Keith Richards once described getting old as “fascinating.” “The older you get, the older you want to get.”

Richards, who recently turned 80, may be fascinated, but many of the rest of us are worried about aging and the challenges that come with it. In fact, two-thirds of Americans, responding to a recent MDVIP/IPSOS survey, said they’re concerned about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

If you’re struggling to get a good night’s sleep, chances are you’re stressed. Stress is another public health issue plaguing America. In fact, more than 25% of American adults reporting being so stressed that they can’t function, according to a poll conducted by the American Psychological Association.

It’s not news that heart disease has been the leading cause of death in the U.S. for more than a century. And despite public health efforts to lower heart disease rates in the U.S., it continues to lead in mortality causes. In fact, within the next 30 years, heart disease and stroke rates will rise high enough to affect at least 60% of American adults, according to two presidential advisories published in Circulation, the flagship journal of the American Heart Association.

Processed foods can be a double-edge sword. On one hand, they’re easy, convenient time savers. But they are often made with questionable ingredients, from high fructose corn syrup, excessive salt and added sugars.

In 1942, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals introduced the first hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for women going through menopause. Over the intervening decades, doctors have gone back and forth on the safety and efficacy of using HRT to treat symptoms like hot flashes and vaginal discomfort.

Many of us take active measures to control our exposure to germs. This includes carrying hand sanitizer, cleaning public spaces with antiseptic wipes and stocking our homes with antibacterial soap.

Ten years ago, the World War ll-era British motivational catchphrase, “Keep Calm and Carry On,” reemerged as a worldwide meme. And for good reason. We’re always dealing with a regional, national or global crisis, be it a weather-related catastrophe, war, economic decline or a pandemic. Even so, the stress level of these remote crises pale in comparison to that of personal challenges like illness, death of a loved one, divorce and financial woes.

In a world plagued with chaos, how do you keep calm and carry on?

Summer 2023 was the hottest summer on record, according to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (more commonly known as NASA). And summer 2024 is on track to beat it.

American interest in gut health began rising about 15 years ago. But research on gut microbiome dates back to the 1840s when European scientists studied the role of bacteria in the breakdown of food, the effects gut microorganisms have on health and the importance of probiotics.

Here’s a little secret about your heart: Your ticker loves it when you sleep.

Good, consistent sleep is great for our heart. Poor sleep, notsomuch.

Sleep helps everything from our immune system to our mental health. But our heart also benefits.

Let’s start with blood pressure. When we sleep, our heart rate slows down and our blood pressure decreases. This gives our cardiovascular system a reprieve from the day’s stresses while our cells repair themselves.