Newsweek Healthbeat

What to Do When an Elderly Driver Is a Safety Risk

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:53:58 GMT

A roadmap for when you see signs that your elderly parent isn't capable of driving safely.

5 Reasons to Warn Your Daughter About Alcohol

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:46:15 GMT

Five reasons you should discuss the perils of drinking with your college-bound daughter (and how to start the conversation).

New Hope for a More Effective HIV Treatment

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:47:03 GMT

Researchers get closer to a more effective HIV treatment—and possibly a vaccine

Suckers and Saints: How We Rationalize Being Wimpy

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:47:21 GMT

The surprising ways we shore up our self-esteem when we feel foolish for not being able to say no.

When a Free Yearly Clinic Is Your Only Health Care

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:56:24 GMT

What the massive turnout for a free medical and dental clinic in southwest Virginia reveals about the widening gap between health-care haves and have-nots in the United States.

Young Activists Clean Up Their Urban Environment

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:28:46 GMT

Young pollution sleuths and community activists fight for healthier air.

What's Floating in Your House Can Make You Sick

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:25:55 GMT

What you can't see could make you sick. How to get rid of it.

How Climate Change May Worsen Allergies

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:23:17 GMT

A warmer planet could mean we'll suffer more (and stronger) allergies.

Jump-Start That Heart

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:19:52 GMT

Call it the "Russert Effect." The death of the 58-year-old newsman, of sudden cardiac arrest, has sparked a surge in defibrillator sales—in hopes that the device could save others from a similar fate. Big manufacturers such as Philips and Defibtech say their phones have been ringing nonstop since Russert's passing on June 13. It's too soon to tally sales, but Philips estimates a 30 percent increase in inquiries, and Defibtech CEO Glenn Laub, a cardiac surgeon, says he's being "deluged" by calls. "It's human nature to take stock of our own lives after someone we feel close to passes away," says Philips spokesman Ian Race.

Congress Bans Some Phthalates in Children's Toys

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:50:52 GMT

As Congress moves to ban phthalates from toys, parents try to make sense of conflicting research.

My Turn: Why I Finally Gave Up Diet Soda

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:03:43 GMT

Diet soda was the last and seemingly the least harmful addiction I had to conquer. But giving it up, and recognizing the havoc it was wreaking on my body, was harder than I thought.

Should Swimmers Shake Water Out of Their Ears?

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:24:40 GMT

If water gets caught in your ear after a swim, jumping up and down will help get it out, but only if you've tilted your head and pulled on the ear so that the canal is at an angle for water to run out, says Ted Epperly, president-elect of the American Academy of Family Physicians. "Hopping up and down only increases the gravitational force by which that will come out," Epperly says. Other solutions include Q-tips and using a hairdryer on a low setting.

9 Ways to Talk About Sex With Your Teen or Tween

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:28:09 GMT

Discussing sex with your tweens and teens can help them make better choices. Here's how.

How Police Can Better Handle the Mentally Ill

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:17:40 GMT

How police can better handle emotionally disturbed citizens.

New York Bans Cigarettes for Addicts

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:40:18 GMT

Dr. Drew on New York's ban on cigarettes for addicts

Study: Statins Reduce the Risk of Dementia

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:55:05 GMT

Can cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce the risk of dementia?

How Cancer Patients Can Preserve Their Fertility

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:01:47 GMT

The emerging field of oncofertility offers hope to patients who worried that they couldn't conceive.

What’s Missing From Teen Pregnancy in TV, Film

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:50:57 GMT

Once taboo, pregnant teenagers are popping up more frequently on TV, in movies and on magazine covers. The problem? This latest pop-culture coverage doesn't show what comes before or after.

Why Women Need to Know More About Their Thyroid

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:38:52 GMT

Why what you don't know about your thyroid gland could hurt you.

In Tobacco Country, a Ban on Smoking in Schools

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:23:35 GMT

In North Carolina, the governor may be the top public official, but for the past 200 years tobacco has been king. The state grows half of all the tobacco in the United States, and the original cash crop remains its economic backbone. But beginning next month, North Carolina will be home to one of the nation's toughest youth smoking laws, with a ban on tobacco use in public schools. Most students can't smoke at school anyway, but the law applies to everyone on campus, year-round: parents in the stands at football games, maintenance crews in the school garage, teachers in the parking lot.