Editorials

Researchers are finding microplastics in places we never expected — and children's teeth are now on that list.

You protect your kids from sugar, screen time, and too much sun. But a growing body of research suggests a threat you can't see may be accumulating in their bodies from the earliest years of life. Scientists have detected microplastics inside children's baby teeth, offering a startling new window into early-life plastic exposure — and raising questions every parent deserves to have answered.

Most of us know fresh air is good for us — but the research on what staying inside is actually doing to your body may surprise you.

You lock the doors, close the blinds, and settle into another day mostly spent indoors. Sound familiar? For many American adults, the average day includes as little as 7 percent of time spent outside. What researchers are finding about what that does to the body — and the brain — is worth a serious look.

Wellness routines are supposed to help you feel better — but for some women, they may be doing the opposite.

You downloaded the sleep tracker. You eliminated gluten. You take seventeen supplements and feel guilty when you miss a meditation session. Sound familiar? For millions of women, the pursuit of wellness has quietly become another source of stress — and researchers and clinicians are starting to take notice.

ADHD doesn't always look like a hyper kid in a classroom — and for millions of women, that misunderstanding has cost them decades.

If you've spent most of your adult life feeling scattered, overwhelmed, or like you have to work twice as hard as everyone else just to keep up, you're not alone — and you're not just "bad at adulting." A growing body of research suggests that ADHD in women is vastly underdiagnosed, often missed for decades because the symptoms look very different from the textbook picture most doctors were trained to recognize.

New research is revealing a surprising link between the bacteria in your belly and how you feel every day — and women may be especially affected.

You've probably heard that the gut and brain are connected. But most people picture that as a one-way street — stress upsets your stomach. Here's what the latest science is showing: it runs the other way, too. The trillions of microbes living in your gut may be actively influencing your mood, anxiety levels, and even your risk of depression. And for women, the connection appears to run especially deep.

Cramps that sideline you every month are a signal worth taking seriously — here's what the science says.

Too many women have been told that severe period pain is just part of being a woman. It is not. While some discomfort during menstruation is common, pain that disrupts your daily life may be pointing to a real medical condition — one that is treatable. Knowing the difference could change everything.

Millions of women with polycystic ovary syndrome are walking around with a blood sugar problem they don't know they have — and it's not their fault it's being missed.

You've been told your hormones are just "a little off." Or maybe you've been handed a birth control prescription and sent on your way. But if you have PCOS, there may be something deeper going on with your metabolism that deserves a much closer look.

Polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, is one of the most common hormonal conditions in women of reproductive age, affecting an estimated 8 to 13 percent of women worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Yet research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism and supported by the Endocrine Society suggests that a key driver of the condition — insulin resistance — is frequently overlooked, especially in younger women who don't fit the stereotype of who gets blood sugar problems.

Depression in men rarely looks like crying and sadness — and that gap between the stereotype and reality is costing lives.

Most people picture depression as someone who can't get out of bed and cries all day. But for millions of men, it shows up as anger, reckless behavior, or just working longer hours. Knowing what to actually look for could change — or save — someone's life.

A new study finds that one of the most significant health transitions in a woman's life is going largely undocumented by her own doctors.

Most women expect their doctors to track the big stuff—blood pressure, cholesterol, weight. But a growing body of evidence suggests that menopause, a transition that reshapes nearly every system in a woman's body, is barely making it into the medical record. A study published in Menopause: The Journal of The Menopause Society found that menopause status is documented in a strikingly small percentage of patient records, even for women in the age range when it most commonly occurs. Here's what the research found, why it matters for your long-term health, and what you can do about it.

Nearly two-thirds of all Americans living with Alzheimer's are women — and biology may explain more than we once thought.

You might assume that women simply live longer, and that's why more of them develop Alzheimer's. Longevity is part of the story. But researchers are finding that it is only part of it. Emerging science points to hormonal shifts, genetic factors, and brain biology that may put women at meaningfully higher risk — and understanding why could open new doors for prevention.

You've heard of hormone therapy for women — but testosterone rarely comes up. Here's what the science actually says.

When most people think about women's hormone health, estrogen and progesterone get all the attention. Testosterone barely gets a mention. But researchers and clinicians are taking a much closer look at the role this hormone plays in women's health — especially after 40 — and the findings are worth knowing about.

If you or someone you know is taking a GLP-1 medication, there's a new side effect worth watching for — and it may be hiding in plain sight.

Millions of women are now taking GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs like semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) for weight loss or blood sugar control. The benefits are well-documented. But a growing body of reports is flagging a surprising and largely overlooked side effect: significant changes to the nails. Research suggests it may be happening in close to half of users.

Something is shifting in how men think about mental health — and the research backs it up.

For decades, the message men got was simple: push through it. But a growing number of men in their 30s and 40s are quietly rewriting that script — and the data suggests it may be one of the smartest health moves they can make.

High blood pressure used to be considered an older man's problem. New data says that thinking is dangerously out of date.

If you're a man in your 30s or 40s and you haven't had your blood pressure checked lately, this is your wake-up call. Hypertension — long thought of as something that crept up on men in their 60s — is now being diagnosed in younger men at rates that have public health experts paying close attention. Here's what the research shows and what you can do about it today.

Your standard cholesterol test may be missing one of the most important clues about your heart health.

Most men walk out of their annual physical thinking they know where they stand on heart health. You got your cholesterol checked, the numbers looked fine, and your doctor said see you next year. But here's what that routine panel may not be telling you: a growing body of research suggests that a marker called ApoB could be a more precise predictor of cardiovascular risk — and most men have never even heard of it.