Prevention April 2017

I WAS EXCITED the day the Dumpster arrived. Winter was over, and I was ready for action. What better to do, then, but purge my home of 20 years’ worth of forgotten, useless, piled-up stuff? I persuaded my family to pitch in with the promise that it would be cathartic. Intrigued, they trucked everything that couldn’t be donated or recycled outside, and we took turns hurling things into the Dumpster. Out with my father’s defunct files—thud! Out with my mother’s second-best set of dishes—36 small explosions! Out with broken chairs, brooms, cookware. I tossed in my college boyfriend’s three-piece powder blue suit and then the rusty trunk it had been stuffed in. Anastasia ditched eight pairs of ripped sneakers. Rowan took a moment to say good-bye to a cracked toy…

GIVE YOURSELF AN ENERGY MAKEOVER This year I’ve found an energy makeover that works for me. I make sure to find little things every day to stay positive about, and I always reserve one day a week for some “me time.” That keeps me motivated all week to earn that time to myself. Laura Wilkinson / Waynesboro, PA THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GRAINS I really enjoyed this article. I’ve always wanted to try some of these different types of grains but didn’t know how to cook them. Now can we have even more recipes that use them in meals? Norma Willard / St. Clair, MI WHAT’S THE BEST TREATMENT FOR UTERINE FIBROIDS? I was drawn to Dr. Andrew Weil’s column on uterine fibroids, as I have experienced their potentially life-threatening…

This awesome addition to Prevention is a subscriber-only website with an exclusive grab bag of bonus features, including diet and exercise challenges, discussions with top health experts, a digital version of the magazine, free e-books featuring recipes and health advice, and more. If you want access to this exclusive material but don’t have a subscription, purchase one at prevention.com/premium. In April: • Get healthier with our Never Diet Again Challenge, which includes a step-bystep eating plan and a food journal. • Join our Ask an Expert forum, where pain expert John J. Michalisin Jr. answers your questions about chronic pain. •Watch a video of decluttering whiz Peter Walsh, who shows you how to sort through your sentimental keepsakes.…

$2,275 The value of food thrown away each year by the average American household BEHIND THE LABEL Tons of food are wasted each year due to confusing “sell by,” “best by,” and “use by” dates. The dates look official, but they’re not required, leaving it up to the food manufacturer to decide. Here’s what the labels really mean. SELL BY A guide for retailers, indicating when the food should be sold or removed from the shelf; still plenty of time to eat it. BEST BY Suggested date by which the product should be eaten. USE BY Last date the consumer should eat the food; after that, the quality will decline and safety could be compromised.…

S everal new treatments for presbyopia (the near-vision problem of middle and old age) offer alternatives to reading glasses. Electrostimulation strengthens the ciliary muscle in the eye so it can pull the lens into shape. Another option, PEARL, uses a laser to reshape the cornea. For more on these still-in-development treatments, go to aao.org. And for those who are curious to try a digital approach, there’s GlassesOff, an app that offers exercises intended to strengthen the brain’s visual cortex. The app can’t improve the elasticity of the lens, but it aims to train the brain to interpret the information it gets from the lens faster and more efficiently. A NEW TREATMENT FOR TREMORS Hands that shake, or what doctors call “essential tremor” (meaning the shaking is not caused by an…

FOR THE FIRST time, a study has examined how patients fare depending on whether their doctor is male or female—and revealed that the women’s patients have a slim advantage. The data analysis looked at the Medicare records of 1.5 million hospitalized patients of 58,344 doctors. In the month after discharge, the patients of female physicians were slightly less likely to be rehospitalized and slightly less likely to die. The difference, say the study authors, may be that women doctors are more apt to adhere to specific guidelines and evidence-based treatments. 15 Percentage of women who didn’t have a single doctor appointment last year WHAT IS IT? NARRATIVE MEDICINE The latest trend in holistic medicine emphasizes patients’ personal stories as an important part of their treatment and healing. Training programs in…