Category: 4. Health

That’s the takeaway from a new study done by researchers in the Bowerman Sports Science Center at the University of Oregon, which compared the physiological effects of soaking in a hot tub to sitting in a traditional dry heat sauna or a more modern far-infrared sauna.

By raising core body temperatures, soaking in hot water can help lower blood pressure, stimulate…

Caffeine has long been linked to potential health benefits, including reduced risk of age-related diseases. But how…

An expert committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines is meeting for the first time since Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly replaced the committee’s 17 members with eight hand-picked ones on June 11, 2025.

The committee, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, generally discusses and votes on recommendations for specific vaccines. For this meeting, taking place June 25-26, 2025, vaccines for COVID-19, human…

In this week’s edition of InnovationRx, we look at efforts to improve prior authorization, commercializing Bell Labs’ IP portfolio, a new billionaire from Caris Life Sciences’ IPO, a big funding round for robots to do cataract surgery, and more. To get it in your inbox, subscribe here.

On Monday, representatives from multiple health insurance companies said they had pledged to the Department of Health and Human Services that they would improve their prior…

In the late 1970s, when I started in the workforce field, persons with serious mental illness (SMI)—severe depression, severe anxiety, bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia spectrum disorder—were not even on America’s…

“There’s a common perception that the human brain is the most complicated thing in the universe,” Hengen said. “The brain is immensely powerful, but that…

The caregiving industry stands at a critical crossroads. While millions of families grapple daily with the emotional and logistical weight of caregiving, employers are only beginning to recognize the toll it takes on their workforce. Caregiving is not just a family issue, it’s a silent but looming crisis for the workplace. And with the U.S. population rapidly aging, this challenge is set to grow…

What makes you happy? Perhaps a good night’s sleep, or a wonderful meal with friends?

I am the director of the Happiness Lab at Drexel University, where I also teach a course on happiness. The Happiness Lab is a think tank that investigates the ingredients that contribute to people’s happiness.

Often, my students ask me something along the lines of, “Dr. Z, tell us one thing that will make us happier.”

As a first step, I advise them to spend more time outside.

Achieving…

Programs delivering fluoride varnish in schools significantly reduce cavities in children. That is a key finding of our recently published study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Fluoride varnish is a liquid that is applied to the teeth by a trained provider to reduce cavities. It does not require special dental devices and can be applied quickly in various settings.

Our research team found that school fluoride varnish programs, implemented primarily in communities with…