Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2025 i Prevention

NOT THAT HE NEEDED ONE. Can you think of a single person who has watched Al Roker on the Today show for even 30 seconds who wouldn’t like to grab a latte with the guy? But when Roker and Prevention’s senior commerce editor, Charlotte Finigan, confabbed for our story“HowAlFoundBalance” (flip this issue over to read it), the two bonded big-time in their own particular way—over having both undergone bariatric surgery. “Five years ago, when I was preparing to have the surgery, I was really stuck on other people’s views of what it would say about me—that I had given in to pressure to be skinny, that I’d taken the easy way out, that I’d ‘cheated’ somehow,” says Charlotte. Al’s response to folks like that? “There’s that old saying, ‘Opinions and…

◼ Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women (after skin cancer). But when it is found in its earliest, localized stages, the survival rate is higher than 99%. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, here’s a refresher so you can stay on top of your breast health. Over 40? Get checked. Last year, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued new breast cancer screening guidelines: Women at average risk should get a mammogram every two years starting at 40 (changed from 50 because of rising cancer rates among women 40 to 49). For women 45 to 54, the American Cancer Society recommends a yearly mammogram; those 55 and up may opt to do it every other year. Dense breasts need more love in the form of extra screenings,…

THERE’S A DARK SPOT floating in front of your eye, but when you try to look directly at it, it scoots away. What the heck? These little shadows are known as floaters, and like gray hair and laugh lines, they’re just a natural—if bizarre—part of aging. WHERE THESE STRANGE SHAPES COME FROM ◼ Floaters, which can look like dots, threads, cobwebs, or squiggles, happen when tiny clumps or strands of collagen develop in the vitreous humor, the gel-like substance that fills the eye. In the first few decades of your life, the vitreous humor is transparent, but as you age, the collagen in it shrinks and liquefies, creating clumps. Those clumps cast shadows on your retina that appear in your field of vision, explains James Kelly, M.D., director of refractive surgery…

◼ When a woman has POI or enters full menopause prematurely (before age 40), hormone therapy (HRT or HT) is crucial for long-term health. “Women in this situation should be on hormone therapy, ideally bioidentical,” says Bruce Dorr, M.D., an ob/gyn in Colorado and senior adviser to Biote, a hormone pellet provider. Boosting estrogen and progesterone protects the heart, bones, and brain and reduces bothersome menopause symptoms, he says. Like menopause, POI can increase the risk of weakened bones, fractures, and heart or blood vessel disease, and the longer you go without enough estrogen, the greater the risk. Some women worry that HRT may up breast cancer and heart disease risk, but properly administered HRT does not increase these risks, Dr. Minkin says, adding that in younger women with…

◼ One reason I was asked to do this story is because I too have had bariatric surgery, and I couldn’t wait to hear what Roker had learned since having gastric bypass surgery in 2002. “There are things they didn’t know then that they know now,” he says. Whether you’re considering such a procedure or you know someone who is, here’s what he wants you to be aware of: ▸ AVOID NSAIDS “NSAID” is short for “nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs” (such as ibuprofen and naproxen), which can help with pain. But NSAIDs can be hard on the gastric system and should not be used by those who have had bariatric surgery. “I used to take a lot of meloxicam because I had bad knees,” Roker says. “That caused stomach issues, which…

Al Roker has one life goal that puts all others into perspective: to be there for his family. “I’ve got a 2-year-old granddaughter,” the 71-year-old Today show cohost shares as we sit down to chat. He pauses thoughtfully. “My goal is to be there for her high school graduation,” he says. “If I could do that, I would be really happy.” This long-term goal seems within reach now, but that wasn’t always the case. Back in 2002, Roker would not have thought it possible to plan for 2041. Despite his having tried “everything” to lose weight, the number on the scale hit an all-time high then, and Roker experienced several obesity-related health issues—most severely intense knee pain, which kept him from carrying around his daughter Leila, then 4. (Roker and…

