Staying Healthy Archive

A 2025 research review found that healthy adults who paired exercise with time-restricted eating lost more fat than participants who didn’t restrict their eating window—without sacrificing lean muscle tissue.

A 2025 study found that replacing butter with plant-based oil such as corn, canola, soybean, or olive oil is associated with significantly lower risks of dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer.

Exercising barefoot can be done safely when walking on grass or a sandy beach, biking, or doing yoga or tai chi. But walking or running barefoot on pavement can pose numerous hazards to feet, including splinters or stress fractures.

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.

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.

The surge in heat waves and extreme heat poses serious health risks for everyone but is a particular worry for older adults. What can you do to manage heat-related risks, especially if you have existing health conditions or take certain medications?