Health & Balance News & Features
- Did I Really Die?
Many people have reported traveling to a spirit world during a close brush with death. Now researchers say they have an explanation.
- Choosing an Alternative Remedy?
More and more people are trying alternative medicine. But do they tell their doctors? Most don't, but they'd better start. The medical clash could be a prescription for disaster. (Part two of a three-part series on using herbs safely.)
- Coping with Asset Anxiety
WebMD shows you how to cope with and manage 'asset anxiety'
- A Dangerous Prescription
Alarming new findings are spurring much-needed research into how popular herbs and drugs interact. Part one of a three part series on using herbs safely.
- In My Opinion: Herbal Lessons From Germany
Today about one-third of the adult population in the United States uses herbal products.
- Too Rich for Your Health?
They have money, power, and glory. So why are they miserable?
- Signs of Sudden Wealth Syndrome
For all our fantasies of winning the lottery, sudden fortune can cause remarkable stress.
- Advice for Those Who Strike It Rich
While getting rich sounds like nothing but fun, it can produce headaches, too.
- Easing Arthritic Pain
How a supplement often used on animals is helping humans, too. The popular arthritis supplements glucosamine and chondroitin, long used in veterinary medicine, are finally getting some attention from the medical establishment. Here's what you need to know before you pop these pills.
- Job Rights for the Mentally Ill
Employers beware. One in five Americans suffers from a mental illness. The stigma of mental illness harms many people's careers. But the law entitles them to fair accommodation on the job. All illnesses must be treated equally.
- Is the Silence Broken?
Thirty years after rape crisis centers, women are being heard. New facilities underscore the trend toward a gentler, more encompassing approach.
- The Path to Healing
Rape affects not just the victim but also her, or his, friends and family. The path to healing may be different for each person touched by the crime.
- Myths That Put Women at Risk
Most sexual assaults simply don't fit any stereotype. A look at the most common misconceptions.
- How Writing Saved My Life
Did writing about a dead water buffalo help save John Mulligan's life?
- The Good Bugs
Looking to prevent or treat diarrhea? Kick your digestive tract into gear with probiotics.
- Eye on a Cure
Every night, insomnia and nightmares; every day, panic, anxiety, depression. These were the ruins of childhood and adolescence for Donna Bowers of Placentia, Calif., who was abused for 19 years by a close relative. Ten years of psychotherapy did little to ease her symptoms, the classic signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Life of the Party
What's the key to a long life? After years of working with older people, gerontologist Thomas Glass knew the answer wasn't simply good health. 'There are people who seem relatively healthy who die in their 60s,' says Glass, an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.
- Total Body Medicine
When Nancy Nichols began her osteopathic practice 15 years ago, no hospital in her town of Mesa, AZ, would grant her privileges. Today, she's welcome to practice at all of them.
- Avoid a Broken Heart
Your lover is cheating on you. Your job has just been relocated to Taiwan. Your brother wants to borrow another grand. And to top it off, your cat's been scratching your antique divan. It doesn't help at this point for your doctor to tell you that hostility is bad for your heart.
- Probing the Power of Prayer
When Aretha Franklin crooned the words 'I'll say a little prayer for you' in the hit 1960s song she probably didn't imagine that the soulful pledge would become the stuff of serious science. But increasingly, scientists are studying the power of prayer, and in particular its role in healing people who are sick.
- Harvest Your Own Herbs
Maybe there's nothing you like better than a cup of herbal tea to begin each day. So you're thinking how much better it would be if you brewed it from fresh herbs, instead of dropping one of those prepackaged bags into boiling water.
- Alternative Medicine for Rover
Thousands of pet lovers are turning to alternative approaches for their four-footed friends. New professional associations for veterinary acupuncturists and chiropractors have been created. But do the alternative treatments they promote really work?
- Guiding Your Herb Search
Got a cold? Maybe you've heard that the herb echinacea can help. But should you take the tea, the tincture, or the capsules? With or without goldenseal?
- The Green Pharmacist
When you talk to a pharmacist in a drugstore, you can be pretty confident you're dealing with a professional who has taken rigorous courses on the medicines he or she sells. But when you're looking for herbal remedies, the situation's different.
- The New Language of Medicine: Part I
This is the first in a two-part series on integrative medicine, the combination of conventional and alternative therapies.
- Feelings Are More Than Just Feelings
New research is showing that from hostility to love, the way you feel may play a part in determining the health of your heart.
- Complementary Therapies
If you're considering the use of complementary therapies to treat your health problem, this article will give you some pointers on how to go about it.
- Brain Boosters: Pills and Potions
Inserting genes into humans to increase intelligence is a long way off, researchers say. So is there anything we can do in the meantime to boost our brain power? The answer is yes. But the best way to do it may surprise you.
- The Brain Boosters: Part Two
In part one of this two-part series, we looked at pills and potions that promise to sharpen memory. In part two, we show why exercising your mind and body not only boosts memory but helps you think fast.
- Brain Boosters: Pills and Potions.
This is part one of a two-part series on ways to sharpen your brainpower. Scientists at Princeton University recently created a strain of smarter mice by inserting a gene that boosts the activity of brain cells.
- Integrative Medicine: Part Two
This is the second in a two-part series on integrative medicine, the combination of conventional and alternative therapies.
- Yoga: Fitness From the Inside Out
Why do so many people swear by yoga? Find out how this centuries old practice can improve your physical and mental states.