Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2024 i Prevention

I’M GOING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING that makes a lot of people look at me as if I have three heads, so I hope it doesn’t make you trust me less: I don’t drink coffee. I know this means I’m missing out on a significant piece of American culture and a major topic of conversation: how people take their coffee, where they get it, opinions on oat milk. I have nothing to say on these matters! My husband doesn’t either—we’re two latte-less people against the world—so we have one tiny coffeepot that we keep way up high and bring down for guests. If I admit in public that I don’t drink coffee, most people say, “So you must drink tea.” And for most of my life I had to further…

1 MYTH: Most cancers are caused by inherited gene mutations. MYTH BUSTER Only 5% to 10% of cancer cases are strongly linked to inherited gene mutations. Prostate cancer and certain breast cancers do run in families, but the rest are caused mainly by factors like aging, lifestyle, and environment. That means many cancer risks are modifiable via your choices. While you can’t prevent aging, you can lessen other major cancer risk factors by quitting smoking, limiting sun exposure, staying up to date on vaccines, drinking less alcohol, avoiding or limiting processed meats, and doing what you can to maintain a healthy weight, says Timothy Rebbeck, Ph.D., a professor of cancer prevention at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 2 MYTH: Deodorant causes breast cancer. MYTH BUSTER Multiple studies have found…

You don’t have to be afraid of lifting heavy weights, but that’s not the only way to get stronger. A weight lifting program using light weights is an excellent way to build up the strength of your core (a.k.a. midsection) to give you a solid, steady foundation. I often say it makes you feel as if your abdominal and back muscles are going from limp wet noodles to sturdy two-by-fours. The benefits of increased core strength are no joke. Stable core muscles make it easier to maintain proper posture as you go about your day and protect your body through sudden movement changes. They also enable you to shift direction quickly, as when avoiding a crack in the sidewalk that might cause you to trip. And if you do start…

I’M STAUNCHLY TEAM COFFEE, but everyone else in my family is a passionate tea drinker, so my Nespresso pods and coffee beans in the pantry are getting crowded out by bags of Earl Grey, cans of matcha, and tins of fancy blends with names like “Misty Paris Morning on the Left Bank.” Even I have to admit that they’re on to something: Tea is both sophisticated and homey (Princess Kate sips it, and so does your grandma), and it is one of the healthiest beverages you can drink. “There are some differences in the composition of various types of tea, but current science suggests that regular consumption is good for long-term health,” says Benjamin Haddon Parmenter, Ph.D., of Edith Cowan University in Australia, who researches this very topic. By “tea,”…

When I was in my second semester of law school, I came down with what I thought was the worst flu ever—except my nose wasn’t running. I was hit by a wave of fatigue along with aches and pains and brain fog. I also had a sinus infection. I assumed that whatever I had would go away in a few days, but it didn’t, and it started to feel as if something was really wrong with me. After about a month, I went to my doctor and said, “It’s so weird—I feel like I’m sick without being sick.” Because of the sinus issues, my doctor referred me to an ENT, who said it was probably allergies. Next I saw an allergist, who discovered that I was suddenly allergic to everything.…

Dr. Streicher is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and the author of Slip Sliding Away: Turning Back the Clock on Your Vagina. It can start with a constant “Gotta go!” feeling that’s accompanied by knifelike pain when urinating, followed by the terrifying sight of pee the color of cranberry juice. But what makes a miserable urinary tract infection (UTI) experience even more miserable is when it happens again and again and again. This is recurrent UTI, defined as two or more infections in six months or three or more infections in one year. UTIs occur when bacteria, most commonly E. coli, reach the urethra and then travel up to the bladder. A lot of bacteria hang out around the anus and…

GET OUT YOUR PENCIL! Longer days are here—finally!—with daylight saving time on March 10 and the spring equinox on March 19. Turning the clocks forward means we get more feel-good sunshine in the evening, and the equinox means we’ll have more daylight to do all the things that make us feel happy, healthy, and fulfilled. Welcome back after-dinner walks, picnics, and bonus chances to soak up that circadian rhythm–regulating sunlight for better sleep. HOW WILL YOU FILL YOUR LONGER DAYS? WRITE DOWN THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR EXTRA TIME.…

WHEN SOMETHING HURTS AND YOU VISIT YOUR DOCTOR, you expect that if a medicine or procedure exists that could alleviate your pain, the doctor will offer it up. But for a whole host of reasons, that may not happen. Research suggests that health care providers are more likely to underestimate pain in women than in men, says Tina Doshi, M.D., an assistant professor of pain medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Doctors may be less likely to perceive a given [pain] score as the true reflection of a woman’s experience, so an 8 out of 10 from a woman may prompt a different treatment than an 8 out of 10 from a man.” This can be the case regardless of the physician’s gender and despite studies showing that…

Bobbi Brown is a makeup artist and the founder of Jones Road Beauty and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. Beauty trends come and go: With regard to eyes, do you remember Twiggy-style lashes, the bright eyeshadow of the ’90s, and the partial lining of the eyes (which never made sense to me!)? The common theme, regardless of the fad or the decade, is that people want their eyes to stand out. But eye makeup can be tricky. You don’t want to notice the shadow or liner on someone—you want to notice their eye color. These days I’m a fan of the “no-makeup” makeup look, but I’m not ditching my beauty bag. A few simple products and application methods can have a big impact. Before grabbing your makeup brushes, prep your palette with…

