Spray-on sunscreens can be as effective as lotion-based sunscreens for protecting skin from harmful ultraviolet light. People using sunscreen sprays should make sure skin appears wet and shiny where they’ve sprayed and rub the product in before it dries.
While many health symptoms resolve quickly on their own, others linger and make people wonder if they need to see a doctor. Symptoms that warrant a doctor’s visit include drawn-out cold symptoms such as fatigue, cough, and low-grade fever; a fever lasting more than four days; unexpected symptoms when starting a new medication or after surgery; certain digestive problems; and new or worsening mental health issues.
Taking 2,000 International Units of supplemental vitamin D3 daily may help slow the cellular aging process, according to a 2025 study.
Havard researchers have identified biomarkers that appear to capture tinnitus severity for the first time. Scientists made the connection after analyzing the facial responses and pupil dilation of study participants as they listened to pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant sounds. The findings, when fed to a computer model, accurately predicted the severity of symptoms participants had reported on questionnaires. Scientists hope the biomarkers will lead to tools that gauge tinnitus severity and treatment effectiveness.
Two kinds of migraine involve visual disturbances, such as strange, flickering light patterns. One type is migraine with aura, caused by brain activity. The other is ocular migraine, caused by blood vessel problems in the eye. The attacks may or may not be accompanied by a headache. Drugs called triptans might help soothe migraine with aura. Doctors don’t have a way to stop an ocular migraine attack as it’s occurring. For many people, the only way to cope is resting and waiting until the symptoms go away.
A 2025 randomized controlled trial found that GLP-1 receptor agonists, the blockbuster drugs approved to treat diabetes and obesity, boosted the walking ability of people with diabetes and peripheral artery disease (PAD) in the legs. The news is encouraging, since there are few effective treatments for PAD—reduced blood flow in the limbs that leads to pain with activity. However, it will take more evidence before doctors feel comfortable prescribing GLP-1s if a person only has PAD.
In robotic surgery, a surgeon controls robotic instruments that perform the operation, based on what the surgeon sees on a TV monitor. This type of surgery has many advantages: it involves small incisions, better views inside the body, and better range of motion than human hands. A research letter published in the May 2025 issue of JAMA Neurology described how robots controlled by a distant surgeon could reach in, grab, and remove blood clots stuck in a brain artery, reducing the damage from a stroke.
The four types of anesthesia include local anesthesia, regional anesthesia, monitored anesthesia, and general anesthesia. Before getting anesthesia, one should ask the doctor which type of anesthesia will be administered, what its risks are, and if delirium is a high risk. One should also ask how to prepare for anesthesia in the days leading up to a procedure—whether medications might need to be temporarily halted, when to stop eating or drinking before surgery, and whether to schedule measures to help reduce delirium.
In a 2025 study, people with the healthiest diets and trimmest bellies at midlife had better brain connections and skills decades later, compared with people who ate the worst diets and had the most belly fat.
In a 2025 study of about 900 people treated for colon cancer (followed for an average of eight years), people who took part in a supervised exercise program for three years had about 30% better odds of surviving, compared with people who weren’t in the program.