Category: harvardhealth_news_UNDEFINED

People who devote time to helping others are often happier than those who don’t. Serving others also helps brain health by increasing social connections, which can protect against loneliness and depression, and improving executive function skills like planning, attention, and remembering tasks. Common ways to help others include volunteering, mentoring, random acts of kindness, and seeing life from another person’s perspective.

The cholesterol-lowering drug bempedoic acid (Nexletol) can be a good alternative for people who can’t take statins. A 2023 study found that compared with a placebo, bempedoic acid can lower the risk of heart attacks and related problems.

Lower temperatures, high wind speed, atmospheric pressure, high precipitation, and high degrees of pollution may raise the risk of being hospitalized for serious heart-related conditions. Modeling these factors may help forecast future heart problems.

A higher body mass index (BMI) is a major risk factor for osteoarthritis, but a 2023 study suggests it is also associated with inflammatory joint conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, gout, and inflammatory spondylitis.

Breast cancer survival rates have markedly improved over the past several decades, driven by improved treatments. Less intensive chemotherapy can often be used, and immunotherapy and targeted drugs enable doctors to tailor treatment combinations to each woman. Women with metastatic breast cancer are often living many years because of new treatments that extend their lives. To improve outcomes, women with early-stage breast cancer should seek a multidisciplinary care team, in which many different specialists work in collaboration.

Skin lumps or bumps occur on or just under the skin. Most are harmless. Aside from basal and squamous cell skin cancers, most other skin lumps are epidermal cysts or lipomas. Other growths include cherry angiomas, dermatofibromas, keloids, and very rarely cancerous tumors called sarcomas. People should seek medical attention for any lump appearing near lymph nodes, which sometimes signals cancer. A doctor should also evaluate growths that grow quickly, bleed, look infected, or feel painful. Most skin lumps or bumps don’t need treatment.

A 2023 study suggests that women who have used menopausal hormone therapy are significantly more likely to develop gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

A 2023 study suggests that extreme grief after losing a loved one can raise people’s systolic blood pressure, posing cardiovascular risks.

Edema in the legs occurs when fluid backs up in the small vessels of the feet, ankles, or calves and pools in surrounding tissues. While most often not serious and easily managed, new or persistent edema requires medical evaluation.

Vaginitis encompasses several conditions that inflame or infect the vagina, including bacterial vaginosis, yeast infection, sexually transmitted infections, and atrophic vaginitis. Women should see a primary care clinician or gynecologist to properly diagnose and treat the problem.