About one in three Americans do not get enough sleep every day, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a problem because a large body of research demonstrates that sleep is foundational to our health. [Read more…]
For Better Sex, Get Your Sleep
October 7, 2024 By
When Knowledge Leads to Overconfidence
September 30, 2023 By
Misinformation is ubiquitous in our society. We find it in news outlets, on social media, and — for many people — in daily conversations. At the root of misinformation is someone who strongly believes in an inaccurate or flawed assessment of the evidence. Put simply, the person has confidence in their knowledge, even if it is not based on solid facts. [Read more…]
Your Heartbeat May Influence How You Perceive Time
August 1, 2023 By
You likely know from experience that human perceptions of time are not accurate. During a long, boring task, time feels like it plods along slowly; when we are experiencing excitement or joy, time flies by. [Read more…]
How the “Polypill” Can Help Avoid Cardiovascular Disease and Save Lives
October 21, 2022 By Leave a Comment
A significant portion of people in the U.S. rely on prescription medications. More than 131 million Americans take, on average, four prescriptions daily. Among adults ages 40 to 79, nearly a quarter use five or more medications a day.
The term for taking multiple prescriptions is “polypharmacy,” and it can lead to all sorts of problems including drug interactions and amplified side effects.
What Rising Temperatures Mean for Our Mental Health
September 20, 2022 By Leave a Comment
July 2022 was one of the hottest months on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was the sixth-hottest July since the U.S. began recording temperatures, 143 years ago. In addition, overnight temperatures in the month hit their highest levels in recorded history. [Read more…]
Should You Get Your Health Information From Social Media?
June 3, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Scrolling through a social media feed, you might expect to see photos of friends’ travels, political opinions, and images of the latest fashions. You’ll also find a tremendous variety of health information.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for reliable health information is central to our lives; social media outlets have played an even larger role in spreading both information and disinformation. As a result, a new body of research is exploring the impact of social media on public health, and how we can best use online tools to improve our well-being. [Read more…]
The Health Effects of Daylight Savings Time
April 13, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Getting out of bed for a particular week in mid-March is often associated with heavy eyelids and foggy brains – the consequences of losing an hour of sleep when we push our clocks forward for daylight saving time. [Read more…]
Scientific Consensus: Humans Are Causing Climate Change
November 10, 2021 By Leave a Comment
When former Vice President Al Gore launched the movie An Inconvenient Truth in 2006 to explain the science behind climate change to the American public, surveys showed that many Americans didn’t believe in climate change, even though scientific data was building that humans actions were causing global warming. [Read more…]
Climate Change Models Got It Right
June 24, 2020 By Leave a Comment
A Siberian town registered the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic Circle this week – 100 degrees Fahrenheit. While warm summers are typical in the Arctic, recent months have been abnormally high. And data demonstrate that the Arctic Circle is warming at about twice the rate as the rest of the globe – a fact predicted by decades-old climate models. [Read more…]
For COVID News, Always Read Beyond the Scary Headline
May 6, 2020 By Leave a Comment
Contributed by Karl Pillemer, Ph.D.
To inform yourself about the coronavirus, you have probably sought out your favorite news sources. In doing so, you may have been overwhelmed (and perhaps terrified) by negative headlines, such as these: [Read more…]
Should You Wear Sunscreen?
May 29, 2019 By Leave a Comment
If you follow health and wellness news, you have probably seen the building hype this year about sunscreen. Popular news outlets have been questioning if the ingredients in sunscreen pose health threats. One even questions whether sunscreen is the new margarine? (Many margarines – developed to encourage people to avoid the saturated fats in butter – contain transfats, which turn out to be more unhealthy than butter.) [Read more…]
What to Listen to While You Drive
October 16, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Phones and smart devices make it easier than ever before to listen to music and news while you’re doing other things – and often with a simple voice command. One of the most common places to blast the tunes or catch a newscast is in the car. [Read more…]
