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A little afternoon snooze can help you feel more rested — and it might do you good in other ways, too. A small study from China published online Jan. 25, 2021, by General Psychiatry suggests that afternoon naps (between five minutes and two hours long) may be good for your memory and thinking skills. Researchers put more than 2,200 older adults through a series of health screenings that included blood tests and cognitive assessments, and also asked participants whether and how often they napped. About 1,500 of the participants were nappers. Compared with people who didn't nap, the nappers performed better on cognitive tests, scoring better on location awareness, verbal fluency, and memory. The study was observational, so it can't prove that napping caused the better cognitive test results. Previous studies have shown that afternoon nap benefits decline as age and nap duration increase. Short, frequent naps (less than 30 minutes, four times per week) have been associated with reduced risks for developing Alzheimer's disease. In contrast, people who take long naps (two hours or longer) appear to have worse cognitive function, although it is unclear what is cause and what is effect.

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Consider your social interaction if you've been feeling foggy.

We've all been isolated from many family members and friends during the pandemic. If you've been having a harder time remembering things or processing information since the pandemic began, it could be an isolation side effect.

"It's something I'm seeing clinically. Some people were okay before the pandemic and now they're having faster cognitive decline," says Dr. Joel Salinas, a behavioral neurologist and faculty member of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies.

It takes a one-two punch to lower these risks for heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.

High cholesterol has long been known as a bad actor in heart health. Too much LDL (bad) cholesterol in your blood can lead to fatty deposits in your arteries and the formation of artery-narrowing plaque (atherosclerosis), heart attacks, and strokes.

But LDL doesn't act alone. Chronic inflammation — a persistent activation of the immune system — also fuels heart attack and stroke risks. That means you must address both high LDL levels and chronic inflammation to protect your health.

No one likes being stuck by a needle, and it’s not unusual for a person to be afraid of needles. If it’s serious enough, this phobia can affect quality of life and overall health — an especially important concern with vaccination available for COVID-19. But there are ways to cope with the problem.

Try stress reduction to improve your quality of life and potentially relieve allergy symptoms.

Spring allergies are a stressful business. Coping with watery eyes, a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, or a sore throat affects how you get through each day. "The primary consequence is a reduced quality of life. This naturally can lead to stress on patients and their families," says Dr. Ahmad Sedaghat, an ear, nose, and throat specialist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

The influence goes both ways: not only can allergies cause stress, but stress can make allergies worse.

In addition to everything else associated with stress, it can have negative effects on the skin, and can also aggravate certain skin conditions. But skin and hair also produce stress-inducing signals that can travel back to the brain, adding to psychological stress and perpetuating a stress cycle.

Peer support groups in mental health allow people with similar lived experiences to listen, share, and encourage one another. A Black peer support group created around race and culture as well as mental health may offer a safe space that allows people to address aspects of shared identity and experiences around racism with others who understand their daily reality.

Ask the doctor

Q. How do we store memories in our brain, and is there hope that someday we might be able to restore memories we've lost?

A. We remember just a tiny fraction of the events of our lives. The sights and sounds of every conscious moment could become a memory. But only when a moment seems important do we remember it, at least for a while. I remember the radiant beauty of my wife's face on our wedding day, at the moment she lifted the veil.