ArcaMax

Pop music has folks falling all over the place: There's Harry Styles' "Falling," Alan Walker's "All Falls Down," and Glen Hansard's "Falling Slowly." Turns out, older Americans are also falling a lot -- and with terrible results.

A Center for Disease Control and Prevention report shows that unintentional fall-related deaths have skyrocketed by ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: Two years ago, I was diagnosed with atypical trigeminal neuralgia. This causes me constant and extreme face pain, like a vise-grip on my face. Once an MRI confirmed no brain issues, and after multiple medications including Botox injections, I was put on nortriptyline, which immensely improved the pain. I am 61 years old and ...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: If I am taking vitamin A, what is a reasonable dose? I have seen reports that taking too much can cause liver damage, but nobody says how much is a problem. -- M.E.B.

ANSWER: I think many media sources avoid the complexity of the issue. The preferred unit to describe doses of vitamin A are now micrograms RAE, or "retinol ...Read more

When you think of stoners, Cheech and Chong may come to mind, but chances are you don't think of your grandparents. But the number of folks over age 65 who are using (smoking or ingesting) cannabis has jumped by 45% in the past two years, according to a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine, and the trend doesn't seem to be slowing down.

...Read more

DEAR DR. ROACH: I was diagnosed with prediabetes over 30 years ago. My parents had diabetes. I just turned 84, and my weight is 135 pounds. I am 5 feet and 3.5 inches tall.

I watch my diet and take four blood pressure pills, and my blood pressure is under control. My cholesterol is very low (my total cholesterol is 130 mg/dL) since I've been ...Read more

Do you wake up with a headache, jaw or ear pain, or sensitive teeth? You may be one of the 30% of adults who contend with bruxism (that's the fancy word for grinding your teeth) while they sleep and/or during the daytime. Every clench-and-grind exerts about 250 pounds of pressure on each tooth, causing excessive erosion and cracked enamel, ...Read more

There is growing awareness -- and alarm -- at news that human brains (and the rest of our bodies) contain microplastic particles that may be causing harm, such as increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke.

Now comes news that location is a risk factor.

New data suggests that people who live near the ocean have...Read more

Thirdhand smoke occurs when chemical residues from smoking linger in carpets, furniture and walls long after the cigarette has been extinguished.

Researchers have found that children who inhale these particles by disturbing fabric fibers while playing or ingest them by touching contaminated surfaces and then putting their hands in their ...Read more

A new study of 64,000 adults across Europe, North America and the Middle East reaffirmed that loneliness generally increases with age, but unlike in other parts of the world, middle-aged people in the U.S. and the Netherlands felt lonelier than older generations.

"Advocacy and interventions to address the loneliness epidemic have historically...Read more

The American Psychological Association says more than three-quarters of U.S. adults report stress-related symptoms, including depression and fatigue. Topsure, a luxury product website, ranked all 50 states based on work, finances, family, health and safety and work-life balance to see where most of these stressed-out folks lived.

The 10 most ...Read more

For folks who believe vaccines work, here's a shot in the arm:

Three recent studies looked at the effectiveness of specific vaccines, two estimating the difference in outcomes between vaccinated and unvaccinated populations.

According to STAT:

-- An early estimate of the effectiveness of this year's COVID-19 shot showed its effectiveness in...Read more