Архив рубрики: Здоровье Америка

Good news for coffee lovers: A new study suggests drinking a cup—or several—each day could be linked to long-term health benefits.

The study, presented on Monday at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Orlando, found that roughly 3,700 women who met researchers’ criteria for “healthy aging” typically consumed an average of 315 mg of caffeine per day when they were between the ages of 45 and 60, mostly from drinking coffee. And for the women in that group of “healthy agers,” each extra cup of coffee per day was associated with a 2-5% higher chance of faring well as they aged, up to five small cups per day.

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“We found that women who consumed moderate amounts of caffeinated coffee in midlife were more likely to age in good health,” Sara Mahdavi, an adjunct professor in the University of Toronto’s department of nutritional sciences who led the research, told TIME in an email. “That’s not to say coffee is a cure-all, but for those w..

Hot days can feel unbearable without a strong air-conditioning system. Yet many of us take these essential devices for granted. “The only time people pay attention to their air conditioner is when it’s not working,” says Jeffrey Siegel, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Toronto who researches ventilation and indoor air quality.

That’s a mistake: Taking good care of your AC can help ensure it provides sufficient air flow, controls humidity, is energy efficient, and lasts as long as possible. “An air conditioner that’s not well maintained will not provide the same level of comfort” as one that is, Siegel says.

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Here’s how experts suggest tuning-up your AC so it works optimally.

Change the filter

There’s no universal equation that determines exactly how often you need to change your AC filter, which traps airborne particles like dust, pollen, and other pollutants. Manufacturers typically advise replacing it every three months, and t..

Measles cases in the U.S. have been rare in recent decades, thanks to a strong childhood vaccination program. But a few cases inevitably pop up each year as travelers bring the virus in from other countries and infect unvaccinated people, primarily children.

Those cases are no longer blips. Now that the measles vaccination rate is dropping precipitously across the U.S.—due in part to anti-vaccine sentiments—cases are rising. So far in 2025, 14 outbreaks have been reported in 33 states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (By comparison, in 2024, there were just 16 outbreaks reported during the entire year.)

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Scientists may now have a new way to catch cases. For the first time, researchers have posted national information on where the measles virus is showing up in wastewater.

Wastewater surveillance is a useful public-health tool because it provides an objective glimpse into where a given virus is causing infecti..

Childhood vaccination rates against measles, mumps, and rubella have been declining in much of the U.S. since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study has found.

The study, which was published in JAMA on June 2, analyzed measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination rates by county where data were available. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University collected county-level data on MMR vaccination rates for kindergarteners from each state’s health department website for the school years before the pandemic (2017-2018) and after (2023-2024). In states where that data were not available, researchers analyzed the most comparable data instead.

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Of the 2,066 counties in 33 states that researchers analyzed, 78% of them reported a decline in vaccination rates. Researchers found that the county-level mean vaccination rate decreased from almost 94% before the pandemic to about 91% after the pandemic—falling well below what public-health experts generally co..

You probably won’t see a tick as it clings to a blade of grass, but it can see you. The tiny parasites are opportunists that spend their days waiting for humans, dogs, and other mammals to brush against them so they can latch onto exposed skin and feed on blood. As the climate warms and tick populations proliferate, there’s a good chance that in many parts of the U.S., you’ll get intimately acquainted with one this summer.

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Most people who get bitten by a tick will be perfectly fine, says Michel Shamoon-Pour, a molecular anthropologist at the Binghamton University Tick-borne Disease Center in New York. But a small percentage develop serious symptoms related to Lyme disease and other illnesses, including anaplasmosis and babesiosis. “The best thing you can do is avoid a tick bite—and, if you find a tick, remove it quickly and safely,” Shamoon-Pour says. “That’s the closest we get to not having to worry about diagnosing or treating an infection. Just put..

