For most avid gardeners, weeds and pests are plenty challenging. If you’re a gardener with allergies or asthma, however, the sneezing, watery eyes, runny nose and breathing problems are enough to make you want to hang up your spade. But there are steps you can take to minimize allergies while outdoors. Read along and get your spade ready.

Does Alcohol Affect Medication?

You’ve read the warning on your prescription bottle or over-the-counter medicine countless times: “Do Not Drink Alcohol With This Drug.” Chances are, you’ve ignored that warning countless times. 

Anyone who has ever had too much to drink knows that alcohol affects your brain. Slurred speech, slowed reflexes and blurry vision are obvious examples of “a few too many.” Regular, heavy drinking can permanently alter your brain function. 

How Much Drinking is Too Much

When you hear the term binge drinking, you may think of college students drinking all night. But binge drinking can and does occur at all ages – and the threshold for a “binge” may be lower than you think. 

Over the years we’ve heard plenty of good news about the heart-health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption. If you enjoy a beer, cocktail or glass of wine on occasion, you might even think you’re doing your heart a favor.

The good news: You might be. Research consistently shows that low to moderate alcohol use may be cardioprotective.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began in early 2020, we've heard a lot about vaccines. There have been promises for quick vaccine development as well as warnings about how long it really takes to develop a safe, effective vaccine. 

Here are the four basic types of vaccines. 

You can reduce your risk for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease by exercising, eating a healthy diet, getting adequate sleep, controlling blood pressure and inflammation and managing stress.

And to help maintain brain health, try to:

As of early 2020, 33 states legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes and another 11 states plus Washington, D.C. legalized it for recreational use. That’s a lot of people who can legally use Mary Jane. Of course, people use it for different reasons.