Doctors Orders

Preschoolers nap time is being cut down, and it may affect their ability to learn.

Napping may be something many parents of young children take for granted, but you may need to fight for it at your child’s preschool.

New research has suggested that napping plays an important role in helping preschoolers learn because it allows them to consolidate memories. The findings come at a time when many preschools are considering eliminating nap time because of increasing curriculum demands.

How Nap ...

When you want to go beyond anti-aging skin creams, your dermatologist has some impressive tools for treating large pores, wrinkles, sagging skin, stretch marks, and more.

You don’t have to stick to a DIY approach to fight the effects of aging. The professionals have more procedures at their disposal than ever to treat wrinkles, sun spots, and sagging skin. Find out how your dermatologist can help you take your anti-aging routine to another level.

Dull skin and large pores

The Clear and ...

New research suggests postmenopausal women who sleep less than 5 hours a night have a higher risk of osteoporosis.

The number one risk factor for low bone mineral density and osteoporosis is something that we can’t avoid: getting older. Other uncontrollable osteoporosis risk factors include gender, bone structure, and race. But there are also factors in our control that we can act on to help keep our bones stronger for longer, which include getting the recommended amount of physical activity, ...

A group of U.S. Army researchers developed a web-based tool that tells users when and how much caffeine they should consume to feel most alert during the day.

Is a 7 a.m. espresso your answer to springing into action, or would waiting until midmorning leave you more alert? Will an afternoon cup of coffee help you avoid that post-lunch slump, or will it keep you wired all night long?

The guesswork of exactly when and how much caffeine to consume to help ...

The number of hours of sleep you need to stay healthy and alert varies according to your age.

Sure, you’re eating your vegetables and fruits and squeezing in exercise at least 20 minutes a day, but are you getting enough sleep, too? The National Sleep Foundation’s latest sleep recommendations, published March 2015 in the journal Sleep Health, may make you want to think twice about skimping on essential shut-eye. (1) Sleep is key to your physical health and emotional vitality, but ...

A pro-sleep diet starts not just before you go to bed, but the moment you wake up. Here’s what to eat and what to avoid for a night of great ZZZ’s.

How Food Affects Your Sleep

Poor sleep has been linked to a host of health problems, including obesity, diabetes, high-blood pressure, depression, and more. A 2012 study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that the more tired you are, the more you eat during the day ...

Many drugs are available to treat insomnia, but their side effects can be risky. Find out about the dangers of sleeping pills.

On the surface, prescription sleep aids can seem like the perfect cure for insomnia: Take a pill, and a few minutes later you slip into a restful sleep. Though they do have legitimate uses, sleeping pills also come with significant risks and side effects, which many people don’t realize, says Marc Leavey, MD, a doctor of internal medicine at ...

Should you trust the tracker data? Could it clue you in to underlying health conditions? Here’s what experts say about sleep-tracking devices.

Technology allows us to track more specific measurements of our health than ever before. Wearables can monitor daily steps, blood pressure, and now sleep. But experts warn that what you can learn from your sleep stats, at least currently, has its limits.

“The reality is that we live in an era in which we are obsessed with the notion ...

Having a dry, itchy scalp is an annoying skin condition. Find out why your scalp is itchy so you can take steps to get some relief.

Is itchy ever a good thing? The answer has to be never. And when it comes to your scalp, this kind of irritation is often accompanied by embarrassing flakes. Here, skin and scalp experts explain what could be causing your scalp to itch.

The Usual Itchy-Scalp Suspects

Dandruff is the most common culprit to blame for ...

Frequency of plaques was much higher in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea has been linked with cardiovascular disease, but it also may be linked with the deadliest type of coronary artery plaque, a small study suggests.

Of patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), 63 percent had noncalcified or mixed plaques compared with 16 percent of those without OSA, according to Sunil Sharma, MD, of East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., and colleagues.

“The broad confidence interval was most likely due ...