TAKE OUT YOUR PENCIL! With autumn upon us, trees all over the country will soon explode into shades of red, orange, and yellow, and taking a moment to appreciate this spectacular show can be a boon for your mental health. Standard leafy trees aren’t the only types of vegetation that go through a seasonal makeover—cacti and other kinds of desert plants also change at this time of year, so keep an eye out wherever you are. WRITE DOWN SOME FAVORITE NATURAL SHIFTS YOU’VE NOTICED IN YOUR NECK OF THE WOODS.…

◼ The next time you go to see your primary care doctor, bring along a brown bag. But instead of lunch, toss in every prescription, over-the-counter medicine, and supplement you take on the regular, then ask your doc to rifle through it all with you. Why? The way our health care system is set up, you might have multiple prescriptions from specialists in addition to meds or supplements you take on your own, and you need a single professional to eyeball the big picture. “I’ve had patients whose brown bag exercise revealed they were taking potentially dangerous doses of duplicative medicines, sometimes provided by different doctors who may not have been aware of the others’ prescriptions,” writes Jerry Avorn, M.D., a senior internist in the Mass General Brigham health care…

Ever since we started holding our cell phones up to our ears, there have been concerns that the radio waves they emit could cause cancer. While this makes sense in a Black Mirror kind of way—and some might have stuck with their landlines at first—after more than two decades of our yakking on mobiles, extensive scientific evidence fails to support the idea that phones add to radiation risks for the human body. The conversation has flared up again because the World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a large-scale systematic review of all the research on the topic. Scientists examined 63 studies from 22 countries published between 1994 and 2022. The focus was on brain cancer and other cancers of the central nervous system including gliomas, meningiomas, acoustic neuromas, and pituitary…

You felt it coming—the cumulative frustrations of life keep building up, tightening your chest and filling your brain until you feel as if you’re about to blow! Your body senses that you’ve got to walk it off, and without thinking, you’re out the door, putting one foot in front of the other. And just like that you begin to feel calmer, clearer, happier, and lighter, and everything seems more manageable. It’s as if you intuitively knew that walking was good medicine, even if you were not aware of the science behind this feel-better fix. “Walking literally changes your brain,” says Judy Ho, Ph.D., a triple-board-certified clinical neuropsychologist and the author of Stop Self-Sabotage: Six Steps to Unlock Your True Motivation. “It increases blood flow and oxygen and triggers the release…

◼ Prioritizing stress relief and doing things that make him feel good has become, for Roker, a key part of treating himself right. Here’s how you can unwind like he does: ▸ TAKE A LOAD OFF Roker is serious about rest. He typically goes to sleep at 9:00 p.m. and wakes up at 4:00 a.m., logging a solid seven hours. He also is extremely pro-nap. When I spoke to him during the afternoon of the day after he had stayed out late to celebrate winning a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award, he said, “I got home and took a two-hour nap—I feel much better.” ▸ PAMPER YOURSELF He loves treating himself to a sauna session or a massage. Once he even got to take the Orient Express train to Istanbul, where…

In the 1950s, a more systemic approach to drug development (supplemented by the use of computers by the early 1980s) leads to a decades-long boom in new treatments including digoxin for heart disease, steroids for inflammation, ibuprofen and acetaminophen, the antibiotic doxycycline, L-dopa for Parkinson’s disease, and many tranquilizers and antianxiety meds. A few that made a big impact: 1951 The antipsychotic medicine chlorprom-azine (branded as Thorazine) is created in France, transforming the care of schizophrenia and sparking the field of neuropsychopharmacology, devoted to developing other mental health drugs that act centrally. 1954 Oxytocin is synthesized, offering a method for inducing labor that is vastly superior to tying herbs around a pregnant woman’s belly or advising her to drink vinegar and sugar water. 1971 The overdose-reversal medicine naloxone (Narcan) is…

