a procedure that's now one of the most popular facial plastic surgeries in the United States. "I see it every day in my practice. It's one of the most common procedures I do," says Dr. Suzanne Freitag, director of ophthalmic plastic surgery service at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. But how do you know when surgery is right for you?

The problem

The skin around your eyes is the thinnest on your body, and it's always in motion. The eyelids stretch with age, causing lax, droopy skin. In addition, puffiness may result from eye socket fat falling forward with age. This excess skin in the upper eyelids and "bags" in the lower eyelids may interfere with your vision. "Some patients have skin so droopy it hangs over the top eyelashes and they can't open their eyes. They want relief," says Dr. Freitag. Other people want to regain a more youthful appearance.

58 million of us have actinic keratoses. Now treatment is easier.

They look minor. They are usually pea-sized rough patches, often scaly and with surrounding redness, on sun-exposed skin. But actinic keratoses (AK), caused by too much sun exposure, are nothing to dismiss. "They can progress to skin cancer, or there can be so many that it's difficult to pick out lesions that are already skin cancers," says Dr. Suzanne Olbricht, associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School.

You may hear each winter that vitamin C can fight off the common cold. But is it just hype, or does it really help?

"The findings of a large number of studies on the subject are mixed," says Dr. Bruce Bistrian, chief of clinical nutrition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

… but are sleep aids and prescription drugs hurting or helping?

Sleep is essential to good health, and a lack of it can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, weight gain, and diabetes. Yet 22% of Americans struggle with insomnia every night, according to the National Sleep Foundation, and people ages 65 and older are one-and-a-half times more likely to battle the condition.

Tactical strategies to get you through the season of eating.

Overeating during the holidays is practically a tradition. "We rationalize that it's a special time, with foods that aren't available throughout the year," says registered dietitian Kathy McManus, director of the Department of Nutrition for Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. But overindulging can lead to weight gain, fatigue, and guilt. So how should you approach the holiday buffet? McManus suggests these strategies for the next time you're facing marbled roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.