Harvard Health Content API

Metformin, a medicine prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes, also has cardiovascular benefits and is used off-label to treat other conditions. Interest is growing in its potential to help lower risks for other serious health problems and even slow aspects of aging, but which of these benefits, if any, apply to people who do not have diabetes?

 

 

As more Americans are considered obese, including children, a study examined what effect a voluntary reduction in the sugar content of foods would have on rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and health care costs. But in the absence of such a change, there are ways you can reduce your sugar intake without having to give up sweet treats entirely.

Worldwide, over one million men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year, and half will be given androgen deprivation therapy at some point. Whether certain types of this therapy are safer for the heart than others is an important question that is being studied, but the results from the first such trial were inconclusive and disappointing.

Addiction can affect anyone, but social determinants of health — the factors that influence a person’s circumstances in life — can have a negative impact on a person’s efforts to overcome addiction.  Poverty, employment status, education level, and systemic racism can make it harder for people to reach and maintain recovery.

In recent years alcohol use by older adults has been trending upward, particularly among women. Drinking too much alcohol can have negative consequences on physical and mental health, and age-related changes in the body can place older adults who drink at additional risk.

Attention control is an essential for time management and productivity, but to stay focused on a task, you need to be able to keep distractions from derailing your progress. Mindfulness meditation can calm a wandering mind, and can be used to train your brain to increase attention, focus, and concentration.