Yoga for weight loss: Benefits beyond burning calories
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Yoga for weight loss: Benefits beyond burning calories

If you have trouble losing weight despite your best efforts, this is because obesity is a complex disease with many causes. A family history of weight issues can make it more likely that you’ll have the same issues managing your weight. A diet high in ultra-processed foods, sugar, and fat and being sedentary also contribute…

A conversation about reducing the harms of social media
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A conversation about reducing the harms of social media

Editor's note: In this blog post, Dr. Sharon Levy interviews her son Isaiah Levy, a college student. We appreciate Isaiah’s insights and comments on social media's impact on teens and young adults. It is hard to remember (or for younger people, hard to imagine) a world without social media, but indeed such a world once…

Harvard Health Ad Watch: An upbeat ad for a psoriasis treatment
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Harvard Health Ad Watch: An upbeat ad for a psoriasis treatment

Psoriasis is a chronic disease in which skin cells rapidly divide, causing the skin to develop rough, red, scaly patches. Plaque psoriasis is the most common form: affected skin has sharply defined, inflamed patches (plaques) with silvery or white scales, often near an elbow or on the shins and trunk. The cause of psoriasis isn’t…

Thinking about holiday gatherings? Harvard Health experts weigh in
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Thinking about holiday gatherings? Harvard Health experts weigh in

Get expert advice on gathering safely from Harvard Health Publishing. Spoiler alert: vaccination is key to helping keep everyone healthy. Below, our faculty contributors share their own plans and advice for safely enjoying the holidays this year while answering three important questions. Roger Shapiro, MD Associate professor of immunology and infectious diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan…

How to stay strong and coordinated as you age
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How to stay strong and coordinated as you age

So many physical abilities decline with normal aging, including strength, swiftness, and stamina. In addition to these muscle-related declines, there are also changes that occur in coordinating the movements of the body. Together, these changes mean that as you age, you may not be able to perform activities such as running to catch a bus,…

Preventing preeclampsia may be as simple as taking an aspirin
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Preventing preeclampsia may be as simple as taking an aspirin

Preeclampsia is a common and dangerous complication of pregnancy that causes high blood pressure and excess protein in urine. Typically, it occurs during the third trimester or very soon after birth, but there may be a simple way to help prevent it. If you’re pregnant, preeclampsia can cause kidney and liver abnormalities, blood clotting problems,…

What it takes to achieve world-changing scientific breakthroughs
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What it takes to achieve world-changing scientific breakthroughs

In science, advances are a daily occurrence, but true breakthroughs are rare. What does it take to achieve world-changing scientific breakthroughs? Some are the result of a lucky accident, combined with curiosity: scientists traveling down one road suddenly find reason to veer onto another road, one they never planned to travel — a road that…