Recent Blog Posts
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Feel like you should be drinking less? Start here
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When experts talk about the dangers of excessive drinking, we often assume those warnings apply mostly to people with alcohol use disorder, a health issue sometimes referred to as alcoholism. But people who don’t meet formal criteria for this disorder can still experience toxic effects and suffer other serious harms…
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Do parasocial relationships fill a loneliness gap?
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Do you follow certain social media creators, music artists, actors, athletes, or other famous people? Are you a huge fan of particular fictional characters from a book, TV show, or movie? Perhaps you check in with them daily because you feel a connection, care about them, or just love keeping…
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Why follow a vaccine schedule for children?
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By the first week in September this year, US health officials had already tallied 247 cases of measles, a highly contagious illness. For perspective, in 2023, 59 measles cases were reported during the full year. This isn’t surprising, as vaccination rates for preventable childhood illnesses have decreased, according to the…
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When should your teen or tween start using skin products?
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Social media and stores are full of products that promise perfect skin. Increasingly, these products are being marketed not just to adults but to teens and tweens. Many are benign, but some can cause skin irritation — and can be costly. And even if these products are benign, does buying…
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CAR-T immunotherapy for prostate cancer?
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By fighting off pathogens, the specialized cells of our immune systems help to keep us healthy and free of infectious diseases. Immunotherapies teach those same cells to recognize and destroy cancer. The drugs have been remarkably successful in treating melanoma — a type of skin cancer — as well as…
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Which skin creams are most effective for eczema?
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Quelling the discomfort of atopic dermatitis, the most common form of eczema, can be a daily quest. This inflamed, itchy skin condition can interfere with sleeping, socializing, and many other activities. If home remedies such as gentle cleansing and regular moisturizing don’t provide relief, your doctor might recommend a prescription…
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Helping children make friends: What parents can do
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We all want our child to have friends. We want them to be happy, and to build the social skills and connections that will help them now and in the future. Sometimes, and for some children, making friends isn’t easy. This is particularly true after the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of…
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Boosting your child’s immune system
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Parents often wonder: What can we do to keep our children healthy? Are there ways to boost the immune system and ward off illnesses? The answer is yes — but there are no magic wands or magic supplements. The best way to keep the immune system healthy is, basically, to…
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How to help your preschooler sleep alone
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“Sleep is still most perfect… when it is shared with a beloved,” wrote D.H. Lawrence, and most young children would agree. But sometimes those beloved — that is, parents — would rather have some privacy and not be woken by a kicking child all night. So what can you do?…
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Want to stop harmful drinking? AA versus SMART Recovery
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Ready to address excessive drinking in your life? Many people find peer support helps them take steps toward recovery. Two well-known self-help organizations built around peer support are Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART Recovery). While some people seeking recovery even attend both programs, others forego both…