Sleep affects nearly every system in the human body – but few sleep experiences are as disorienting, or as poorly understood, as sleep paralysis. A large-scale systematic review published in Current Psychiatry Reports found that up to 8% of the general population has experienced at least one episode of sleep paralysis in their lifetime. That figure may...
Every year, billions of dollars in public and private benefits go unclaimed by older Americans who are eligible but never apply. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)– a U.S. government agency created to protect Americans from unfair financial practices and to help them make smarter money decisions – has consistently flagged this gap as one...
Food safety researchers have identified a specific group of foods that can cause serious illness, hospitalization, and in some cases death when eaten past their expiration or use-by dates. While the U.S. food labeling system is widely misunderstood, except for infant formula, product dating is not required by federal regulations. That matters because most labels...
People who score high on measures of prosocial behavior (meaning acts that benefit others without expectation of reward) and who also maintain relatively small social circles share a set of remarkably consistent behavioral patterns, according to a growing body of social psychology research. A 2024 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by...
The search for a safer opioid has followed pain medicine for decades. Doctors still need strong drugs for surgery, major injury, cancer pain, and severe flare-ups. Yet the same medicines can slow breathing, increase tolerance, and pull some patients toward dependence. That is why any claim of non addictive pain relief deserves close attention. A...
For many people, happiness does not move in a straight line. It dips, strains, and then often rises again. Researchers often describe that arc as a U-shaped curve, with midlife serving as the low point. Economist David Blanchflower found that the pattern appears across many countries and many measures of well-being. That finding does not...
Millions of Americans deal with a plugged-up nose day after day, season after season. For many, the culprit is not a common cold or seasonal allergies. There is a range of non-infectious causes of nasal congestion, from what you eat and where you live to the structural shape of your nasal passages and the health...
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes wage data for hundreds of occupations every year through its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, and tucked inside that data is something worth paying attention to: a collection of careers that pay $120 an hour or more without being the kind of work that makes headlines. These...
A wellness writer and health columnist on Medium, Bridget Webber, recently published a personal account detailing 10 behaviors adults over 50 should stop for a happier, calmer life. The piece drew widespread attention from readers in midlife and beyond, many of whom recognized the patterns she described in their own daily routines. Webber’s core argument is...
Hives can seem random because they erupt fast, move fast, and often vanish before anyone else sees them. One welt may itch hard, swell, sting, or burn, then flatten within hours. Yet the skin is usually reacting to something real, even when the trigger stays hidden at first. ACAAI lists foods, medications, infections, latex, pressure,...
Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory HS skin disease that most people have never heard of – yet it affects roughly 1% of the global population and is far more damaging to long-term health than its name suggests. A landmark 2025 review published in The Lancet02475-9/fulltext) confirmed that hidradenitis suppurativa complications extend well beyond painful...
Two symptoms sit at the top of every gynecologic oncologist’s list when they talk about catching cancer before it becomes life-threatening: abnormal vaginal bleeding and changes in the breast. Both are primary early warning signs of cancer in women, and both are signals that women’s bodies send early enough to make a real difference –...