Below, a few steps in the right direction. 1993 Congress repeals a rule from 1977 that barred most women of childbearing age from early drug trials and passes the NIH Revitalization Act, which requires researchers to include women in clinical studies. Also that year, the NIH begins recruitment for the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, which enrolled thousands of postmenopausal women in an attempt to follow them through aging and assess chronic illnesses, including heart disease, breast and colorectal cancers, and osteoporosis. “Before the ’90s, women were largely excluded from clinical studies—they assumed that women were just small men with ‘boobs and tubes’ and the rest of their anatomy was the same as men’s, but we now know women have their own unique biology,” says Alyson McGregor, M.D., the author…

SPRUCE UP YOUR SPOT. Having a tidy home can help you be more productive and feel calmer, studies say, so do a little cleaning ahead of holiday and hibernation season. Make common areas guest-ready and give other rooms where you spend a lot of time, like the kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms, some TLC. Find one of our favorite green products to refresh your space on page 17. ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVE. It’s best to have your flu shot by the end of October so as to get the best protection possible by the time flu season reaches a fever pitch. It’s recommended that everyone 6 months and up get the flu vaccine. You can get a jab at urgent care centers, community clinics, and drugstores like CVS or Walgreens. ENJOY ONE…

◼ Around 3% of women experience primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), in which their ovaries stop working normally before they turn 40, causing their estrogen levels to plummet; they may go months without a period. Scientists don’t know what causes most cases of POI, though in some women it results from an autoimmune attack on ovarian tissue or damage from chemotherapy, radiation, or exposure to certain viruses or chemicals. Because those with the diagnosis may still get a period on occasion, POI is not the same as premature menopause, which requires going without bleeding for a year before age 40. Women with a family history of POI or who have had ovarian surgery are at increased risk. The symptoms of POI are generally the same as those for women nearing menopause;…

MATH TRIVIA Plug in the correct numbers to find the answer. Number of zeros in 1 billion Year meant by “Y2K” Fourth prime number Date of the third Friday in October this year ODD ONE OUT HELP A WRI TER OUT These infamous opening lines by Edward Bulwer-Lytton are missing some words. Select from the grid below to put everything in the right place. It was a dark and ____ night; the rain ___ in torrents—except at ___ intervals, when it was checked by a ___ gust of wind which swept up the ___ (for it is in ___ that our scene lies), rattling along the ___, and fiercely agitating the scanty ___ of the lamps that ___ against the darkness. PUTTING IT TOGETHER Which three images below can you…

“When HIV/AIDS started in the 1980s, we had virtually no way to directly treat it,” says Scott Podolsky, M.D., director of the Center for the History of Medicine and a professor of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School. “By 1996 we had the advent of highly active combination antiretroviral therapy, which stops the virus from replicating. Activists played a key role in engaging with the FDA to advance such treatments, and people who can access them can live a normal life span.” This shows how transformative public activism plus science can be, Dr. Podolsky says.…

1959 In an early instance of telemedicine, University of Nebraska doctors use two-wayTV to transmit neuro exams to medical students across campus. More than 65 years later, “the COVID epidemic accelerated the use of telehealth services around the country in all specialties, including mental health. We saw increased use in rural, urban, and suburban regions. It helps people who face challenges traveling to the doctor,” says Dr. Podolsky. 1960 Replacement limbs take a huge leap forward with the invention of myoelectric prostheses controlled by the wearer’s muscles rather than by cables, cranks, or other external devices. 1960 The first cardiac pacemaker for long-term correction of a blockage, made with zinc mercury oxide cells and twice the size of a Scotch tape roll, is implanted, helping a damaged heart beat normally.…

• Dieters have long struggled to achieve lasting weight loss just by deciding to eat less. Enter the first glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drug, Byetta, in 2005. The drug helps people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar, but doctors quickly realize that it also promotes weight loss. Today around a dozen GLP-1’s are available specifically for losing weight. Studies also hint at the drugs’ potential to help with obstructive sleep apnea, Alzheimer’s disease, and more. “The concept of using pharmaceuticals to treat obesity is not new, but our understanding of the underlying mechanisms has evolved significantly,” says Fatima Cody Stanford, M.D., an associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. GLP-1’s are not “miracle drugs,” she says, but many people taking them lose 10% of their weight…