As many as 4 million Americans are living with Sjogren’s, an autoimmune disease that can affect the glands that make tears and saliva. “But we are learning now that Sjogren’s can affect almost every organ in the body,” says Thomas Grader-Beck, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Sjogren’s is diagnosed by looking for an antibody called anti-Ro in the blood. “We also do a biopsy of a minor salivary gland along with measuring tears and saliva,” Dr. Grader-Beck explains. Though anyone can get Sjogren’s at any age, it’s most commonly diagnosed in women in their 40s and 50s. “We think there is a hormonal aspect, so it can get exacerbated in perimenopausal women as estrogen declines,” Dr. Grader-Beck says. SYMPTOMS MAY INCLUDE:…

It might sound like science fiction if it weren’t so ordinary: Our bones break and mend…we burn a hand and it heals…we forget words and remember in a flash. The body has an astounding ability to bounce back that can feel like a miracle of sorts. That healing power, though, does slow down as we grow older. We lose a few more words, or more days elapse between a scrape and smooth skin. While our expected life spans have nearly doubled in the past 100 years, our physical bodies exist more or less as always. As we age, our skin and our musculoskeletal and organ systems suffer wear and tear. Resources for repair take longer to marshal their forces. But we can help our bodies retain resiliency—that incredible ability to…

START ALLERGY MEDS… …if you haven’t already! Allergy docs say it’s best to start taking allergy medication two to four weeks before peak pollen levels hit (in much of the U.S., that’s March). Your doctor can help you figure out which product is best for you—there are allergy pills, nasal sprays, and prescription eye drops and inhalers. UNPLUG FOR 24 HOURS. On March 1, Global Day of Unplugging challenges us all to power down and enjoy life without the help of digital devices. Have a family game day, get lost in a new book, or go on a long walk with a friend. GET PUMPED FOR SPRING CLEANING. Treat yourself to a new nontoxic cleaning product. We love Dr. Bronner’s 18-in-1 Pure-Castile Soaps—made from clean ingredients and scented with organic…

STRETCHING IS A POWERFUL PAINKILLER. All your muscles, bones, and tendons are connected, so pain in one body part can affect another. With stretching, you can loosen multiple areas at once. Try these back-centric moves from Prevention’s Stretch Away Pain by Kathryn Ross-Nash. SIDE BEND 1 Stand sideways about one foot from a wall, legs sit-bone-width apart and toes pointing forward. Place your left hand on a wall at shoulder height (elbow bent and down), slightly in front of your shoulder. Bend your right arm to bring your thumb in front of your right armpit, palm facing the wall. 2 Extend your right arm straight up, pulling your stomach in, and reach your right arm toward the wall, stretching the right side of your body. Hold for three counts. 3…

JUST AS A MAGICIAN USES sleight of hand to fool the audience, our brains play mischievous tricks on us. One of the spookiest is deja vu (French for “previously seen”). It works like this: You’re having a conversation or shopping in a new store when suddenly you think, Hasn’t this exact moment happened before? WHAT IS DÉJÀ VU? ■ Deja vu refers to a false feeling of familiarity with a scene or event you know you haven’t actually experienced, explains Dale Bredesen, M.D., Singleton Chair in Neurology at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute, who adds that nearly everyone feels it at least once in their life. Your brain has the ability to distinguish novel situations from recognized ones, Dr. Bredesen explains—e.g., the ability to tell a familiar path home from one…

Let’s be real: Nobody is perfectly happy 100% of the time. Just as life has its ups and downs, our mental states do too. “We’re emotional beings, so mood changes throughout the day and our lives are normal,” says Rachel Goldman, Ph.D., a psychologist and a clinical assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. “Many things can impact our mood.” Various situations, interactions with others, and our jobs are common mood influencers; lifestyle factors like how well we sleep and what we eat also play a role. One-off “bad days” are a drain, but they aren’t too worrisome. Being consistently stuck on a mood roller coaster, though, can affect your physical health if you don’t find a way to get off of it. “The…

YOUR 206-BONE FRAMEWORK performs really well for you 24/7/365, giving your body structure and the ability to move. Caring for this internal scaffolding is even more important the older we get, since the density of our bones naturally decreases with age, making them more fragile and putting us at risk for injury. Happily, a few things can help keep the skeleton strong. One is weight training, which you can learn more about on page 48. “It stimulates osteoblasts, specialized cells that support formation of new bone,” explains Laura Iu, R.D., a certified intuitive eating counselor in New York City. Hydration is another—getting enough water supports “a process whereby minerals work together to promote bone density and strength, and water lubricates joints to minimize wear and tear,” Iu adds. Finally, make…

MEMORY MATH What number will complete this equation? DATE OF THE IDES OF MARCH WHEELS ON A WHEELBARROW WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD NATIONAL PARKS IN THE U.S. WORDS IN WORDS What single three-letter word will fit into all these words? SHAPE COUNTER HOW MANY SQUARES DO YOU SEE? DIY CROSSWORD Fit these seven words into this 4x4 grid so that the shaded region spells out another four-letter word. What’s the new word? ALTO ECHO EPIC LIST MESA MOLE SASH ANSWERS: Memory Math: 65 (the other numbers are 15, 1, 7, and 63). Words in Words: EAR. Shape Counter: 15. DIY Crossword: OPAL.…