Respiratory health harms often follow flooding: Taking these steps can help
Tips to leverage neuroplasticity to maintain cognitive fitness as you age
Can white noise really help you sleep better?
Celiac disease: Exploring four myths
What is prostatitis and how is it treated?
What is Cushing syndrome?
Exercises to relieve joint pain
Think your child has ADHD? What your pediatrician can do
Foam roller: Could you benefit from this massage tool?
Stepping up activity if winter slowed you down
Vaccinations Archive
Articles
Heart-related complications in people hospitalized with the flu
Research we're watching
Serious heart complications are common in people hospitalized with influenza, according to a study published online Aug. 25, 2020, by Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers from the CDC looked at the rates of cardiovascular problems in more than 80,000 adults hospitalized with a confirmed case of influenza (commonly called the flu) from 2010 to 2018. Almost 12% had a serious cardiovascular problem, most commonly heart failure or a lack of adequate blood flow to the heart, known as acute coronary syndrome. The body's immune response against the infection can trigger inflammation and other changes that harm the cardiovascular system.
Vaccination update
We don't yet have a vaccine to prevent COVID-19, but it's still important to get your regularly scheduled shots.
You're not alone if you're avoiding doctor visits because of concerns about COVID-19. But forgoing medical care means you may be skipping needed vaccinations. "That's a huge problem already. Possibly over a hundred million people the world over have missed their vaccinations because of the pandemic," says Dr. Shiv Pillai, an immunologist and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Going without vaccinations may increase your risk for illness, such as influenza. "We still are just as vulnerable to infection, and we need vaccines to be protected; COVID-19 doesn't change that," says Harvard Health Letter editor in chief Dr. Anthony Komaroff.
5 tips to help you stay healthy this winter
Even in an unusual year, tried-and-true strategies are still the best way to prevent illness.
Staying healthy is likely at the top of your list almost every winter. But this year, in the midst of a pandemic, it may be even more of a concern than usual. You might wonder: should you be taking special supplements to boost your immune system, or investing in cleaning devices to zap germs?
While the viral threats may be different from usual this year, the truth is that you should still be using many of the same strategies that you use in a typical year, says Michael Starnbach, a professor of microbiology at Harvard Medical School. Below are five of his top tips that can help you keep yourself and your loved ones safe.
Will there be a COVID-19 vaccine?
Ask the doctor
Q. Will we have a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 and, if so, when?
A. I'm optimistic because never in human history has so much scientific time and effort been spent trying to make a vaccine. But it won't it be easy. As fast as possible, the vaccine scientists need to prove, first, that a vaccine is safe (minimal side effects) and, second, that it works to reduce a person's risk of getting the disease. Then they need to produce enough of it to immunize most of the 7.6 billion people on earth. Doing all of this within two to three years of a new virus being discovered would be an unprecedented achievement.
Do adults really need tetanus booster shots?
Can supplements help boost your immune system?
Your money might be better spent on something else.
During the winter months, you've likely seen ads for products that claim to give your immune system a boost to help you ward off colds and the flu. But can something in a bottle, whether a vitamin formulation or probiotic, really rev up your immune system to help you stay healthy?
"Unfortunately, the reality is that those kinds of products aren't really offering you any benefit," says Michael Starnbach, a professor of microbiology at Harvard Medical School. "There's no evidence that they help in fighting disease."
Flu shot may lower risk of early death in people with high blood pressure
In the journals
Need another reason to get your annual flu shot? It could protect you from a fatal heart attack or stroke if you suffer from high blood pressure, according to research presented at a 2019 joint conference of the European Society of Cardiology Congress and the World Congress of Cardiology.
Previous research has found that the inflammation from a flu infection can trigger a heart attack or stroke, and people with high blood pressure are especially at high risk.
Are there any new vaccines?
Ask the doctor
Q. Fancy new technologies keep appearing in medicine. Are there any innovative new kinds of vaccines?
A. There sure are. Vaccines are one of the greatest inventions in history. The smallpox vaccine campaign conducted by the World Health Organization eradicated the disease from the face of the earth by 1980. How much good did that do? From 1900 to 1980, 300 million people died from smallpox. Since 1980, not one death.
Did you get your flu shot yet?
A nasty bout of influenza may leave you more vulnerable to heart problems. Be sure to get vaccinated against this serious infection every year — ideally in September.
Of all the things you can do to help your heart, getting a flu vaccine may be one of easiest. This recommended ritual — which the CDC advises for everyone starting at the age of 6 months — is quick and nearly painless. Yet only about half of adults ages 50 and older get a flu shot.
Avoiding the flu is especially important for people who have or are at risk for heart disease, says cardiologist Dr. Scott Solomon, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "There's growing evidence linking influenza with both heart attacks and heart failure," he says.
Respiratory health harms often follow flooding: Taking these steps can help
Tips to leverage neuroplasticity to maintain cognitive fitness as you age
Can white noise really help you sleep better?
Celiac disease: Exploring four myths
What is prostatitis and how is it treated?
What is Cushing syndrome?
Exercises to relieve joint pain
Think your child has ADHD? What your pediatrician can do
Foam roller: Could you benefit from this massage tool?
Stepping up activity if winter slowed you down
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