Monthly Archives: September 2016

Hate Needles? Here’s How to Deal When You Go to the Doctor

What you’re experiencing is called a vasovagal response, a reflex that occurs when your body overreacts to certain triggers, like blood or needles. The triggers stimulate a nerve that then causes your heart rate to slow down and your blood pressure to drop. As a result, you may suddenly feel warm or light-headed, turn pale, or lose consciousness. To get through a blood draw when you feel… Read More »

Do Healing Crystals Really Do Anything?

Different stones are said to have different healing properties based on their color, mineral content, and energy output. (For example, websites promoting crystal healing tout amethyst as a remedy for sprains and swelling.) Some enthusiasts wear healing-crystal jewelry, sold in special shops or online; others may buy individual stones and keep them close by. If you do a quick search for “crystal healing” online, you’ll… Read More »

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5 Cold Weather Health Myths to Stop Believing

As if bulky coats and seasonal colds weren’t annoying enough, these popular winter wellness beliefs are just plain wrong. Watch the video to see how exercising in the cold is surprisingly good for you and why sunscreen may be even more necessary in winter than summer. Here are five cold weather health myths, busted. … Read More »

12 Horrifying True Stories of Doctors Behaving Badly

A lot of the time, doctors say and do just the right thing and we leave happy. This story is about the other times—the ones when a highly-trained MD blurts out something so rude, cruel, clueless, or shocking you want to send them back to Bedside Manner 101. My personal favorite WTF moment was when I went to a very young gynecologist… Read More »

The ‘Love Hormone’ May Help People With Ringing in Their Ears

THURSDAY, Sept. 22, 2016 (HealthDay News)—People suffering from chronic ringing in the ears—called tinnitus—may find some relief by spraying the hormone oxytocin in their nose, a small initial study by Brazilian researchers suggests. Oxytocin—dubbed the “love hormone” because it promotes social connections—might also help relieve the annoying and sometimes disturbing noises of tinnitus. “Oxytocin has… Read More »

Surprise! A Beer Makes You Happier, Friendlier

MONDAY, Sept. 19, 2016 (HealthDay News)—Raise a glass of your favorite brew and toast the Swiss researchers who offer scientific proof for what you surely suspected and probably hoped. Drinking beer does make you friendlier, happier, less inhibited—maybe even sexier, they report. But that’s not all. “We found that drinking a glass of beer helps… Read More »

I Got Tuberculosis and Spent 20 Days in Isolation

When I tell people I have tuberculosis, most of them have the same reaction: “Like, consumption? Is that still a thing?” It only takes a few seconds for a look of fear to set in. I can’t blame them. If someone told me they’d been afflicted by an antiquated airborne disease, I’d probably be scared as hell too. When… Read More »