Health

The shape of your bottom cannot tell you anything about your hormones, whatever recent social media posts claim. Determining hormone levels requires appropriate laboratory testing; buttock shape is not a reliable indicator.

As a general practitioner, I know that chest pain is one symptom that makes people worry. The immediate concern is that it’s a sign there’s something seriously wrong—such as a problem with their heart or lungs.

A national survey study conducted by the University of Cincinnati found that nicotine pouch use increased sharply in the United States between 2021 and 2024 among adult tobacco users.

A new Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study in Neuroepidemiology looks closely at a striking contradiction in global stroke prevention: even as age-standardized stroke rates have fallen substantially over the past three decades, the number of people suffering and dying from stroke continues to rise.

For decades, stroke prevention has revolved around a list of separate—and often separately treated—risk factors: blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and inactivity. According to Dr. Gustavo Saposnik, it’s time to start considering biological age as a risk factor for stroke.

Generally, total energy expenditure is expected to be higher in individuals with greater physical activity. However, the constrained total energy expenditure model suggests that greater energy expenditure during exercise may be offset by lower energy expenditure during other activities or physiological processes, thereby maintaining total energy expenditure within a relatively limited range. It is unclear whether similar patterns occur in athletes engaged in long-term endurance training.

Halloween season is a time for scary tricks and sweet treats. But people with heart conditions may need to take extra precautions before participating in fright nights. Baylor College of Medicine cardiologist and electrophysiologist Dr. Mohamed Gabr explains what you need to know to keep your heart healthy during this spooky season.

Climate change must be declared a “global health emergency” to shape governments’ policies after heat caused three million deaths between 2016 and 2023, a report in The Lancet said Wednesday.

New analyses from the Norwegian randomized controlled trial CARBFUNC show that more than doubling saturated fat intake over a two-year period can promote favorable changes in several cardiovascular risk markers, without increasing apoB, the main suspected risk factor. ApoB is a protein found in the particles that transport cholesterol in the blood and can be used to assess the risk of cardiovascular disease.

New research led by Monash University shows a multi-domain dementia risk reduction program delivered by general practice nurses can improve estimated dementia profiles in middle-aged adults, offering a practical new model for proactive brain health.

Microplastics are now impossible to avoid. They have made their way into everything from agricultural soils to freshwater systems. So, it is unsurprising that they end up in most foods and drinks. However, some methods of packaging or serving these items can increase microplastic exposure even more. One such example is the plastic tea bag. While many tea bags are still made of a cellulose material, some brands use a plastic mesh, despite the well-established fact that plastics can break down in hot water.