Harvard Health Content API

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends more people should undergo lung cancer screening.

Eating two fruits and five veggies a day may lead to a longer life, according to a recent study.

Many commercial sauces and dressings contain a lot of sodium, added sugars, and saturated fats. For example, two tablespoons of an average supermarket barbeque sauce has more sugar than a glazed donut. But there are a number of healthier toppings that can be used on salads, fish, chicken, and pasta, such as homemade fruit salsa, pesto sauce, and olive oil and vinegar–based dressing.

Sinus problems are common, especially those caused by allergies, which affect some 40% of American adults. They often manifest as stuffiness, congestion, or a reduced sense of smell. Sinus problems most commonly fall into three categories: acute viral infections, allergy triggered inflammation, and chronic sinus infections.

Naps can be healthy for adults who need to catch up on sleep or work odd hours, but they can also make it more difficult to sleep at night and be a sign of a sleep disorder. Naps should be short and limited to the early afternoon to prevent them from interfering with nighttime sleep. People who have the urge to nap daily should consider whether they need to improve their nighttime sleep habits.

The COVID-19 vaccine may cause a harmless temporary swelling of lymph nodes that could be mistaken for cancer on a mammogram or other imaging test.

People who are vaccinated against COVID-19 can safely visit with family members who aren’t vaccinated, provided they are not at high risk for severe illness and don’t live with someone who is.

A study published Feb. 16, 2021, in Circulation found that women with blood pressure readings in a normal range may still be at higher risk for cardiovascular events. For example, heart attack risk in women rose at a systolic (the upper number) reading of 110 to 119 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and was the same at this level as men with a systolic pressure of 160 mm Hg. But experts say it’s too soon to change blood pressure recommendations for women until more research confirms the results.

Nutritional guidelines continue to advocate eating five daily servings of fruits and vegetables—the so-called five-a-day. New research found that eating more than this amount does not offer extra benefits, and that a ratio of two servings of fruit and three of vegetables might offer the most health benefits.

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to screen for prostate cancer can identify higher-grade cancers just as well as a standard biopsy, and may help some men with high prostate-specific antigen (PSA) numbers avoid biopsies.