Вы, вероятно, не увидите клеща, когда он вцепится в травинку, но он может видеть вас. Крошечные паразиты — это оппортунисты, которые проводят свои дни в ожидании, когда люди, собаки и другие млекопитающие прикоснутся к ним, чтобы они могли присосаться к открытой коже и питаться кровью. Поскольку климат становится теплее, а популяция клещей растет, велика вероятность, что во многих частях США вы сможете поближе познакомиться с одним из них этим летом.

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По словам Мишеля Шамун-Пура, молекулярного антрополога из Центра по борьбе с клещевыми заболеваниями Бингемтонского университета в Нью-Йорке, с большинством людей, которых укусил клещ, все будет в полном порядке. Но у небольшого процента людей развиваются серьезные симптомы, связанные с болезнью Лайма и другими заболеваниями, включая анаплазмоз и бабезиоз. “Лучшее, что вы можете сделать, — это избежать укуса клеща, а если вы обнаружите клеща, удалите его быстро и безопасно”, — говорит Шамун-Пур. “Это сам..

There are two straightforward—and simple—ways to respond to social invitations: Tell the host you’ll be there, or that you won’t be. Yet people find all kinds of offensive ways to reply instead.

The worst one of all is becoming increasingly common, especially by text, says Jamila Musayeva, an etiquette coach who posts videos about modern manners on YouTube. She’s lost track of the number of times someone has responded to an invite by asking who else will be there—which is code for questioning whether it’s actually going to be any fun. (It’s even more insulting than asking what kind of food will be served.) “It’s usually like, ‘I won’t come unless there’s someone there I want to see,’” she says. “It’s degrading the whole experience to just wanting to hang out with one person,” or a specific group of potential guests who are…not the person issuing the invite.

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Read More: What to Say When You Forget Someone’s Name

No wonder hosts take this kind of respo..

Public-health experts have warned for months that the COVID-19 virus isn’t gone—and, far from waning, SARS-CoV-2 has mutated yet again into a new variant. Called NB.1.8.1, it’s causing a spike in infections in China. A few cases also recently appeared in the U.S. when people arriving at airports tested positive, according to a statement from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The World Health Organization has also designated it as a “variant under monitoring.”

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Here’s what to know about the new variant.

Where did NB.1.8.1 come from?

Data from GISAID, a global database of genetic sequences of major disease-causing viruses, show the first known cases of NB.1.8.1 toward the end of April, appearing in travelers from China, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

NB.1.8.1 is now the dominant COVID-19 strain in China, where it is contributing to spikes in emergency room visits and hospitalizations..

Sometimes the most important relationships are the hardest to maintain. If you fall off track—and many people who were once close do—it’s possible to find your way back to each other with time and effort. “I have so many clients who have strained emotional relationships,” says Jenny Shields, a psychologist and bioethicist in Houston. One of the most common refrains she hears: “I used to be so close with mom or dad, and now I don’t even know how to talk to them in a happy, healthy way.”

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If you want to rebuild and reconnect, Shields suggests starting by asking the other person these five questions.

1. “What kind of relationship do you want us to build from here?”

Shields recalls clients who thought their parents were perfectly content with the widening chasm between them—only to discover that mom or dad didn’t know how to express they actually longed for a closer bond. Until you talk about what you both want out of your relationship, hold off on any a..

When you get invited to a wedding or a party, “yes” might feel like the only socially acceptable response. If your RSVP is something short of that, you might put off responding at all—or stumble into a response that’s unintentionally rude.

“We’re raised to be polite or not rock the boat and to avoid hurting someone’s feelings, and yet in trying to be nice, we end up being vague and unclear and often more hurtful than if we were just candid,” says Priya Parker, a conflict resolution facilitator and author ofThe Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters. “There are so many ways to decline with grace, but instead of saying we’d rather not, we flake, or we’re ambivalent and say ‘maybe,’ which is horrible for the host.”

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When opting out of a gathering, Parker recommends following this formula: acknowledge the invitation; honor something about it, like the host’s creativity or vision; express gratitude for the fact that they thought of you; and then..