Healthy Eating and Active Living

Hormone-based birth control often comes with side effects that can range from slightly annoying to bad enough to make you switch. You may not know what you can tolerate until you’ve given a couple of them a try. But here are some solutions for the most common problems. Headache, dizziness, breast tenderness Be patient. “These side effects seem to go away after you’ve been taking the... 

Most people try to quit smoking a few times before they finally succeed. Therefore, failing is not failure—it’s practice. Nicotine loves the brain and the brain loves it right back; it even found its own little pleasure-inducing receptor there (the nicotinic receptor). What other satisfying thing do you do 200 times a day (the average number of puffs a pack-a-day smoker enjoys) and then abruptly... 

Will you gain weight if you quit smoking? Probably. Four out of five quitters gain some weight—4 pounds to 10 pounds each, on average. The good news, however, is that quitters usually do get back to a normal weight, especially when the focus is on stopping smoking first. Should you put off quitting in order to keep off unhealthy extra pounds? Nope. The science is unequivocal: “There’s no... 

6. Myth: All women have a 1-in-8 chance of getting breast cancer. Reality: Your risk increases as you get older. A woman’s chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer is about 1 in 233 when she’s in her 30s and rises to 1 in 8 by the time she’s reached 85. 7. Myth: Wearing antiperspirant increases your risk of getting breast cancer. Reality: The American Cancer Society pooh-poohs this rumor,... 

1. Myth: Only women with a family history of breast cancer are at risk. Reality: Roughly 70% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no identifiable risk factors for the disease. But the family-history risks are these: If a first-degree relative (a parent, sibling, or child) has had or has breast cancer, your risk of developing the disease approximately doubles. Having two first-degree relatives...